Galaxy Has Rough Idea of What’s Next
A couple of large question marks hang over tonight’s Major League Soccer playoff game between the Galaxy and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars:
* Will the encounter at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., degenerate into a brawl, as seems possible?
* Will Galaxy striker Luis Hernandez play any part in the proceedings?
The best-of-three series started Sunday with a 1-1 tie at the Rose Bowl in a game punctuated by some overly zealous tackles and at least one near punch-up involving Hernandez and MetroStar defender Steve Jolley.
Referee Terry Vaughn called 27 fouls, gave yellow cards to four players and tossed two more, MetroStar midfielder Gilmar and Galaxy defender Paul Caligiuri.
More of the same could be in store tonight.
“Any time you see the same faces three times in a week, it’s going to get a little bit animated,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said. “For some, that’s maybe a little distasteful and for others that adds to the excitement and the drama .... It’s going to be a hard-fought series the rest of the way.”
MetroStar Coach Octavio Zambrano agreed.
“These games are particularly physical because they’re playoff matches and obviously a lot is at stake,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t expect it to subside, I expect it to continue. Certainly, the intensity will be there again.”
Whether Hernandez will be there, however, was still in doubt Tuesday evening.
The Mexican striker, nursing a hip injury, played only the final 31 minutes of regulation and the 10 minutes of overtime Sunday and Schmid said afterward that his participation in Game 2 was problematic.
“Luis is not 100% healthy,” he said. “We hoped for an emotional lift, which he helped give us. But he’s not running at nearly full speed at this stage.”
Schmid indicated that he was inclined to allow Hernandez more time to recover and have him available for Game 3 on Saturday at the Rose Bowl and the mini-game that will follow it if the series remains tied.
“We really have to see how Luis progresses,” he said. “There’s absolutely no need to play him in the game on Wednesday because we’ve got a game on Saturday.”
Zambrano isn’t necessarily buying it, believing that gamesmanship might be involved.
“[Hernandez] didn’t look injured to me, so I don’t know what his injury is all about,” he said, laughing. “He looked fine to me. We think he is an extremely dangerous player. You only have to look at his record and his performances in the World Cup to know how good a player he is. I don’t think that Luis is a player to be taken lightly and any time he comes on the field we all brace ourselves because we know that a great player is coming onto the pitch.”
Hernandez is a volatile player, but even without him in the mix tonight, chances are good that sparks will fly.
On Sunday, Galaxy striker Cobi Jones and midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos seemed to be particular targets for abuse.
On the other hand, the Galaxy did its share of fouling, with MetroStar midfielder Mark Chung the victim of five fouls, the most of any player on either team.
Zambrano said the punishment handed out by Vaughn did not reflect that.
“For our team to get four yellow cards and the other team to get none was a little bit lopsided,” he said. “I think the referee was perhaps a little bit too lenient with some of their star players, Cobi being one of them and maybe Mauricio as well.”
The pressure will be on the MetroStars tonight to do better than tie in front of their fans.
“We’re at home and we must win,” Zambrano said. “If we win, then for sure it puts us in a great position ... and then the pressure will definitely be on them. But it’s not going to be easy at the Meadowlands either.”
Whether Hernandez is available or not, Schmid is unlikely to change his tactics, although the Galaxy probably will employ the counterattack a bit more often, rather than keeping sustained pressure on the MetroStars.
“I think over the season we’ve shown that we’re a pretty good road team,” he said. “I don’t think we’re a team that hides on the road.”
