Galaxy Offense Knows the Score
This is not going to come as good news for the goal-starved Galaxy, but tonight at Kansas City it runs into the stingiest goalkeeper in Major League Soccer. And also the league’s most impenetrable defense.
In 16 games this season, Tony Meola has a league-record-tying 11 shutouts. He and the Kansas City Wizards’ defense have given up only 12 goals.
It’s an intimidating statistic for the struggling Galaxy, which has scored only five goals in its last six games.
But don’t expect Meola to feel any pity for Los Angeles.
Meola, 31, is on a mission. He is intent on reestablishing his place on the U.S. national team and going to what would be his third World Cup--in Japan and South Korea in 2002.
It helps, of course, that U.S. Coach Bruce Arena was Meola’s coach at the University of Virginia, but it’s Meola’s play that will earn him the spot, even if it’s as a backup to starter Kasey Keller and second-choice Brad Friedel.
“It’s always an honor to represent the national team, no question,” Meola said. “I think with Bruce Arena, I certainly have an ally, a guy who knows me, who knows my willingness to win every time I go on the field.
“I’m sure if any coach out there is going to consider me, it’s going to be him. As our national team coach, we have to trust his opinion and the decisions he makes. Whatever those decisions are, I respect them 100%.”
With Meola in the nets, the Wizards have not given up a goal at Arrowhead Stadium in seven games--640 minutes--since the home opener against the Chicago Fire. Meola’s 11 shutouts have tied the MLS record set by the Galaxy’s Kevin Hartman and the Dallas Burn’s Matt Jordan last season.
Nevertheless, Meola said he is not satisfied.
“I’m never really happy with the way it is,” he said. “I think once you’re happy with your level, then that’s where you’re going to stay all the time. I want to continue to improve, but I do think I’m playing better than I’ve ever played. I feel better than I’ve ever felt.
“I never thought that a knee injury, like I had last year, would be the motivation, but it has been. I guess things happen for a reason in every form of life.”
In the Galaxy’s favor tonight, perhaps, is that Kansas City will be playing its third game in eight days and the team has more than its share of older players. Preki turns 37 today, Mo Johnston also is 37, Peter Vermes and Alex Bunbury are 33, and Uche Okafor is 32.
“We do have an older team,” Meola said. “I’m a young 31, so I’m at the lower end of the over-30 group.”
In the Wizards’ favor is that the team is close-knit and organized under Coach Bob Gansler, unlike the Galaxy, which is still trying to integrate new players.
The Wizards have five players who have played every minute of every game this season. The Galaxy has two, goalkeeper Hartman and midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos.
“It certainly helps our team in terms of cohesiveness,” Meola said. “You’ve seen teams like Los Angeles and especially D.C. United lose guys to national teams and Olympic teams and whatnot and it’s certainly affected them. We haven’t had that problem. For us, the only guy who has been gone has been Miklos [Molnar, the Wizards’ Danish national team forward], so we’ve been pretty fortunate in that regard.
“We’ve also been pretty fortunate with injuries, although right now there are a few guys banged up. But for the most part, we’ve been pretty healthy.”
Kansas City started the season fast but has slipped slightly. The Wizards lost in Dallas last weekend, 4-1, then managed only a 0-0 tie against the Burn at Arrowhead on Wednesday.
“We’re not naive here,” Meola said. “We know what we did at the beginning of the season, especially that undefeated [12-game] run early on, is not the norm in our league. But we certainly earned it. We deserved it. We played well enough to be undefeated after 12 games.
“Certainly this [tonight’s match] is a big game for both teams. I’m sure we both have aspirations of finishing on top of the Western Conference.”
Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid agreed.
“It’s important,” he said. “We’ve got three games left against Kansas City, so that’s nine points. We’re six points behind them, so everything is in our hands right now. If we give this one away, then it’s out of our hands, then we need help.
“I like it better when we can determine our own destiny.”
