Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. A
native of England, he began writing about soccer in
the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat
in the stands for one in
the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home
Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas
USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.Galaxy-Chivas USA Post-game
Alan Gordon scored two goals and an assist within eight minutes, after coming on as a sub.
Landon Donovan scored the first Galaxy hat trick in four years.
And Wayne Gretzky, Tom Cruise, a rumored Luis Figo and Gawd knows who else put in appearances on a memorable night where the action matched the hype (what hype?).
This was a glorious night for the sport that seemed to catch just about everyone by surprise.
"Gordo did an excellent job when he came in," Gullit said. "He changed the game."
Or as Sigi Schmid was fond of saying: goals change games.
Gullit was effusive, too, about the play of rookie defender Sean Franklin in the center of defense.
"He's made huge progress and that makes me happy," he said, adding that he needed speed at the position to counter the Chivas USA forward line. Gullit made no mention of Franklin partner Abel Xavier, by the way.
Landon Donovan, one of the few players to stick around and answer questions (as usual), said his pre-game preparations have been key to his on-field performance.
"I'm raising every aspect of my game preparations very, very seriously," he said. "I feel like I'm being more assertive and more aggressive and I'm reaping the benefits of that."
And he had encouraging words for Gordon, too.
"He adds a different dimension so we can play more direct at times," Donovan said. "I'm just happy for Gordo because he works so hard."
Not surprisingly, Chivas USA players didn't hang around for the post-game inquest.
No matter.
There are games that are turning points in a season and games that are exclamation points. This was the latter. There were no complaints tonight (at least from the Galaxy).
Check out the game in pictures.
Next for the Galaxy: May 3 at Real Salt Lake.
Next for Chivas USA: May 3 at Houston.
Notable local: John Thorrington (Chadwick School) of the Fire who scored two goals Saturday to lead Chicago to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids.
Comments
On TV the atmosphere seemed absolutely electric. One of the best I've seen at a MLS game before. Was that just the positioning of mics or was that really the case in the stadium?
Nick replies: It really was electric and added magnificently to the occasion.
Posted by: Ryan | April 27, 2008 1:37 AM
Thanks for providing pics and some summaries.
Posted by: Ben | April 27, 2008 3:28 AM
Thanks for the reports, Nick! Sorry if I "misread" you before. You're great! I appreciate what you do.
Posted by: Nellie | April 27, 2008 2:32 PM
And you still prefer watching the game sitting on a barstool instead of being there live in the stadium?
Nick replies: Touche!
Posted by: don d | May 4, 2008 4:56 PM