Donovan Hangs Around to Defeat Galaxy, 3-1
Landon Donovan will be heading to the airport this morning, setting out on a long journey to Argentina.
Before leaving though, the Redlands teenager wanted to give San Jose fans something to remember him in his absence.
That something turned out to be two neatly wrapped goals Saturday night, the third and fourth of his rookie Major League Soccer season, as the Earthquakes defeated the Galaxy, 3-1, in San Jose.
Donovan is barely 19, but already he is making his mark in MLS.
He is doing so on the international level, too.
In 1999, he was on the U.S. team that finished fourth in the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in New Zealand. What he got out of that was the golden ball as the tournament’s most valuable player.
In 2000, he was on the U.S. team that finished fourth at the Sydney Olympics, the Americans’ best performance ever.
Now, after serving an apprenticeship of sorts in the German Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, Donovan is starting to write his name large in MLS.
And, just as that is happening, he begins a few weeks’ hiatus from the league today when he joins the U.S. under-20 national team that will be competing in the FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina later this month.
Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid had hoped that Donovan might leave before Saturday’s game--that’s how much he respects the youngster’s ability.
Donovan, who already has played for and scored for the full U.S. national team, was certainly the difference in front of an appreciative Spartan Stadium crowd of 13,361.
He scored the game’s first goal in the 31st minute, taking a through pass from Danish midfielder Ronnie Ekelund and then rounding Galaxy goalkeeper Matt Reis before steering the ball into the open net.
He also closed out the scoring with a 20-yard shot in the 90th minute off a spectacular heel pass from Ronald Cerritos, to underline the Earthquakes’ superiority over the Galaxy this season.
San Jose (7-2-3) opened its season with a 3-2 win over Los Angeles at the Rose Bowl, where Donovan made his league debut.
For the Galaxy (5-4-3), it was a game of missed chances, including a dramatic bicycle kick from Mauricio Cienfuegos that sailed just over the crossbar in the 80th minute.
Los Angeles created a couple of good scoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes but went into the locker room at halftime trailing, 1-0.
Luis Hernandez bent a free kick over the San Jose defensive wall early in the game, but the ball skidded just wide of the left post.
A short while later, Cobi Jones, who had missed the previous game while nursing a hamstring and groin strain, set off on a run down the right wing before crossing the ball to Hernandez in front of the Earthquakes’ net.
The Mexican striker, only six yards out, got his head to the ball, but San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon somehow managed to get his hand to Hernandez’s header and deflected the ball up and over the crossbar.
Even Hernandez had to admire the save and told Cannon so.
San Jose came close to scoring when Ian Russell blasted a volley just wide and then Donovan made up for all the misses by showing just how to put the ball in the net.
Russell made it 2-0 in the 55th minute, but all the Galaxy had to show for its night’s work was a goal by Sasha Victorine off a header in the 67th minute.
In other MLS games Saturday:
Miami 5, Kansas City 1--The defending league champion Wizards were trounced by the Eastern Division-leading Fusion in the rain at Fort Lauderdale, where a crowd of 9,154 saw Alex Pineda Chacon and Diego Serna each score twice and Preki net the other goal for Miami (10-1-1). Kansas City (5-5-1), which plays the Galaxy at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, got a penalty kick goal from Matt McKeon.
Dallas 3, D.C. United 0--Forward Bobby Rhine scored one goal and assisted on two others and goalkeeper Matt Jordan earned his fifth shutout of the season, as the Burn (5-5-1) won in front of 11,114 at Dallas. Ryan Suarez and Antonio “Chivas” Martinez also scored and Ariel Graziani had two assists. D.C. United (3-7-0) lost its fifth in a row.
New England 3, Tampa Bay 0--Backup goalkeeper Jeff Causey, filling in for injured starter Juergen Sommer, earned the shutout for the Revolution (3-6-1) in front of 15,468 at Foxboro, Mass. Two first-half goals by Wolde Harris and an other in the second half by Johnny Torres were enough to sink the Mutiny (2-9-1), which lost its sixth in a row. The Revolution lost Sommer to a season-ending injury when he ruptured his Achilles’ tendon during training on Friday.
Chicago 1, Columbus 0--Taking a pass from Peter Nowak, Jamar Beasley beat Crew goalkeeper Tom Presthus and scored the game’s only goal as the Central Division-leading Fire (6-3-2) edged the Crew (2-4-4) in front of 15,233 at Chicago. It was the fifth shutout of the season for Fire goalkeeper Zach Thornton.
In Women’s United Soccer Assn. games:
Atlanta 2, Washington 1--Goals by Emily Burt and Kylie Bivens led the Beat (4-1-4) past the Freedom (4-3-2) in front of 19,133, Atlanta’s second-largest home crowd of the season. Mia Hamm scored for Washington, beating U.S. national team teammate Briana Scurry with a penalty kick low to Scurry’s right.
San Diego 3, Boston 1--The Spirit (2-4-2) ended its three-game losing streak and scored a season-high three goals while coming from behind to win in front of 5,436 at San Diego. Traci Arkenberg, Shannon Boxx and Mercy Akide scored for the Spirit after Keri Raygor had given the Breakers (2-4-3) a first-half lead.
