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Galaxy's Last Minute Heroics Equalize Match
Landon Donovan: "It's a game we should've won."
Jul 23, 2010 5:05:00 AM
By Jonathan Vera
CARSON, Calif -- The first meeting of the 2010 California Clasico took place Thursday night at the Home Depot Center in a spectacle that delivered suspense and excitement. Los Angeles took a bad cue from the US National Team and gave up a goal early in the match; at a buck forty into the match to be exact.
"It was a poor start to the game," said Coach Bruce Arena. "For whatever reason, we came out sloppy in the first couple of minutes and positioned ourselves and chased the game."
Shortly after the deficit, the Galaxy woke up and started forcing on the pressure, but for the rest of the first half nothing was accomplished on scoreboard.
"It was good that we showed our resilience - bad that we put ourseves in that position to start with," said Michael Stephans.
LA continued to press on and pulled even in the second when Landon Donovan masterminded a play. In the end Edson Buddle ranked up another goal - resulting in 12 goals for the international.
A dozen goals and yet the forward was focused on a better accomplishment. The MLS Golden Boot is mere icing on the cake. "I want to win the whole thing -- the championship," said the goal scorer.
Things were going well for LA until San Jose answered back with a goal off a corner by Brandon McDonald. The clock was winding down with LA was on the brink of losing. However, Mr. Clutch - Landon Donovan- stepped up to the plate.
It was the 90th minute and Donovan scored the equalizing goal giving LA the point at home. The last-minute hero once again scored big, similar to how he did in the World Cup, by finishing off a rebound for a goal.
"I was thinking Algeria, " joked Donovan after the game. "We had a lot of pressure on them, and we kept going. At that point you keep putting balls in front of the goal. Sometimes it doesn't happen; today it did happen."
Sure, the match ended on a relatively high point, but the star midfielder was still vexed about the result of the game.
"It's a game we should've won. We were the better team, we created a lot more chances. But that's that. The game's over. It's done with."
Donovan has enough to distract him from any regret. Rumors of a transfer to Europe are constantly swirling, though he avoided commenting directly on anything.
It's now time to look to the future hectic schedule. LA has an upcoming match at home against the Puerto Rico Islanders in CONCACAF Champions Cup competition, the All-Star Game immediately following versus Manchester United in which four Galaxy players are playing, then Chicago on Sunday.
"We have a lot of games ahead of us," said Arena, responding to criticism about shifting up his roster for the match. "There's no other way to get guys minutes. Kovalenko hasn't played in a long time. Leonardo is an execellent defender and we need to put him in there. We have to play these players."
"That's the reason some of the players played tonight, to prepare for that. I think we have enough depth in our team to do that, and it will be a challenge."
Donovan was also optimistic about the strength of the Galaxy roster. "The beauty of this team is that we have 24-25 guys that are very capable, contributing throughout the year. You've seen all sorts of guys step in and help and it's going to continue to be that way.
Arena has also indicated to his star that action will be taken to preserve his energy, but the Champions Cup is an international competition the team is gunning to win.
"[I'm] expecting to play the whole game on Tuesday," Donovan said, referring to the game versus the Islanders. "Wednesday, I think we'll see how I feel; obviously not a lot."
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
"It was a poor start to the game," said Coach Bruce Arena. "For whatever reason, we came out sloppy in the first couple of minutes and positioned ourselves and chased the game."
Shortly after the deficit, the Galaxy woke up and started forcing on the pressure, but for the rest of the first half nothing was accomplished on scoreboard.
"It was good that we showed our resilience - bad that we put ourseves in that position to start with," said Michael Stephans.
LA continued to press on and pulled even in the second when Landon Donovan masterminded a play. In the end Edson Buddle ranked up another goal - resulting in 12 goals for the international.
A dozen goals and yet the forward was focused on a better accomplishment. The MLS Golden Boot is mere icing on the cake. "I want to win the whole thing -- the championship," said the goal scorer.
Things were going well for LA until San Jose answered back with a goal off a corner by Brandon McDonald. The clock was winding down with LA was on the brink of losing. However, Mr. Clutch - Landon Donovan- stepped up to the plate.
It was the 90th minute and Donovan scored the equalizing goal giving LA the point at home. The last-minute hero once again scored big, similar to how he did in the World Cup, by finishing off a rebound for a goal.
"I was thinking Algeria, " joked Donovan after the game. "We had a lot of pressure on them, and we kept going. At that point you keep putting balls in front of the goal. Sometimes it doesn't happen; today it did happen."
Sure, the match ended on a relatively high point, but the star midfielder was still vexed about the result of the game.
"It's a game we should've won. We were the better team, we created a lot more chances. But that's that. The game's over. It's done with."
Donovan has enough to distract him from any regret. Rumors of a transfer to Europe are constantly swirling, though he avoided commenting directly on anything.
It's now time to look to the future hectic schedule. LA has an upcoming match at home against the Puerto Rico Islanders in CONCACAF Champions Cup competition, the All-Star Game immediately following versus Manchester United in which four Galaxy players are playing, then Chicago on Sunday.
"We have a lot of games ahead of us," said Arena, responding to criticism about shifting up his roster for the match. "There's no other way to get guys minutes. Kovalenko hasn't played in a long time. Leonardo is an execellent defender and we need to put him in there. We have to play these players."
"That's the reason some of the players played tonight, to prepare for that. I think we have enough depth in our team to do that, and it will be a challenge."
Donovan was also optimistic about the strength of the Galaxy roster. "The beauty of this team is that we have 24-25 guys that are very capable, contributing throughout the year. You've seen all sorts of guys step in and help and it's going to continue to be that way.
Arena has also indicated to his star that action will be taken to preserve his energy, but the Champions Cup is an international competition the team is gunning to win.
"[I'm] expecting to play the whole game on Tuesday," Donovan said, referring to the game versus the Islanders. "Wednesday, I think we'll see how I feel; obviously not a lot."
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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