Galaxy Hopes to Go Supernova
Sigi Schmid showed commendable restraint Tuesday, but don’t expect the Galaxy to do the same tonight.
Tempted by an array of Italian dishes during a luncheon in Pasadena, the Galaxy coach settled instead on a simple pasta. He even declined dessert.
Schmid’s Galaxy team expects to feast a little better tonight. Los Angeles’ opponent in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the Seattle Sounders of the A-League. On paper, at least, the Galaxy should make a meal of them.
“Playing in the Open Cup is important to us,” Schmid said. “I want our team to get used to trying to win competitions. Winning the MLS Cup is still most important to us, but the Open Cup is also very important.
“Seattle has been a consistently good team in the A-League. They’ve got some players like Sean Henderson and Darren Sawatzky who have played in MLS. Ali John Utush, who was with us for a good part of preseason, is on that team, as well as his brother [Rashid], who was with the San Jose Earthquakes.
“All of that makes them a good team that we have to take seriously.”
The Open Cup is the nation’s oldest soccer competition, dating from 1914. A single-elimination knockout event, it is played annually and, as its name indicates, is open to all U.S. teams, professional or amateur. Matchups are made in a blind draw and the chance of small clubs upsetting pro teams is what gives the tournament its glamour.
Last season, for instance, three-time MLS champion Washington D.C. United was knocked out by the Charleston Battery of the A-League, and it was another A-League team, the Rochester Raging Rhinos, that won the trophy.
This season, 154 clubs, including all 10 MLS clubs, entered the competition. The MLS teams were exempt until the round of 32, which will be played across the U.S. tonight.
For the Galaxy, victory over the Sounders would advance the team to a July 25 round-of-16 match against the winner of tonight’s game in San Diego between the San Diego Flash (A-League) and Riverside County Elite (D-3 League).
Tonight’s match comes at a time when the Galaxy (6-3-6 in MLS play and without a win for four games) is about to embark on its most difficult stretch of the season, with eight games in 22 days, including a nine-day trip that features games against Kansas City, Washington and Dallas.
That, said Schmid, means the entire roster will be used and all players will travel, as opposed to the normal contingent of 16.
The Galaxy will rest several players tonight, including the injured Danny Pena, but standouts Luis Hernandez, Cobi Jones, Greg Vanney, Simon Elliott, Robin Fraser and Mauricio Cienfuegos are expected to play. Matt Reis, who has been exceptional in training, will start in goal in place of Kevin Hartman.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
The Facts
* Who: Galaxy (MLS) vs. Seattle Sounders (A-League)
* What: Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match.
* Where: Cal State Fullerton
* When: 7:30 p.m.
* At stake: Winner advances to the round of 16 in the nation’s oldest soccer competition.
