Cancellation Brings Shot at Open Title
This is the week the Galaxy was to have left for Spain to take part in the FIFA World Club Championship, which ended up being canceled.
Instead, Coach Sigi Schmid’s team tonight will be in San Francisco, playing the San Jose Earthquakes in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup.
It isn’t exactly what the players had in mind, but at least it gives them a chance to win another trophy to go alongside the CONCACAF championship they won in January.
The Galaxy needs three more victories to win the Open Cup for the first time. It was a quarterfinalist in 1999 and lost in the semifinals last year.
If the Galaxy defeats the Earthquakes, it will play either the defending Open Cup champion Chicago Fire or the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the A-League in the semifinals Aug. 21 or 22.
The Fire, which knocked out the Galaxy in last year’s semifinals, plays the Riverhounds tonight at McCully Soccer Field in Chicago.
In the other quarterfinals, D.C. United, winner of the Open Cup in 1996, will host the A-League’s Richmond Kickers, winner of the Open Cup in 1995, and the New England Revolution will host the Columbus Crew.
The U.S. Open Cup winner will receive $100,000 while the runner-up will get $50,000--both figures a far cry from the $1 million minimum the Galaxy would have received by going to Spain this week.
The Galaxy is coming off a 3-2 loss last week to the Revolution at Foxboro, Mass.
After that dismal performance, Schmid made his feelings clear.
“There was no excuse tonight, we came here and gave up three goals,” he said. “As a coach, you would rather lose than give the game away, and tonight we gave the game away.”
The Galaxy already has done so twice against the Earthquakes this season, losing, 3-2, at the Rose Bowl in the Major League Soccer season opener April 7 and again, 3-1, at San Jose on June 9.
Luis Hernandez, who scored both goals against the Revolution, will not play tonight because he was banned from this year’s tournament after a foul on Chicago’s Peter Nowak in last year’s semifinals.
Schmid believes the punishment meted out by U.S. Soccer--the equivalent of a five-game suspension if the Galaxy reaches the final--was excessive.
The Galaxy also will be without rookie forward Brian Mullan, who has been sidelined for two months and will undergo ankle surgery in Long Beach today. It is doubtful he will be available again this season.
Galaxy Tonight
What: U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals
Who: San Jose Earthquakes
vs. Galaxy
Where: Negoesco Field, University of San Francisco
When: 8 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports World and Fox Sports World Espanol
