Galaxy Is Hamstrung Against the Wizards
Peter Vagenas limped around the Rose Bowl after Galaxy practice Monday morning, electrodes strapped to his sore right hamstring. The Galaxy midfielder might have had control over the intensity and speed with which the leg was stimulated, but that was all he had power over.
His leg not healing as quickly as he’d like, a frustrated Vagenas is doubtful for Wednesday night’s decisive Game 3 of the Galaxy’s first-round Major League Soccer playoff series against the Kansas City Wizards.
“It’s my worst dream come true, to be honest,” said Vagenas, who played 76 minutes of the Galaxy’s 4-1 loss at Kansas City on Saturday night.
His strained hamstring, suffered in training the week of Sept. 16, had forced him to sit out the Galaxy’s 3-2 overtime win in Game 1 last Wednesday and its 1-0 regular-season finale victory over San Jose on Sept. 21 that gave the Galaxy the Western Conference crown and the No. 1 seeding for the playoffs.
“This has been, in my opinion, the best team [in MLS] the whole season and it’s made up of great individuals, players one through 20,” said Vagenas, 24, who also missed the first eight games of the season because of a strained lower back.
But in Game 2, Kansas City picked apart the Galaxy midfield and Preki, the Wizards’ 39-year-old offense-minded midfielder, has been having his way with the Galaxy.
Preki’s five points (two goals, one assist) have him tied with Galaxy forward Carlos Ruiz (two goals, one assist) and the Columbus Crew’s Freddy Garcia (two goals, one assist) for the league’s playoff scoring lead.
Making Preki’s accomplishments against the Galaxy all the more frustrating is that Vagenas has had success containing Preki in his career.
But that was when Vagenas was sound. Should Vagenas be unable to go Wednesday, the Galaxy may duplicate its lineup of Game 1, when it started Chris Albright at forward, moved Cobi Jones to the midfield and had midfielder Simon Elliott pick up most of the defensive duties against Preki.
Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid will also have to determine which way to go with playmaking midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos, whom he benched to start the second half of Game 2.
Cienfuegos, like Jones an original member of the Galaxy from 1996, said the entire team was to blame for Saturday’s blowout loss, not just the midfield.
“We came onto the field thinking we were the superior team,” Cienfuegos said. “It was one of those nights where you take the field believing in yourself but at the end, nothing works.”
And with the Galaxy midfield in seeming disarray, the biggest question before Game 3 involves Vagenas and his hamstring.
“As far as the team’s concerned, my injury is the least of our [worries],” said Vagenas, who limped through his first goal-less MLS season after getting three goals in each of his first two MLS campaigns. “I have every faith that these guys will get the job done.”
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Meza Fired By Atlas
Enrique Meza, former coach of Mexico’s national team, was fired as coach of Atlas of Guadalajara after the Mexican league team was routed, 5-2, at home Sunday by Queretaro and fell to 3-7. No replacement was named.
Meanwhile, Paraguayan striker Jose Cardozo remained the league’s top goal scorer when he increased his tally to 13 goals in 10 games by banging three past hapless goalkeeper Jorge Campos in Toluca’s 5-0 rout of Puebla.
Club America remained unbeaten at 8-0-2 when it tied Monterrey, 0-0, but the defending league champion did lose interim Coach Mario Carillo, who stepped aside to make way for the return of Manuel Lapuente, who had taken a two-month leave of absence.
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South Korea Wins Again
South Korea virtually assured itself a place in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games when it routed Oman, 5-2, in Pusan, South Korea. Lee Chun-Soo scored two of the goals, with Cho Sung-Hwan, Kim Du-Hyun and Lee Dong-Gook getting the others for South Korea, which defeated the Maldive Islands, 4-1, in its opening game.
Meanwhile, Peter Velappan, general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation, criticized South Korea’s “Red Devil” fans for not turning out in the same large numbers they had for the World Cup.
“They are either asleep or have lost their energy and excitement for football all of a sudden,” Velappan said. “It is like inviting a guest to your house and then leaving before they arrive.”
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Wembley Comes Down
Demolition work has begun on Wembley Stadium in London, site of the 1948 Olympic Games made famous by the achievements of such athletes as Emil Zatopek and Fanny-Blankers Koen; the 1963 heavyweight title fight between Henry Cooper and the then-Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali; and innumerable historic soccer games, among them England’s 1966 World Cup triumph over West Germany.
A $1.17 billion, 90,000-seat stadium will replace the one being torn down and will open in 2006.
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Lalor To Spirit
The San Diego Spirit of the Women’s United Soccer Assn. acquired U.S. women’s national team midfielder Jen Lalor from the New York Power as part of a five-player, two-draft-pick trade, the largest in WUSA history.
The Spirit also obtained forward Wynne McIntosh and the first pick in the 2003 WUSA draft for midfielders Shannon Boxx and Sherill Kester, defender Margaret Tietjen and the second overall pick in the draft.
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Player, Trainer Die In Crash
Former Florida International University striker Sasja Odenyo, 22, of Uppsala, Sweden, and former FIU trainer Theresa Wint, 21, of Miami were killed and 13 other women were injured when a van carrying the Florida Rockets women’s soccer team collided with two other vehicles on Interstate 75 in southern Georgia while traveling back to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from a tournament near Atlanta, Ga., Sunday night. Cause of the accident was not immediately known.
