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We get letters (well, emails).

This is a school proud of its products. And rightly so. Medrano wrote:

In advance of the 'Quakes and Galaxy game this Wednesday I couldn't help but set the record straight in regards to Jose Villarreal, the current home grown Galaxy signee, as well as current 'Quakes midfielder Rafael Baca.

Both hail from the proud local South Bay high school soccer program, Animo Leadership Charter High School in Inglewood.

I know it was reported previously that Jose graduated from Leuzinger High in Lawndale, but he actually never graduated from there and only attended Leuzinger for two months to make up some credits. He actually attended Animo Leadership for 3 1/2 years from his 9-11th grade and part of 12th grade before ultimately receiving his diploma in 2011.

Although Jose never played for Animo Leadership because he participated in the U.S. Development Academy, I felt compelled to set the record straight since I've known Jose and his family since 2002 when he was 8-years-old.

Also, Jaime Villarreal Jose's younger brother and current Galaxy Academy player, is currently an 11th grader at Animo Leadership.

We are very proud to have Jose and Rafael, two professional soccer players in the MLS, come out of Animo Leadership Charter High School in Inglewood.

To have them both present at Home Depot Center this Wednesday as professionals brings great pride to our program and school.

Although Jose will not see time on the first team this game and Rafael Baca most likely will get the start, we are still going to show up and support them both. As a school we have sold over 200 tickets as a fundraiser benefiting the Animo Boy's Soccer Program in support of both players.

We will be sitting in Sections 118 and 117 cheering on Rafa and Jose.

The big news this morning for Galaxy fans anticipating Saturday's home game against the expansion Union at Home Depot Center is that Philadelphia could be without top scorer Sebastien Le Toux.

The former Sounders player, who has four goals in four MLS games to start the season, added another Tuesday in Philadelphia's 2-1 U.S. Open Cup loss to Red Bull New York before being injured and stretchered off .

"He probably has an MCL sprain, but this is probable and we have to run the tests tomorrow to see what the verdict is going to be," Coach Peter Nowak told the MLS site after the game. "I can't tell you right now, it's too early. He feels some pain, we'll see how the swelling is going to come. He just got hit in (a) stationary (position) and his (left) leg actually got shifted to the right. It was a late play, that's why (Andrew Boyens) got the yellow. (Le Toux) already played the ball and then got kicked."

I'll provide an update on Le Toux's status later in the day, assuming the Union releases more information.

In other news this morning:

*Excellent article from the San Diego Union-Tribune's Mark Ziegler on Galaxy reserve and San Diego County native Jovan Kirovski as his playing days wind down. Kirovski never fulfilled his potential. I recall talking to him at the outset of his first Galaxy stint way back in 2004 and he said then his goal was to make it back into the national team picture. Despite scoring eight goals in his first MLS season that never really happened.

*For what it's worth Brazil has reclaimed the top spot from Spain in the latest FIFA rankings released today. The U.S. is 14th, up two places, and six behind England, the Americans' first World Cup opponent. Complete table here.

*Speaking of international football, don't miss the last of the UEFA Champions League semifinals today (11:30 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel) when defending champion Barcelona seeks to claw back a 3-1 first leg deficit to meet Bayern Munich in the final. Bayern beat Lyon Tuesday.

*Meanwhile, the under the radar CONCACAF equivalent wraps up today with Pachuca seeking to overcome a 2-1 deficit to Cruz Azul (5 p.m. FSC).

*Cal State Northridge announced today it has signed seven players to national letters of intent. The main prize: the aptly named Sam Ball of Westlake High who was named Marmonte League MVP last season after scoring a record 22 goals. Other locals signed were midfielder Carlos Benavides of Woodland Hills' El Camino Real High and defender Shawn Berenji of Sunland's Village Christian High.

*Chivas USA hosts a soccer tournament before its May 8 game against the Houston Dynamo at the HDC. The $195 fee includes five tickets to the game. More info here.

*Finally, the Conejo Valley-based Santos FC Academy is moving to Oak Park and merging its two U-13 boys teams under the auspices of the California Stars Soccer Club of Calabasas.

From the news release:

Santos FC Academy plans to further develop these existing teams and build the boys and girls under 11-14 teams with community players, and welcomes youth soccer players to Wednesday & Friday clinics at Oak View High School Field from 5:30-7:00. Cost is $15 per person. Tryouts for the U13 Silver & Bronze teams are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-7:30pm.

More information here.

UCLA product Michael Stephens, seen here fending off Real Salt Lake's Tony Beltran (another former Bruin) Saturday, had a solid MLS debut (AP Photo).

*Reporter Phil Collin spoke to Galaxy rookie Michael Stephens (and also learned more about the severity of the injury midfielder Sean Franklin sustained in the game).

*If you haven't voted in Tuesday's poll regarding strikers Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez and their World Cup chances go here.

The Galaxy face the Wizards Saturday in Kansas City and striker Kei Kamara of Lawndale. In this YouTube video interview, Kamara explains why he chose to sign a new contract with the club:

In other news:

*As expected, the U.S. will hold its pre-World Cup camp on the East Coast. The eight-day camp begins May 15 at Coach Bob Bradley's alma mater, Princeton University. The U.S. meets the Czech Republic May 25 in East Hartford, Conn., and Turkey May 29 in Philadelphia.

*The Los Angeles Unified School District, Chivas USA, the LA84 Foundation and the Los Angeles Dodgers will announce today a major fund-raising effort for competitive athletic activities in the district. The goal is to off-set the 25 percent budget cut the budget-strapped district was recently forced to announce by raising $1.3 million to support the more than 35,000 student athletes in 72 schools across the city.

*The second largest beach soccer event in the world returns to Oceanside May 15-16. More than 20,000 people will hit the beach at Oceanside Harbor for the Beach Soccer Championships. Register/more info here.

*Also next month, the fourth annual Croatian Small Goals tournament is back May 20 as the Croatian Hall of San Pedro hosts its 20th annual Independence Day Street Party.

The registration fee is $300 for six-sided teams in two divisions, competitive and recreational.

Games will consist of 5 field players and one goalie per team. More information at 310-548-1446 Ext: 107.

In 60 seconds or less.

The Galaxy shot blanks Sunday in Arizona, the USMNT decamped from Carson Sunday, David Beckham played all of nine minutes Sunday for AC Milan, while local high schools are increasingly losing players to the Chivas USA and Galaxy academies and negotiations between MLS and the players union over a new collective bargaining agreement took a turn for the worse over the weekend.

Also:
Chivas USA have headed to Arizona today as well, but beat San Diego Boca FC of the National Premier Soccer League twice at Home Depot Center Saturday, winning two 60-minute scrimmages by the score of 5-1 and 3-1 respectively.

Chivas USA lineup (first game) - Dan Kennedy, Ante Jazic, Carlos Borja, Emilio Viades, Carey Talley, Jorge Flores, Marcelo Saragosa, Blair Gavin, Mariano Trujillo, Justin Braun, Maykel Galindo

Goals:
SDB - 12'
CHV - Carlos Borja (Mariano Trujillo) 22'
CHV - Marcelo Saragosa (Trujillo) 27
CHV - Jorge Flores (Ante Jazic, Blair Gavin) 36'
CHV - Carey Talley (Trujillo) 38'CHV - Maykel Galindo (Trujillo) 58'

Chivas USA lineup (second game) - Jon Conway (Jose Manuel Miranda, 31), Kevin Tangney, Claudio Suárez, Yamith Cuesta, Miguel Sanchez, Amaury Nuñez (Jesus Ochoa 31), Ben Zemanski, Chris Ross, Cesar Zamora, Chukwudi Chijindu (Armando Ochoa 45), Artur Aghasyan

Goals:
CHV - Chukwudi Chijindu (unassisted) 12'
CHV - Artur Aghasyan (Chris Ross, Chijindu) 25'
CHV - Armando Ochoa (Kevin Tangney) 49'

Finally, a Chicago-based sports marketing company, Cardenas Marketing Network, has signed a four-year agreement with the Argentine Football Association to produce national team games in the U.S. and some European nations. The first game will take place in the U.S. after the World Cup.

"It is encouraging to know that Argentina will have a bigger presence in the U.S., where soccer continues to grow and where South Americans have played an important role," said Julio Grondona, President of AFA and Vice President of FIFA. "We hope that this influence will continue to develop and complement the great efforts, both on the field and off, that are already in place in today's fastest growing soccer market."

Mexico, of course, already plays a series of money-spinning games in the U.S. annually.

I'll have more later on today about the Galaxy, Chivas USA and (hopefully) Seatlle Sounders' injury issues after training.

It does, however, sound like Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid has first-choice back-up (yes, you read that right) goalkeeper Chris Eyelander available for the big game against Chivas USA at Home Depot Center.

Here's a little preview from the Seattle Times this morning on the import of the game.

Meanwhile in the stupid coaching tricks department we apparently have North (Torrance) High School's boys soccer coach Matt Chavez getting fired the same day he was named Daily Breeze Coach of the Year, CD Guadalajara Coach Omar Arellano receiving a pink slip after just 17 days on the job (and right before this weekend's SuperClasico against Club America), while once and future Mexico Coach Javier Aguirre was formally introduced Thursday and immediately sought to downplay expectations by saying he was no Superman. Good luck with that tactic, Javier.

Finally, MLS gets under way early this weekend with a 4 p.m. game today between D.C. United (1-1-2) and New England (2-0-1) so those of you with fantasy soccer teams (he reminds self) get your starting lineups in order.

Here are your other (selected) options both on TV and live at Home Depot Center this weekend:

7:30 p.m. Saturday FSN San Jose-Galaxy
7:30 p.m. Saturday Prime Chivas USA-Seattle Sounders at the HDC
8 a.m. Sunday Fox Soccer Channel Everton-Manchester United (FA Cup semifinal)
11:30 a.m. Sunday FSC AC Milan-Torino
Noon Sunday KVEA CD Guadalajara-Club America
Noon Sunday Fox Sports Espanol Boca Juniors-River Plate
1 p.m. Sunday (no TV) L.A. Sol-F.C. Gold Pride at the HDC.

There are some advantages when the Internet, telephones and computer system go down simultaneously at work (keep in mind I work at a newspaper): I could remain blissfully ignorant Tuesday of the stunning Liverpool-Chelsea UEFA Champions League game until I could go home and watch it (ah, I miss the pre-blogging days some times) held on the eve of English football's most tragic day and with memories of the even more amazing Liverpool comeback in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final still fresh.

Things aren't due to be fixed at work until about 1 p.m. today so with any luck things will follow the same pattern with regard to the Manchester United-Porto game (which is a roundabout way of saying don't expect much blogging).

So let's play a little catch-up:

*Seattle's Fredy Montero will be able to fully concentrate on the Sounders game with Chivas USA after the resolution of the legal issues hanging over him.

*We won't be seeing Kasey Keller in goal for Seattle this weekend after his red card against Kansas City for handling the ball outside the box and he's still angry about it.

BTW, here's what Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid told me about Keller's ejection when I spoke to him Monday:

"His hands were in tight. I think if it's a defender that slides into an attacker in the same manner I think the referee gives him a yellow card and we move on. But because it's a goalkeeper the instinct is to say he probably tried to bat it down with his hands. It's a tough one to argue, but it it was a tough call. It's not like he had his arms extended, it's not like he threw his arms at the ball or anything like that. He basically slid into it like a defender would slide into a tackle."

*Chivas USA will hold its second "Practice in the Community" at 10 a.m. Sunday at Montebello High School, 2100 West Cleveland Ave. Fans can take photos, get autographs and meet players after the practice. It's free.

*North (Torrance) High's Andre Turoldo and Matt Chavez were named Daily Breeze Player of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively.

*Lastly, the Sol is having a not to be missed ticket sale today in recognition of tax day for Sunday's game at Home Depot Center.

Busy (and slow-starting) day working on Tuesday's column, a preview of this weekend's game of the MLS season so far: Saturday's match-up between MLS leader Chivas USA and second-place team the Seattle Sounders at Home Depot Center. I'll post that in the morning. (The Galaxy play in San Jose Saturday, BTW).

Names in the news include:

*Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who today became only the club's third to be named MLS Player of the Week after making five saves in the 0-0 draw with Chivas USA on his MLS debut. Ricketts joins Kevin Hartman and Joe Cannon as the only goalkeepers in Galaxy history to keep a clean sheet in their first-ever start for the club.

The only other Galaxy goalkeepers named MLS Player of the Week: Jorge Campos (1996) and Kevin Hartman (1999 and 2002).

*Question: Will David Beckham improve his chances of playing for England at the 2010 World Cup sitting on the bench in Milan or playing in L.A.? Daily Mail.

*Midfielder Alberto Lopez, 17, from Aurora, IL, won the nationally-televised player search Sueño MLS 2009 and will receive an invitation to join the Chicago Fire Juniors.

*South (Torrance) High's Lauren Hein was named Daily Breeze Player of the Year, while South's Brad Gomez was named Coach of the Year.

It will be an all MLS SuperLiga final with the New England Revolution, 2-0 winners over bad losers Atlante tonight, playing the Houston Dynamo Tuesday in Boston.

I only watched the last 10 minutes of the game (work intervened), but that was enough to see some ugly scenes at game's end for the second consecutive SuperLiga semifinal.

Five red cards (!) were brandished at Atlante players (several after the game) in what was a nasty conclusion.

And it was clear in the waning moments of the game Atlante were simply trying to get in some lumps with behind the legs two-footed tackles, late challenges and body checks.

(BTW, for those who don't know things got rambunctious at the end of Tuesday's Pachuca-Houston Dynamo game, too).

The silver lining for Chivas USA? They got knocked out by a team in the final of the tournament.

Well-moderated discussion of the game here.

Full disclosure: I'm Anglokixx in this thread.

Highlights

Also:
*USC striker Amy Rodriguez, essentially Abby Wambach's replacement, was profiled here.

*Galaxy rookie Bryan Jordan is going on loan to the USL Portland Timbers for the third time this season - until the end of the season. Will he be missed? From the Galaxy:

Jordan leads the Galaxy Reserve Team in goals this season, scoring four times in five games, including one in Monday's 2-2 draw with FC Dallas.

*And for those with nothing better to do at 8 p.m. Monday tune to Fox 11 to see whether the winner of the "Choice Male Athlete" award at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards is David Beckham, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Eli Manning or Tiger Woods.for the award. Woo hoo!

Chivas USA lost Thursday to the Red Bulls.

Said Chivas USA Coach Preki:

"We had six, seven, great chances in the second half that we don't connect on and the final pass isn't good enough or the shot goes straight to the goalkeeper. We didn't manage to break them down. They had one play in the second half and that's it. We were solid defensively. We didn't give too many things away. That's how it goes."

Over in Galaxyland, Bryan Jordan has joined the Portland Timbers on loan.

The best thing about San Jose returning to MLS: Road Trip!

From the (edited) Galaxy press release:

For just $65 per person, fans can purchase the package which will include one ticket to the Galaxy's game against their Northern California rivals, round trip transportation from Home Depot Center to McAfee Coliseum and admittance to a special Galaxy Travel Package Tailgate, with complementary food and beverages, which will be held in the parking lot of McAfee Coliseum prior to the game.

Following the game, buses will depart from McAfee Coliseum at 10:30 p.m. and are scheduled to arrive back at Home Depot Center at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday less than nine hours prior to the start if the U.S. National Team's inaugural 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying match against Barbados, which begins at 2 p.m. at Home Depot Center.

Vist http://la.galaxy.mlsnet.com/t106/pdf/2008/galaxy_sanjose.pdf for an order form which must be faxed to (310) 630-2251 by Tuesday.

Tip of the hat to fans who attend both games.

Congrats to Loyola Marymount Coach Paul Krumpe.

From the LMU press release:

Loyola Head Men¹s Soccer Coach Paul Krumpe is one of 14 former students who will be included in the inaugural class for the West High School Hall of Fame in Torrance. Krumpe and the rest of the class will be inducted at a dinner and ceremony on Friday at Los Verdes Country Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Krumpe is a 1982 graduate of West High School and went on to start all four
years for UCLA, co-captaining the 1985 NCAA Championship team. He then
featured on both the national and international level for the next six
years. He was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1986-1991, earning
more than 40 caps while playing in the 1990 World Cup, the 1988 Olympics,
and the 1987 Pan-American Games.

Since becoming the head coach at LMU in 1998, Krumpe has compiled a record
of 90-85-20 while leading the Lions to four successive NCAA Tournament
appearances between 2001-2004.

Finally, the Pepperdine women's soccer team added an eighth member to its 2008 recruiting class, as forward Karissa Garcia of Roseville signed an intent-to-enroll form.

Garcia, who attends Oakmont High, was co-MVP of the Sierra Foothill League in 2008 and was the MVP in 2007.

The seven previously announced recruits: midfielder/forward Elizabeth Brezden (Anaheim/Canyon High); forward Laura Cole (Whittier/La Habra High); goalkeeper Lacey Heck (Long Beach/Wilson High); defender Kelsey McGovern (Coto de Caza, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic High); defender/forward Kelsea Smith (Camarillo/Oaks Christian High); midfielder/forward Myriah Stockman (Sandy, Utah); and midfielder/forward Melissa Trammell (Yakima, Wash).

Late blogging today, since the day job got in the way - apologies.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram has named its high school Dream Team.

And the PDL Ventura County Fusion, which plays Friday night against the Fresno Fuego at home, has released UCLA striker Jason Leopoldo.

Back Friday morning with a full preview of the weekend's games.

For now, I'm watching the Lost finale.