It’s Proving Ground for the Galaxy
The Galaxy continued to impress European observers at the eight-team La Manga Cup in Spain with Friday’s 3-0 victory over Torpedo Moscow.
Earlier in the tournament, the Galaxy beat Lyn FC of Norway, 5-0.
Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman got his second shutout. Midfielders Hercules Gomez, Mauricio Cienfuegos and Sasha Victorine scored Galaxy goals. Coach Sigi Schmid changed his lineup to include younger players such as Gomez, Jesus Ochoa, Scot Thompson, Jose Retiz and Jason Moore.
“It was a great win because we were able to insert several new players into the starting lineup and still maintain a high level of play,” Schmid said in a statement released by the club. “Any time you have an opportunity to play against quality European competition, it’s a great experience. Winning just adds a special flavor.”
The Galaxy leads its pool with six points and concludes first-round play Monday against Odd Grenland, Norway, which is in second place behind the Galaxy with four points.
Costa Rica Is Golden
Costa Rica claimed a berth in the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament late Thursday with a 1-0 victory over Honduras in the Copa de Naciones tournament in Panama.
Striker Steven Bryce scored on a first-half rebound two minutes into stoppage time for Coach Steve Sampson’s Ticos, who have won three times and tied once while scoring only four goals.
The top three finishers advance to the Gold Cup in the United States in July. With a match against Panama remaining, Costa Rica stands atop the standings with 10 points, a point ahead of El Salvador.
The Salvadorans wrapped up qualifying meekly, falling to Guatemala, 2-0, on goals by Cesar Alegria and Freddy Garcia.
Guatemala has seven points and rates the edge over Honduras in the finale because Guatemala has two of its top players returning, Guillermo “Pando” Ramirez and Carlos “Pescadito” Ruiz.
Ramirez sat out against El Salvador for a previous ejection and Ruiz could not play because he had accumulated too many yellow cards.
Panama and Hondura are tied with four points and each has two games to play.
Goal Judges
FIFA’s referee committee has scrapped plans to experiment with a fourth official acting as a goal judge at next month’s World Youth Championships and will instead experiment with it at the under-17 World Championships in Finland in August.
The panel said it didn’t have time to introduce rules regarding an additional referee.
“We decided after the World Cup that we did not want to use video evidence,” FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren told Reuters. “One proposal was to use a goal judge behind the goal. The board has decided to try the goal judge in the under-17 World Championships, which was where the back-pass rule was first tried.”
Notes
Former Australian national team coach Eddie Thomson died in his sleep in Sydney on Thursday after a long battle with cancer. He was 55.
Thomson coached Australia from 1990 to 1996, including a 1994 World Cup qualifying series against Argentina and two Olympics.
Born in Scotland, he played in 253 league games in 10 years in Scotland’s top division and also played in the defunct North American Soccer League.
Defender Carlos Llamosa has re-signed with MLS and has been returned to the New England Revolution.
“A player of his known experience will give us incredible strength and depth on the back line,” Revolution Coach Steve Nicol said.
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Times wire services contributed to this report.
