Galaxy Hopes to Get Off Road to Ruin
When the Galaxy edged the Revolution, 1-0, on an overtime goal by Carlos Ruiz last October to win Major League Soccer’s championship, Los Angeles and New England were unquestionably the league’s hottest teams.
Today, scheduled to play each other at 1 p.m. PDT at the same Gillette Field in Foxboro, Mass., they are among the coldest.
Four games into the season, the Galaxy (0-1-3) still is looking for its first victory. The Revolution (1-2-1) isn’t in much better shape, having lost two home games in a row.
Last year, Ruiz and New England’s Taylor Twellman had a season-long duel to see which would win the MLS scoring title, before Ruiz prevailed. This year, they have two goals apiece.
This will be the Galaxy’s fifth of eight consecutive road games, one reason for the team’s mediocre record.
But the travel is not enough to explain the lack of shape, cohesion and spark shown in 2003.
Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid probably will juggle his defense to give Danny Califf a rest. Califf played all 90 minutes in the U.S. national team’s 0-0 tie with Mexico in Houston on Thursday night before flying to New England on Friday.
Cobi Jones also played Thursday, but for only 11 minutes. New England goalkeeper Adin Brown was also in Houston, but did not play.
Both teams are coming off shutout losses to the San Jose Earthquakes, but the Galaxy, which had a bye last weekend, has had more time to sort out its woes and get back to last season’s form.
In other MLS games today, D.C. United is at New York/New Jersey, Colorado is at Columbus, San Jose is at Chicago and Kansas City is at Dallas.
Roberto Carlos Ban
Brazilian World Cup winner Roberto Carlos was handed a three-match ban by FIFA on Friday for striking referee Alon Yefet with his shoulder while protesting a foul call against him during Brazil’s 2-1 loss to Portugal on March 29.
Carlos was ejected from that game and given a provisional one-game suspension, which he served when Brazil played Mexico in Guadalajara on April 30. He must miss Brazil’s next two games and has three days to appeal the decision.
English Finale
Manchester United has already won the English Premier League title, but that has not removed the drama surrounding the closing weekend of the season.
On Sunday, Chelsea plays host to Liverpool in a game that will determine which team finishes in fourth place and therefore joins Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United in next season’s European Champions League, with its potential $32 million in income from television and prize money.
“My view is that if we don’t win at Chelsea, then the season is a failure,” said Liverpool’s England midfielder Steven Gerrard, even though the club already has won the League Cup and qualified for next season’s UEFA Cup.
At the other end of the table, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers are in a desperate fight to avoid relegation. They are tied in points but Bolton, which is at home to Middlesbrough, has a slightly better goal difference than West Ham, which is away to Birmingham.
Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion already have been relegated.
Quick Passes
Former England international and Sunderland Coach Peter Reid Friday was chosen Leeds United’s coach on a rolling one-year contract. His first task might be to bring Leeds’ Norwegian international midfielder, Eirik Bakke, back on the straight and narrow. Bakke was banned from driving for two years and fined $8,000 Friday for drunk driving.... Dutch winger Marc Overmars will miss Barcelona’s final six games of the Spanish season and the Netherlands’ next international match after tearing a muscle in his thigh.
