Galaxy Can’t Afford to Get Comfortable
Sigi Schmid can’t afford to dwell on what might have been, but it surely has crossed the Galaxy coach’s mind that had things been different, he and his team would not be here tonight for Game 3 of Major League Soccer’s playoff semifinals.
Lately, the what ifs have been many. For instance:
* If the playoffs were two-game series, as MLS coaches desire, instead of three-game series, as league officials demand, the Galaxy already would have qualified for Sunday’s championship match in Columbus, Ohio, on the strength of its 1-1 tie in Game 1 and 1-0 victory in Game 2 over the Chicago Fire.
* If total goals constituted the first tiebreaker in a two-game series, the Galaxy already would be through to the final.
* If goals on the road counting double constituted the second tiebreaker, the Galaxy also would have advanced, thanks to Luis Hernandez’s goal in Chicago last Wednesday night.
* If referee Kevin Stott had allowed Cobi Jones’ apparently legitimate goal to stand during overtime of Game 1, tonight’s game at Soldier Field would not have been necessary.
Instead, Los Angeles has to play the Fire again, knowing that its four-points-to-one lead can be erased by a Fire victory, and that the series then would go to a sudden-death tiebreaker and, if necessary, penalty kicks.
“You try not to dwell on the what ifs,” Schmid said. “Obviously, we’d be a lot more comfortable if it was all over.”
Chicago, the MLS champion in 1998 and runner-up last season, has been the more aggressive team in the series. The Fire has outshot the Galaxy, 32-22, and has created more scoring chances.
“The last game, we did a good job of cutting down on that,” Schmid said, “especially for about the first 60 minutes or so. After that, fatigue entered into it and [the Fire’s halftime addition of] Jamar Beasley had a positive impact for them.”
Chances are, Beasley, the older brother of Fire and U.S. national team forward DaMarcus Beasley, will start tonight because midfield playmaker Peter Nowak is sidelined by a right hamstring strain.
“It changes the complexion of their play,” Schmid said. “Obviously, they’re going to miss [Nowak].”
Chicago has added incentive because earlier this season, Los Angeles knocked the Fire out of the U.S. Open Cup in the semifinals. The Fire’s cause will be helped if U.S. national team forward Ante Razov returns from a turned ankle.
All the Galaxy needs, meanwhile, is a tie, although playing for one can be a dangerous gamble.
“I don’t think you go into the game wanting to tie,” Schmid said. “You play as normal. I think the thing we do is, we go in to play to zero, because we know if we play to zero we’re going to come out OK. So we play to zero and we look for [scoring chances] on the counter.” Hernandez will regain his starting position, having yielded it to rookie Brian Mullan after arriving late for Game 2.
The Mexican striker scored the tying goal in the first game and set up Peter Vagenas’ overtime winner in the second.
Mullan, back after four months’ recovery from ankle surgery, will play, however.
“Brian gave us a great 60 minutes,” Schmid said. “The first 45, he was very busy and active. In the second half, his heart was there, but you could see the gas tank was empty. Coming off the bench, he could certainly spark us because he’s a very good counter-attacking player.” The Galaxy can only hope that history does not repeat itself.
“We’re in the same position we were in last year,” Schmid said.
That was when Los Angeles led Kansas City, four points to one, going into the third game of the semifinals, only to lose that game and then the tiebreaker to the eventual champion Wizards.
“We now have the benefit of experience,” Schmid added. “Most of these guys were on that [2000] team.”
And a few of them also realize that this might be their best chance to get back to the title game and lay low the ghosts of championship-game losses in 1996 and 1999.
“We shouldn’t relax and/or play defensively,” said midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos, who with Jones and defender Greg Vanney played on the original Galaxy team.
If the Galaxy does get to Sunday’s game, the opponent will be either the Miami Fusion or the San Jose Earthquakes, which play tonight in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in Game 3 of their semifinal series. The Fusion won the first game, 1-0, at home, then was trounced at San Jose on Sunday, 4-0.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
GALAXY TONIGHT
AT CHICAGO
Fox Sports Net,
5:30 PDT
Site--Soldier Field, Chicago.
Radio--KRLA 870 and KTNQ 1020 (Spanish).
Update--The Galaxy leads the semifinal series, four points to one, and needs only a tie in this game to advance to Sunday’s MLS championship game. If Chicago wins, the teams will play a 20-minute sudden-death series tiebreaker. If that doesn’t produce a winner, penalty kicks will be used.
