Earthquakes Have a Big Surprise Waiting for Galaxy
San Jose Earthquake Coach Lothar Osiander has pulled a joker out of the deck, and just in time too.
Tonight, the team with the worst record in Major League Soccer--5-12-8--plays the Galaxy in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, and Osiander suddenly has a new striker.
It’s not just any forward, either.
The Earthquakes on Monday signed Giovanni Savarese, the fifth-leading goal scorer in MLS history, to a contract for the remainder of the season.
Savarese, who scored 51 goals in 112 MLS games before leaving last fall to join Viterbese in Italy, probably will start tonight at Cal State Fullerton when the Earthquakes try to salvage something from their season.
“I’m looking forward to having him score goals like he did in New York and New England,” Osiander said. “He has a good nose for the goal and can help us the rest of the way. I’m excited to have him, if only for a short time.”
Savarese, 29, is from Caracas, Venezuela. He played at Long Island (N.Y.) University and for the A-League’s Long Island Roughriders before joining MLS in 1996.
His success in the league led to him being called up to Venezuela’s national team and he is now a regular starter.
Savarese’s acquisition helps the Earthquakes in the absence of Salvadoran winger Ronald Cerritos, who is on injured reserve. Former Galaxy captain Dan Calichman is listed as questionable for the match because of a strained hamstring.
San Jose is unbeaten and unscored upon in Open Cup play, having shut out Stanislaus United, a third division club, 5-0, and the Richmond Kickers of the A-League, 2-0.
The Galaxy, meanwhile, shut out the A-League’s San Diego Flash, 2-0, in its only Open Cup game.
Los Angeles (11-7-7 in MLS) is coming off an impressive 5-1 victory over the Wizards in Kansas City last weekend and plays the Wizards again Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
For the moment, however, Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid’s thoughts are on the tournament at hand.
“The Open Cup is important to us too,” he said. “We’re in the round of eight, we’re in the quarterfinals, so we want to win that.
“But we also have to be aware that [Danny] Califf and Peter [Vagenas] and Sasha [Victorine] are such a big part of our team [and] in the first round of the playoffs they’re not going to be there because they’re going to be gone with the [U.S.] Olympic team.
“I don’t know if Sasha will be gone for sure, but obviously those three have a chance of going. So we might have to look at some options. The Open Cup is a good place to look and say, ‘How do we look without these three?’ ”
In other words, the Galaxy lineup tonight could well be experimental.
Luis Hernandez definitely will miss tonight’s game after returning to Monterrey, Mexico on Sunday to be with his wife, Nancy, for the birth of their third child.
His status for Saturday’s game is uncertain because he is likely to be called upon to play for Mexico in its World Cup qualifier against Canada in Mexico City next Tuesday.
The Galaxy also will be without injured goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and midfielders Danny Pena and Zak Ibsen.
