Recently in Galaxy Category

The Galaxy are desperate for goals.

Oft-injured Chivas USA forward Alecko Eskandarian, who has scored just six goals in 18 games since joining the club from Real Salt Lake in January 2008, was traded today to intrastadium rivals the Galaxy.

To make room for the 26-year-old forward, the Galaxy waived midfielder Josh Tudela who has played 23 games for the club since being selected in the 2007 SuperDraft. Chivas USA received allocation money and a conditional pick in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.

"This move allows us greater flexibility in terms of our roster and salary budget," said Chivas USA Coach Preki.

Eskandarian, the 2004 MLS Cup MVP when with DC United, has 28 goals and 12 assists in 122 games during his seven-year MLS career. He has two starts in seven appearances this year and is eligible to make his Galaxy debut on Saturday against New England.

Here he is in a Galaxy uniform today.

Sports Illustrated has a sneak peek at the forthcoming book by writer Grant Wahl.

Looks like Galaxy fans aren't the only ones unconvinced of David Beckham's supposed commitment to the Galaxy.

Landon Donovan:

"He's not. He's not shown that. I can't think of another guy where I'd say he wasn't a good teammate, he didn't give everything through all this, he didn't still care. But with [Beckham] I'd say no, he wasn't committed."

Sounds like the Galaxy are going to have a splendid time when/if Beckham returns doesn't it?

Read more here.

Sadly it will take more than cookies:

Get caught up on the weekend's soccer in 60 seconds or less:
*The Galaxy had three shots on goal, scored on one of them and beat the MLS-leading Dynamo Sunday at Home Depot Center.

*Highlights:

*Heartbreak for the Americans in South Africa.

*Reaction:

*Mexico and Guatemala drew Sunday in San Diego in Gold Cup warmup.

*SuperLiga is over for Chivas USA.

*The Sol shine on.

Four links for Sunday:
*Chivas USA were dumped out of SuperLiga Saturday.

*Spain beat South Africa in the Confederations Cup today.

*U.S.-Brazil coverage begins at 11 a.m. Sunday live on ESPN. Freddy Adu tweeted at 9 a.m.: "bumping some eminem to get ready for this game. we are hyped right now."

(Updated 11 a.m.: U.S. lineup.)

The Dynamo visit Home Depot Center at 7 p.m. riding a club-record 11 game winning streak against a Galaxy team that is tied for the fewest wins (with NYRB) in MLS - two. Yikes.

I plan to blog from the game.

Coliseum officials announced today they had been forced to cancel the Independence Day exhibition game that was to star Lionel Messi after receiving word football's worldwide governing body had objected to the event:

Coliseum officials were notified by CONMEBOL that it has received communications from FIFA, dated June 23rd and 24th, stating that it is FIFA and CONCACAF's position that the exhibition scheduled for July 4th in the Coliseum is not permitted.

The Coliseum hopes to resolve any FIFA concerns as soon as possible, so that the nine Futbol All-Stars events previously agreed to (annually) may proceed.

Refunds will be made available at the point of purchase.

The 4th of July Fireworks Extravaganza will go on as scheduled, without charge, with the 60 minute pyrotechnic display set to start shortly after sunset. Efforts are currently under way to introduce a soccer component to the day's festivities at the Coliseum.

Coliseum officials didn't specify what FIFA's concerns were. Fans had already questioned the credibility of the event especially after 100 Percent Soccer reported exclusively this week that Mexican striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco was not "confirmed" for the game as organizers were claiming (and advertising).

In Galaxy news, rookie defender Yohance Marshall left for Austin Thursday where he joined the USL Aztecs on loan at least through their U.S. Open Cup game Tuesday against the Houston Dynamo.

Let's hope he doesn't meet the same fate as the Galaxy's Julian Valentin, scheduled to undergo surgery today for a broken right foot sustained while he was on loan to Cleveland of the USL.

A busy weekend of soccer with all three pro teams playing at home and the U.S. in the final of a FIFA competition for the first time:

10 a.m. Saturday - The runaway WPS-leading Sol plays its last weekend game of the season at the early hour at Home Depot Center against the Chicago Red Stars. There's a ticket special: two for $30 plus a Marta bobblehead and a $50 ESPN Zone game card. Call 1-877-4-SOL-TIX.

7 p.m. Saturday - Chicago must defeat Tigres Saturday and then Chivas USA must beat San Luis by at least two clear goals to advance in SuperLiga. Tickets start at $15. Call 1-877-CHIVAS-1 for tickets.

11 a.m. Sunday - Coverage begins on ESPN and Univision for the U.S. showdown with Brazil in the Confederations Cup final. BTW, the National Soccer Hall of Fame tweeted that the organization "is requesting a game ball from Sunday's championship match for display What else should we ask for?" What about a U.S. win?

7 p.m. Sunday - $1 beer, $1 dogs as the 2-3-9 Galaxy play the Western Conference leading Houston Dynamo in Carson. Call 1-877-3GALAXY for tickets.

In related news, the Galaxy's Landon Donovan has again been nominated for an ESPY.

So has the Sol's Marta. The current and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year is up against Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa, Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice and Russian tennis player Dinara Safina in the category of Best Female International Athlete. I'm told only ESPN's international viewers can vote in this one.

ESPN hands out the awards in July at the Nokia Theater at LA Live.

Just so we're all keeping track:

Tuesday
SuperLiga - Chivas USA at Chicago Fire 5 p.m. on TeleFutura in the second game of the tournament. Chivas USA were outplayed 2-1 game at Home Depot Center against Tigres last weekend. Chivas USA striker Eduardo Lillingston is suspended after his red card. Chicago beat San Luis 1-0 last weekend on a Brian McBride goal. A game preview from a Chicago perspective is here.

Online chat - Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter chats with ESPN SportsNation at noon. Follow this link.

Wednesday
Confederations Cup Semifinal - U.S.-Spain 11:25 a.m. ESPN. No. 1 ranked Spain, undefeated in 35 games and on a 15-game winning streak. Ulp. Defender Carlos Bocanegro remains "questionable." Absolutely useless factoid from U.S. Soccer: Michael Bradley's goal against Egypt was the sixth of his career; that matches the total scored by Bert Patenaude. He had six goals in four appearances back in 1930, according to my MNT media guide; Bradley has played more than 25 games. Get your finger out, lad!

WPS - Sol (8-1-4) at St. Louis Athletica (4-4-2). The Sol are unbeaten in eight games, a sequence stretching back to May 2; Athletica have yet to score on the Sol in two games this season, a scoreless draw and a 2-0 loss at the HDC in April.

Thursday
Confederations Cup semifinal - Brazil-South Africa 11:25 a.m. ESPN.

Saturday
WPS - Chicago Red Stars at Sol at 10 a.m. (!) at Home Depot Center. Deal of the week to soften the early hour: two tix, a Marta bobblehead and $50 ESPN Zone gamecard for $29.99. Call 1-877-4-SOLTIX. Quality bobblehead, BTW.

SuperLiga - Chivas USA -San Luis 7 p.m. at Home Depot Center.

Sunday
MLS - Best reason to attend the 7 p.m. Galaxy-Dynamo game at the HDC: $1 beers and $1 hot dogs before the game. Also, the first 10,000 fans get a free Galaxy Sinch Sack; the first 7,500 a free Galaxy Car Flag. The Dynamo are first in the West with an MLS-best 28 points; the Galaxy lost last time out to struggling San Jose. I'll have another hot dog, please. Weird fact: the Galaxy's current two-game losing streak is just the second in Bruce Arena's tenure with the Galaxy. ... Notable: Van Nuys' Tristan Bowen, the first player in MLS history to be signed by a club through the league's youth development initiative, made his MLS debut Saturday. The 18-year old forward is the fourth youngest player to ever play a game for the Galaxy; younger were Izzy Sesay, Memo Gonzalez and Quavas Kirk. Not good company.

Busy this weekend?

Get caught up here in 60 seconds (or less):

*The U.S. overcame staggering odds Sunday to see Italy suffer its biggest loss to Brazil in 33 years combined with the first American win ever over Egypt and improbably scoring three after only managing one in the tournament to that point. The no margin for error result: a semifinal berth in the Confederations Cup against Spain Wednesday. The world's No. 1 ranked team are unbeaten in 35 games.

*The Sol continued to shine Sunday.

*Chivas USA tanked against Tigres in SuperLiga Saturday.

*The Galaxy crumbled Saturday against the Earthquakes.

Earthquakes 2 Galaxy 1

The Galaxy (2-3-9) took one shot on goal and scored. It was well-worked: a Mike Magee free kick was headed on by Alan Gordan and met by a ghosting Jovan Jirovski.

But Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon wasn't forced into making a single save the rest of the way. And the Galaxy continue to generously give struggling opponents a boost. The Earthquakes move to 3-8-3.

Central defender Gregg Berhalter was to blame for the early first goal holding Pablo Campos to give up the PK.

Let's recap: Former Pasadena City College star Yura Movsisyan completely turned Gregg Berhalter inside the penalty area last week to score Real Salt Lake's first goal in their road win; Berhalter was sent off against the Wizards for holding Claudio Lopez just outside the box as the last man back; he was sent off in similar circumstances on his Galaxy debut against Chivas USA.

Anyone sense a pattern?

Highlights:

The 2-2-9 Galaxy face the similarly struggling 2-8-3 Earthquakes at 1:30 p.m. today on ESPN2, the start of a seven-game stretch that sees LA play five matches on the road. The Galaxy, seeking to rebound from last week's 2-0 home loss to Real Salt Lake, are without the suspended Eddie Lewis, while Landon Donovan is on national team duty.

More from an Earthquakes perspective is here.

BTW, the Galaxy and Earthquakes have both scored just 15 goals this season (only the Red Bulls have scored fewer), but the Earthquakes have conceded 10 more than LA. Can Edson Buddle and the Galaxy take advantage of that on the road?

Chivas USA, meanwhile, embark on their SuperLiga campaign at Home Depot Center against Tigres. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. live on KFTR.

Game notes here.

CONCACAF has released the 30-player rosters for the Gold Cup.

Here's the U.S. roster.

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan is absent, but Chivas USA Jonathan Bornstein is named as are Southern California products John Thorrington and Robbie Rogers. The most unfamiliar name: Aston Villa's Eric Lichaj.

Chivas USA was named to Canada's squad, BTW, and while we're at it here's Mexico's roster.

I'll blog from the Chivas USA game tonight, so please join me then.

The games that matter:

1:30 p.m. Saturday ESPN2 Galaxy at San Jose Earthquakes
5 p.m. Saturday KFTR San Luis at Chicago Fire
7 p.m. Saturday Tigres at Chivas USA
11 a.m. Sunday ESPN Brazil-Italy
11:25 a.m. Sunday ESPN2 Egypt-U.S.
3 p.m. Sunday Fox Soccer Channel FC Gold Pride at Sol

Meanwhile, the Galaxy tradition of shipping out apparently subpar players only to see them become reborn elsewhere continues in Portland with former goalkeeper Steve Cronin and in the nation's capital where Josh Wicks is supplanting Louis Crayton.

But former Chivas USA midfielder Panchito Mendoza has seen his time at the mothership come to an end.

Hollywood Hitmen. Coldplay. Ballack. SuperLiga. Fireworks. Canada. Messi. NBA.

A FourFourTwo magazine spineline stumper? No, today's column.

BTW, more info on the July 4 game at the Coliseum is here.

And here's the official SuperLiga Web site.

Galaxy 0 RSL 2

Relive the game here (small children who play AYSO should not watch):

Not exactly a laugh a minute, but you wouldn't know it by listening to Eddie Lewis and Bruce Arena talk about the Galaxy midfielder's straight red card that occurred after he threw a ball at Javier Morales, who had just been fouled by sub Jovan Kirovski.

Here's Lewis laying on the lacerating sarcasm courtesy of reporter Phil Collin:

"I just tossed the ball at the player and said, 'Come on, get up,' because I knew . . . he's obviously laying around to draw a foul. That was it."

Well, it wasn't. Lewis was just warming up:

"Red cards this year have been a focus of a lot of attention, so in a lot of ways I guess I'm not too overly surprised. We've also been instructed that we're not to say anything negatively about the refs, which I understand.

"I suppose I'd have nothing but wonderful words to say about the ref. In fact, he got all the calls right tonight and is certainly one of the finer refs I've player under. In fact, maybe one day he can represent CONCACAF for a World Cup.

"In fact, he maybe one day will be too good for this league. Maybe somewhere else, I don't know. But that's his work."

Arena had the best one-liner of the night when asked whether that was a legitimate straight red:

"If you're in a U-8 game that's definitely a red card.

Arena who, despite the result looked drawn, (sorry) didn't mince words:

"We were outplayed. We didn't play well. It seemed in the first half they were a step faster than us all over the field."

Arena was asked whether the team lacked leadership or confidence:

"There are no excuses on our part; a number of players got outplayed tonight."

We shouldn't overlook the role RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando played. Here he denies Eddie Lewis.

RSL Coach Jason Kreis, meanwhile, welcomed the team's first win in eight games:

"I just told our guys in the locker room - 'welcome back.'"

"It's our first road win of the season; it's our first win in a long time. ... There's been disappointment around our team for way too long."

And Kreis proved he could deliver a punchline when asked about Nat Borchers finally scoring a goal his first in MLS in 76 games:

"He told us when he came here he was good for three goals a season off corner kicks. He owes us five more.

Game story.

Movsisyan, a Pasadena City College product, loves coming back to Southern California and scoring at the HDC in front of family and friends.

Here's the RSL perspective.

Thank you ladies and germs, you've been a lovely audience. Good night.

Galaxy 0 RSL 2

No late comeback for the Galaxy tonight. It's the first Galaxy loss in 10 games.

It's the first road win for RSL (4-6-3) since September 27, 2008.

They now leapfrog the Galaxy (2-2-9) to move into fifth in the Western Conference on goal difference.

Are those boos for the Galaxy or the ref? If Bruce Arena says we're "getting better" (except in the win department), I'll scream.

More later.