Galaxy’s Stars Think Sydney

To the Galaxy, tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Mutiny means the chance to take over first place in Major League Soccer’s Western Division.

To Dan Califf, Peter Vagenas and Sasha Victorine, it means much more.

The three Galaxy players are fighting to win places on the U.S. Olympic team and time is running short. Clive Charles, the Olympic coach, has to name his roster by Aug. 14.

Each MLS game, therefore, is one more opportunity for players to show why they deserve to go to Sydney in September.

“We’d like to see them here with us for the playoffs,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said Friday after the team had gone through an hour’s training in the sauna-like atmosphere at Raymond James Stadium.

“But an opportunity to play in the Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing. I think it’s a great experience. All three of them deserve to be there. They’ve all played well enough.”

Califf, 20, from Orange, appears to have the strongest chance among the three. A first-round draft pick in February and the sixth player selected overall, he worked his way into the starting lineup by May and has played in 12 of the Galaxy’s 23 games.

“The reason we drafted him was we felt that he was going to be a quality defender,” Schmid said. “He’s probably the youngest [regularly] starting player in the league.

“My expectation was that he was going to be able to step in [to the lineup right away] and would be somebody who could anchor us in the back. I felt he and [the Chicago Fire’s] Carlos Bocanegra were the two best defenders in the draft.”

Tonight, Califf will be assigned to guard the league’s top goal scorer, Mamadou Diallo. Califf shut him down when the Galaxy beat the Mutiny, 2-1, at the Rose Bowl on June 17.

“I’m preparing myself for a real physical battle,” Califf said. “I think whoever wins that battle is going to have a good chance of winning the game.”

And the 2000 Summer Games?

“I think being a starter [in MLS] has helped my chances tremendously,” Califf said. “It’s given me a lot of experience and I’m sure that has influenced Clive quite a bit.”

Vagenas, 22, of Pasadena, has helped his cause with excellent play in recent weeks. Scoring three MLS goals hasn’t hurt, either.

“Peter has shown that he’s a good player,” Schmid said. “He’s a player with a good soccer brain. He can play the game. People sometimes think he’s not big enough or strong enough, but he’s crafty, he understands the game, he’s got good quickness.”

Said Vagenas: “I played every minute of every game over the last two years [on the U.S. team that qualified for Sydney]. I figure while I was there I did what I could. I hope that’s enough.”

The cause of Victorine, 22, was hampered because of injury just before the Olympic qualifying tournament, but his solid play in the defensive midfield for the Galaxy lately has revived his Olympic chances.

“Sasha’s strength, in my mind, has always been as a midfielder,” Schmid said. “He’s shown that he can play on the MLS level. I think the year’s been good for him.”

Charles’ decision will determine that.