Lots of Weekend Playtime for Hernandez
His music of choice these days is AC/DC, as evidenced by his ritualistic blasting of the hard-rock group’s songs on the boom box in the Galaxy locker room.
He has developed an affinity for the wonders of the Internet in general and America Online in particular.
And Luis Hernandez, one of Mexico’s all-time soccer greats, looked decidedly X Games-like after Wednesday’s practice at Jackie Robinson Field, riding his mammoth 4-foot-long Sector Nine skateboard, which bears the autographs of his Galaxy teammates on its underside, back to the Rose Bowl.
The Americanization of El Matador continues.
Hernandez looked like a kid without a worry in the world. Being granted permission by the Mexican Soccer Federation to remain with the Galaxy for its Game 3 match Friday at Kansas City will do that.
“Yes, I’m very happy to stay with the team,” Hernandez said. “I was hoping all along that I’d be able to stay with the team through [Game 3].”
In an unexpected move, new Mexican national team Coach Enrique Meza called up Hernandez for Mexico’s World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday in Mexico City. Meza, making his home debut, wants his most potent team on hand for a strong showing and wanted his players to report this week, putting Hernandez’s availability for Game 3 in jeopardy.
But after getting Meza’s blessing, Hernandez will play with the Galaxy in the series-deciding match before catching a flight out of Kansas City Saturday morning to join the Mexican team, making for a busy weekend.
“I talked with Enrique and explained the situation--what we are trying to do, getting a championship,” Hernandez said. “It’s going to be a long weekend, but they’re all going to be good days.”
Especially if he can get his skateboard through customs.
KUDOS FOR MLS
When the U.S. fell on its face with a last-place finish in the 1998 World Cup, American soccer officials were eager to blame Major League Soccer for supposedly eroding players’ skills and making them soft.
But two years later, with the U.S. team advancing to the semifinals of the Olympics for the first time, MLS is being praised as a developmental tool for the mostly under-23 squad.
Of the 18 players who formed the American Olympic roster, 13 play in MLS, including the Galaxy trio of Danny Califf, Peter Vagenas and Sasha Victorine, with nine of those coming through the league’s youth development program.
In fact, U.S. Olympic Coach Clive Charles credited MLS for producing Califf as the Galaxy defender wasn’t in his original roster plans.
“If it wasn’t for MLS, I think Danny certainly wouldn’t be here and we would have struggled as a team to qualify,” Charles told MLSnet.com. “He’s just played too well. We can’t leave him out.”
Neither could the Galaxy.
Califf scored the game-winner for the Galaxy in Game 2 of its semifinal series against the Wizards Tuesday night with a header off a Cobi Jones corner kick in the third minute of sudden-death overtime.
OUT BUT NOT OFF
Three-time champion Washington D.C. United was in uncharted waters as the MLS playoffs began, sitting at home after a rough season that finished with the United in last place of the Eastern Division at 8-18-6.
But the same week that clubs begin preparations for MLS Cup 2000 on their home pitch, RFK Stadium, United will begin training for a trip abroad as the club will travel to El Salvador in early November for a weeklong tour that will include three exhibition matches against first division clubs.
United will play two games, Nov. 1 and Nov. 3, in San Miguel as part of a four-team tournament attended by Luis Angel Firpo of Usultan and C.D. Aguila and C.D. Dragon, both of San Miguel.
The trip will conclude for United with a match against Alianza in San Salvador on Nov. 5.
“We’ve established a great relationship with the Salvadoran community in Washington D.C. and we want to extend that relationship to the people of El Salvador,” United Coach Thomas Rongen told MLSnet.com. “This trip will also give our players a chance to keep fit in the off-season and give me an opportunity to look at some new talent on both our team and the opposing teams.”
It will also be a homecoming for United forward Raul Diaz Arce, who is from San Miguel.
FOOT NOTES
Despite winning the Western Division and finishing as the top-seeded team for the playoffs, the Wizards were only 11th in the 12-team MLS in home attendance this season with an average crowd of 9,112.
No wonder then that Wizard investor-operator Lamar Hunt had a grandfatherly look of satisfaction after Friday night’s 0-0 draw between the Galaxy and Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium. The seemingly meager attendance of 11,815 for Game 1 of the semifinal series established a new home postseason attendance high, eclipsing the 10,174 that showed up for a quarterfinal series opener against the Colorado Rapids on Oct. 4, 1997.
But just how attendance-obsessive is Hunt?
He’s the same guy who sold tickets ($10 a seat, $15 to park) to sit at neighboring Kaufmann Stadium, the Royals’ baseball home, and watch Monday night’s NFL game between his Chiefs and the Seattle Seahawks on the big screen. He wanted to set an all-time “on-site” attendance record.
From Christina Aguilera to Tony the Tiger?
While the navel-bearing pop princess performed at halftime of last year’s MLS title match, this year’s MLS champions will rub elbows with the animated breakfast cereal icon.
MLS announced this week that immediately after the championship Oct. 15, Kellogg’s will unveil a special-edition Frosted Flakes cereal box with “Tony the Tiger on the front of the box with standout players from the winning team.”
Britney Spears must have been busy.
