There’s a Lesson for the Galaxy in Real Madrid
Two weeks have passed since Real Madrid made its brief stopover in Los Angeles, where it dismantled the Galaxy at the Home Depot Center before heading for the Far East.
In that time, the Galaxy has played two games, won neither, made no coaching changes, signed no new players, shown little sign of doing either and pretty much puttered along in a business-as-usual mode.
Small wonder then that the Major League Soccer club remains largely out of the news, invisible even in its own city.
During the same 14 days, Real Madrid:
* Received an offer from Inter Milan for Portuguese midfielder and 2001 FIFA world player of the year Luis Figo, the Italian club saying it would give Figo, 32, a two-year, $8-million contract.
* Was told by the Brazilian Football Federation that it would not approve the transfer of 21-year-old forward Robinho from Santos unless Real Madrid paid in full the $50-million buyout clause on Robinho’s contract.
* Announced that it would play an MLS all-star team at its Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Aug. 23.
* Revealed that left back and World Cup winner Roberto Carlos would try to secure dual citizenship of Brazil and Spain to free up one of the three places allowed to non-European Union players under Spanish league rules.
* Gave Robinho, a player it had pursued for months, a full physical in Sao Paulo, even though the forward was under contract to Santos.
* Was given a reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, after which midfielder David Beckham said a hamstring injury he’d suffered in the Galaxy game would prevent him from playing in China.
* Scored a 3-2 victory over the Chinese club Beijing Guo’an on a waterlogged pitch at Beijing Workers’ Stadium, after which Figo said he wanted to play the final year of his contract with Real.
* Heard team captain and Spanish international Raul state, after the team’s arrival in Japan, that Real would not take it easy on Tokyo Verdy, despite the Japanese club’s leaking goals at a prodigious rate.
* Lost, 3-0, to Tokyo Verdy in a game in which Beckham got into a heated argument with Verdy’s Toda and accused him of spitting in his face, a charge Toda denied.
* Witnessed Brazilian striker Ronaldo score twice in Tokyo in a 3-1 victory over Jubilo Iwata of the J-League, after which substitute Figo said he might have to leave Real if he didn’t get more playing time.
* Heard English defender Jonathan Woodgate, who was acquired from Newcastle United for $24 million in 2004 but has yet to play a competitive match, say he had fully recovered from a thigh injury and might join the team at its training camp in Austria this month.
* Surprised everyone Friday by signing Brazilian forward Julio Baptista, 23, from fellow Spanish club Sevilla for $24.2 million, plus $6 million more in performance bonuses. Baptista, a converted defensive midfielder who scored 38 goals in the last two seasons, had been eagerly sought by Arsenal.
* Finished its Asian tour with a 3-0 victory over Thailand’s under-23 national team in Bangkok. In all, the six-game tour of the U.S. and Asia netted Real Madrid a reported $25 million.
* Arrived back in Madrid on Sunday and announced that it had finally concluded the Robinho saga by acquiring the striker from Santos for $30 million and had signed him to a five-year contract, the buyout clause with Santos having been successfully negotiated. The deal made Robinho the club’s third-most expensive signing after Zinedine Zidane and Figo
* Sold Argentine defender Walter “the Wall” Samuel to Inter Milan on Monday for $19.35 million after acquiring the 27-year-old from AS Roma for $26.6 million in July 2004.
* Introduced Baptista, who glories in the nickname La Bestia -- the Beast, to its fans Monday at Santiago Bernabeu stadium, where Florentino Perez, Real Madrid’s president, said of adding Baptista and Robinho to the Brazilian duo of Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo: “For everyone, Brazil signifies magic and fantasy in football, and that’s why we’ve tried to bring players from there into our team.”
* Learned that Malcolm Glazer, the U.S. owner of Manchester United, would approve of any move by Coach Alex Ferguson to sign English striker Michael Owen from Real Madrid for an estimated $20 million, $6 million more than Real paid Liverpool for him last year. Arsenal and Liverpool might also join the chase.
* Had no comment on word out of Italy that Figo would be joining Samuel in making the move from Real Madrid to Inter Milan by Thursday or sooner.
All this in only two weeks. Real Madrid and the clubs that move in its orbit make news almost daily, even in the off-season. The Primera Liga’s 2005-06 season does not start for a few weeks, and then the presses will really roll.
“We’ve got the whole of August in front of us,” Emilio Butragueno, the team’s vice president and sporting director, said Monday of additional player moves. “Don’t rule it out.”
Contrast this to the Galaxy and to MLS in general, where all is quiet not only on the western front but all other fronts too. The most pressing of the problems facing the league midway through its 10th season is the need for greater exposure.
The league is doing many things well, but breaking through media indifference, particularly on network television, is its greatest challenge.
It took Real Madrid half a century to become known worldwide.
It was not until the 1950s, with the advent of the European Cup and the signing of big-name international stars, that the club caught the fans’ imagination.
Unless it starts making some meaningful news regularly, it will take the Galaxy even longer.
