“The LA Galaxy would like to congratulate David Beckham on the completion of his 20-year career in the sport of soccer,” Galaxy President Chris Klein said. “His six seasons with the Galaxy saw the club reach unprecedented heights, highlighted by our back-to-back MLS Cup championships in 2011 and 2012. David was a tremendous ambassador for our club and our league and it was an incredible honor in having him wear the Galaxy colors. We join the world in celebrating all of his achievements in the sport and look forward to continuing his relationship with our club.”

 

“Today is a day to celebrate David Beckham and the completion of his fabulous career,” said coach Bruce Arena. “In addition to being such a great player, David is also a great personality, a great teammate, a great friend and family man. He is a person that you cannot replace, on the field or off and our club is in a better position for having him play for us in the six years that he did.”

Check out highlights of his Galaxy career on YouTube here.

In a spectacular public illustration of his desire for a spot on the U.S. Men’s National Team roster and his value to coach Jurgen Klinsmann ahead of upcoming friendlies against Belgium and Germany, the Galaxy’s Landon Donovan put on a show in LA’s 4-1 win  Wednesday over the Philadelphia Union.

The roster will be  was released this afternoon (and Donovan was not on it).

A goal and two assists for #LAGalaxy ‘s Landon Donovan as LA score 4 in #Philadelphia. Yup, too bad he’s not ready for #USMNT yet (ahem).

— Nick Green (@LAsoccerblog) May 16, 2013

 

Here’s what Donovan had to say.

And there’s more reaction here.

What do you think?

U.S. Soccer announced the third round match-ups today.

With the Galaxy reportedly chasing the signature of Rolling Hills Estates’ Robbie Rogers Irishman Robbie Keane is set to return for LA against the Union today in Philadelphia (4:30 p.m. TWC).

It’s a game the Galaxy needs to arrest their recent decline in form, but the Union are wary.

(And I’ve still got the red Roma T-shirt I bought for $10 the club were selling to finance their cup run).

So while I was occupied with far more mundane matters Tuesday night, the Ventura County Fusion were scoring twice in the last 13 minutes to come from behind in battling FA Cup fashion in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup and dispatch Agoura Hills-based FC Hasental.

Classic. And in the next round the Fusion plays the LA Blues (of Orange County) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Titan Stadium.

Yeah, there were familiar names involved in games last night: the Sounders (whose David Geno became the stuff of cup legend with four goals in the U-23 teams’ win over Doxa Italia), Timbers, Red Bulls.

But there was the unfamilar, yet evocative, names too Tuesday that invoked the spirt of the tournament:

• The brother of wonderfully named Chicago Fire forward Dilly Duka, the even more wonderfully spelled Argjent Duka, scored a brace to lead the fantastically named Icon FC of the USASA over the excellently named Brooklyn Italians of the NPSL.
• The Dayton Dutch Lions thumped the River City Rovers (there just aren’t enough top American teams named Rovers) by a 3-0 scoreline.
• The meterologically named Ocean City Nor’easters found the perfect storm (!) to defeat the New York Red Bulls U-23 team 3-0.

I could go on. Or you could just click here for a full run down of the night’s action.

The Galaxy and Chivas USA both lost over the weekend, but that’s as far as the similarities between the two clubs go, as I write in this week’s column.

In related news, Chivas USA today acquired Cal State Fullerton product Gabriel Farfan, a midfielder out of San Diego, in exchange for their first round SuperDraft pick next year.

It’s debatable just how much of an impact the 24-year-old will have, however.

He made 43 appearances for the Union over three seasons, scoring one goal.

[View the story "A mother of a weekend for Galaxy, Chivas USA" on Storify]

• The Galaxy face the recently verbally assaulted Whitecaps in Vancouver (4 p.m. TWC) and could have key players back. Do you remember last year’s game in the Canadian city? Inglewood’s Jose Villarreal does.
• There’s little doubt Chivas USA need reinforcements. But do they need them in the form of yet another young (20) player on loan from CD Guadalajara?
• However, Peruvian defender Walter Vílchez, who started Chivas USA’s first two games of the season before suffering a knee injury, has returned to full training and could be available for Sunday’s road game against the Timbers in Portland, according to the club.
• One who won’t play in the game is Chivas USA midfielder Carlos Alvarez, suspended by MLS for two games and fined an undisclosed amount for violent conduct during last weekend’s game  against Sporting Kansas City for kicking the ball at an opponent’s head. He will miss Sunday’s game in Portland and the May 19 game against Real Salt Lake.

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• Faltering Chivas USA will meet a Timbers team Sunday in Portland (live at 2 p.m. on Unimas) that extended the club’s unbeaten streak to eight games, their best ever MLS stretch in the club’s short history, after drawing 1-1 Wednesday night with FC Dallas.
• Chivas USA midfielder Oswaldo Minda, 30, out for the last five weeks with a “complicated” quad strain, could be available for the game:
  

  “I’ve gotten a lot better,” he said. “It’s a long process because we’re talking about a tear in a muscle where I put most of my weight on, which takes a much longer recovery than any other muscle injury. The important thing is that, thankfully, I’m recovering and I’m hoping to be back helping the team real soon.”

• For the first time in the 150-year history of the FA Cup, Saturday’s final will be shown on a major U.S. network, airing live at 9 a.m. on Fox. Relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic faces last year’s EPL champion Manchester City, while Gus Johnson and Ian Wright have the call.
• Also this weekend, MLS Live will offfer seven games in a free trial.

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• MLS has suspended Sporting Kansas City midfielder Paulo Nagamura for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount for violent conduct after he “demonstrated disregard for his opponent’s safety” by stepping on (Edgar) Mejía’s hand in the 52nd minute of their game last weekend against Chivas USA.
• The minor league LA Blues announced today they have signed former NFL punter and Bruin Aaron Perez as a goalkeeper for the remainder of the 2013 season. Perez, who had stints with the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins, most recently played for FC Santa Clarita of the National Premier Soccer League.
• Agoura Hills-based FC Hasental of the National Premier Soccer League played the role of U.S. Open Cup giantkillers Tuesday knocking off the Fresno Fuego Future 5-3 in a play-in U.S. Open Cup game. Next: the Ventura County Fusion Tuesday at Ventura College.

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