First off, hands up out there all those who thought David Beckham would don a Galaxy jersey this MLS season. No, me neither.
The more pertinent question: Will Becks be back for the fifth and final year of his contract? And does anyone still care? Moving on.
Back home Chivas USA’s Jesus Padilla is nick-named Jesse or Gordo. On the soccer field he goes by a different name as I explain in today’s column.
As you might expect, Padilla comes from a futbol crazy family. His father is a massive CD Guadalajara fan and naturally now supports Chivas USA, too. He has two sisters who have played for the Mexican national team and as many as 10 to 15 family members and friends routinely drive down from the Bay Area for Chivas USA games.
That’s sometimes a mixed blessing:
“My friends in Guadalajara see the games so if I do mess up or something they right away call me and tell me: you did this wrong and this wrong. Even my sisters still do it. Before a game I get a talk from my dad about this and this. … I heard this when I was young and I still hear it.”