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South High product Shannon Boxx s one of four U.S. players named to the squad for the games in London this summer who will have played in three or more Olympics.

Boxx, who went the full 90 in a 4-1 U.S. win over China Sunday, is one of several Southern California players on the roster.

That list also includes scoring sensation Alex Morgan (Diamond Bar), who collected two goals against China to up her total to 24 in just 39 international appearances; Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach, who scored the 135th goal of her U.S. career Sunday; UCLA product Sydney Leroux, 22, the youngest member of the squad; and forward Amy Rodriguez (USC).

Palos Verdes Estates' Christen Press, currently playing professionally in Scandanavia, was named as an alternate. She has not made an appearance for the U.S.

The goal that gave the San Jose Earthquakes a road win Wednesday night in Carson against California rivals the Galaxy came deep into second half stoppage time and was Alan "Supersub" Gordon's third consecutive late goal for the team to salvage at least a point and, in this case, a road win.

Considering Gordon played the better part of a half dozen seasons or so for the Galaxy before being traded to Chivas USA, you could be forgiven for thinking the goal held some special significance.

Not so, said the Long Beach native after the game:

"It feels amazing. I don't have any grudge against LA or anything. It doesn't feel anymore better here than somewhere else. We want points, we got points, we feel good right now.

Was it a lucky bounce?

"Of course. Forwards get lucky. I got lucky. I don't care. I put it in. End of story. Period.

I was just following up the play," he said earlier in the interview. "There was a little bit of hesitation on their part. ... The ball bounced. They hesitated. I didn't. I finished it.

Read more about Wednesday's MLS action in the previous post

Soccertown USA honors hometown soccer heroes Fritz Schmid and son, Sigi Schmid: From left, Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto; long-time AYSO referee Fritz Schmid; Valerie Schmid, wife of Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid, an original AYSO player in the inaugural season in 1964; and Roland Schmid, of Seattle, Sigi's brother, are honored Tuesday evening by the Torrance City Council for their contributions to soccer in the South Bay.

On the same evening AYSO announced Torrance would co-host the 2014 National Games in the community where the nonprofit was founded 50 years ago, the city honored long-time Torrance residents Fritz Schmid and his son, Sigi, former coach of UCLA, the Galaxy, Columbus Crew and currently, the Seattle Sounders.

Sigi Schmid moved to the city from Germany with his parents as a child and didn't move away until he took the jobs in Columbus and Seattle.

"There's a lot of East Coast guys who are discovering what we knew all along," Sigi Schmid told the City Council, "that Torrance is basically where soccer was born as an American sport and truly became engrained in the American culture. It was always part of the United States, but it was part of the immigrant (experience).

"Torrance is the birthplace of that. It's something Torrance will always be proud of and I'm proud to have been associated with it and to be associated with AYSO all these years."

Here are the pair of proclamations honoring father and son:

Inglewood resident Jose Villarreal, 18, who still lives at home with his parents, has become the first South Bay native to join the South Bay-based Galaxy from the club's youth academy.

He spent his first day on the job Monday, not so much overawed by training on the same field as the likes of David Beckham as shivering because of the torrential rain players endured.

"It was OK, but I couldn't focus it was so cold out there," he said. "It was raining. It was freezing. I couldn't feel my hands."

Welcome to the daily life of a soccer pro. With a locker right next to the absent Robbie Keane's, it's an existence Villarreal is still getting accustomed to.

He grew up cheering for his dad's Mexican team, Cruz Azul, but started paying attention to the Galaxy and MLS when David Beckham signed five years ago.

"I'm pretty excited," he said. "I've got a bunch of friends who are asking: 'When is your jersey coming out?' (he was assigned No. 33, incidentally.

"I get a lot of texts, a lot of Facebook messages, (asking) 'how does it feel to be with Beckham?'"

His answer: Don't know yet (Beckham introduced himself and that's about it so far).

American girl: Diamond Bar's Alex Morgan is emerging as the new face of U.S. women's soccer (AP Photo).

Staff Writer Larry Morgan headed out to the USMNT camp at Home Depot Center to chat with former WPS top draft pick Alex Morgan, expected to become an ever-more influential figure on a national team that, frankly, needs exciting and photogenic stars. Read the story here.

*Where are you going to watch the Galaxy's Landon Donovan and his U.S. international teammate Tim Howard face Spurs and U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel? Kickoff is at 11:30 a.m. on Fox Soccer. A preview is here.

Tweeted LD: "Getting excited for the Tottenham game Wednesday! Won't be easy...3rd game in 7 days. Time to dig deep and #WinFromWithin"

*The Euro dreams of Robbie Rogers, who grew up in Rolling Hills Estates, could come true. Rogers, who previously played in Holland as a teen before returning home a bit homesick, has signed for second tier Leeds United - providing he gets a work permit.

Tweeted Rogers: "Excited to be joining Leeds United! Really hoping my work permit gets sorted!"

*Yesterday we took a look at the Galaxy's MLS SuperDraft prospects (which are really straightforward -- wait to see what other teams do).

Chivas USA has an even simpler task: Pick fifth. That's it.

Guess who the club plucked from the fifth spot back in 2006? Rogers' good friend, with whom he played in Huntington Beach, Sacha Kljestan, now of Anderlecht.

Chivas USA also has four picks in Tuesday's Supplemental Draft.

Clearing up a few odds and ends before the weekend (that would have posted hours sooner had our soon-to-be-replaced blogging software not freaked out):

*Galaxy midfielder Michael Stephens, Chivas USA's Jorge Villafaña (formerly Flores) and UCLA midfielder Kelyn Rowe were named today to the U-23 camp set for Sunday through Jan. 25 at Carson's Home Depot Center and in Costa Rica. All but four of the 22-player roster, including Rowe, were in the December U-23 camp in Florida. Full roster, camp details here.

*The increasingly unimportant MLS Combine, a precursor to the increasingly unimportant MLS Draft, is under way in Florida.

There are several Southern California-based players involved from the likes of UCLA and Cal State Northridge. The complete roster of combine participants is here. You can watch the combine here.

*Chivas USA President Jose Domene tweeted this morning that a new player signing was imminent.

The club has also released four players who won't be missed: starting midfielder midfielder Marcos Mondaini; defender Michael Umana, a second time wash-out in MLS after featuring for Steve Sampson's Galaxy back in 2005; striker and noted braggart Victor Estupiñán, who boasted he would score 25-plus MLS goals and ended up with one; and third choice goalkeeper Sergio Arias.

*Former Chivas USA coach Thomas Rongen has joined Toronto as Academy director, the club announced today.

*Toronto also announced today that tickets for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal against the Galaxy will go on sale next Friday. Tickets start at $29. Anyone making the trek from LA?

*Hermosa Beach native Dan Tobias has joined the South Bay Force as director of coaching for the club's girls program. The Mira Costa High grad and was a two-time PAC-10 Coach of the Year at the University of Arizona during a seven-year tenure at the school.

*Glasgow Rangers manager Ally McCoist said the club turned down an inadequate offer from French club Sochaux for midfielder Maurice Edu of Fontana.

McCoist was quoted by the Associated Press as saying the bid, which he didn't disclose, "was so far away that I would be very surprised if they came back in."

Sochaux is already home to American forward Charlie Davies, who spent last year on loan with D.C. United.

"I can tell you that I want Maurice Edu to sign a new contract rather than go anywhere," McCoist said.

*There's yet more on the scandals involving FIFA and CONCACAF today:

ZURICH (AP) -- FIFA says former vice president Jack Warner peddled "inaccuracies and falsehoods" when he claimed last month that he got World Cup television rights for $1 in exchange for supporting Sepp Blatter's presidential campaigns.

FIFA confirms that Warner received Caribbean broadcasting rights for $1, though from 1986 and not -- as Warner claimed -- from 1998 when Blatter was first electe d.

FIFA says the deals had "nothing to do" with Blatter's election campaigns.

FIFA says World Cup rights were often sold until 1998 for nominal sums to maximize coverage in developing nations, and provide soccer bodies with extra revenue from selling on rights to broadcasters.

The governing body says Warner was expected to raise money for the Caribbean Football Union.

*Finally, if you only watch one game this weekend, I recommend the Manchester derby in the FA Cup third round that's set to air locally at 5 a.m. Sunday on Fox Soccer.

Enjoy what is shaping up to be another stunning winter weekend in Southern California.

Catching up on the weekend highlights:

*Lawndale's Kei Kamara is now just three goals away from last year's career high of 10 when he scored a cooly taken winner for Kansas City Saturday in the 1-0 win over D.C. United.

Watch:

*And while I didn't see a Daily Mail reporter in the press box Saturday in Carson watching the action on the field between the Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes highlighted by the perfectly written script of one Robert Kean, the English tabloid was moved to check out what was going on off the field in today's edition.

*College programs have begun play and the Loyola Marymount women got off to a promising start in Texas, beating Texas State 1-0 Sunday, following up on Friday's 3-1 defeat of No. 19-ranked Texas.

*In contrast, No. 25-ranked USC dropped two home games on the same weekend for the first time ever, a 3-1 Sunday loss to San Diego coming on the heels of Sunday's 2-1 loss to Long Beach State.

*Long Beach State is 2-0 after a 3-0 victory over Sacramento State in the 49ers' home opener Sunday afternoon at George Allen Field and the win over USC.

*Pepperdine is similarly 2-0, defeating Arizona 2-0 at Tari Frahm Rokus Field Sunday and beating Cal 2-1 in Berkeley Friday.

*The Cal State Northridge men walloped Cal State Dominguez Hills 5-0 Saturday; the CSUN women lost 2-0 to No. 9 UCLA Friday night at Matador Field.

Lastly, ESPN2 features the Tottenham Hotspur-Manchester United game at noon today.

Palos Verdes Estates' Christen Press (magicJack) was named Rookie of the Year, while Rolling Hills Estates' Whitney Engen (Western New York Flash) received the Defender of the Year honor in Women's Professional Soccer.

Engen, 24, led the regular season champions to a 13-2-2 record and missed just one game (while on national team duty) all season; Press, the reigning 2010 MAC Hermann trophy winner out of Stanford, scored eight goals for magicJack - almost one-third of the team's total - and just two behind former LA Sol striker Marta, who took the Golden Boot Award despite playing in just 14 games.

"It's a huge honor to be recognized amongst such phenomenal players," said Engen. "One of the main reasons I was even able to be nominated was because of the support and play of everyone around me."

The Flash, the regular season champion, will play the winner of Saturday's semifinal between the Philadelphia Independence and magicjack (live at 1 p.m. on Fox Sports Net) on Aug. 27 in Rochester (live at 1 p.m. on Fox Sports Net).

Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser, Jimmy Conrad and Chivas USA General manager Jose Domene yuck it up during the loosest retirement press conference in MLS history (Photo courtesy Chivas USA).

Like fans, journalists like to watch great players; players capable of fantastic quotes, we love even more.

They are far, far more rare.

Here's Chivas USA central defender Jimmy Conrad's farewell address

Athletes don't like to talk about concussions; Conrad was no exception:

"The biggest relief (now that I'm retiring) is that now I can tell everyone what happened and I can get on with my modeling career."

Jimmy, thanks for a great 13 years. Reporters everywhere will miss you.