Filling the Holes Is Half the Battle
It’s a game of two halves, or so the saying goes, and the Galaxy’s match against the Chicago Fire at the Home Depot Center this afternoon will definitely live up to that billing.
Half the Fire will play half the Galaxy.
Injuries, international call-ups and other circumstances have robbed both teams of 50% of their starters. In fact, the list of those not playing would make a pretty decent lineup in itself.
The Galaxy, already without injured Carlos Ruiz and Peter Vagenas, also will be without forward Jovan Kirovski, who is with the U.S. team for Sunday’s World Cup qualifying match against Grenada at Columbus, Ohio.
Defender Tyrone Marshall also will be absent. He is with Jamaica’s team for its World Cup qualifier against Haiti on Sunday in Kingston.
On Thursday, the Galaxy announced that defender Hong Myung Bo also would be unavailable because he had returned briefly to South Korea to complete work on his doctoral thesis in physical education in Seoul.
Chicago is not in any better shape.
The Fire has lost defender Jesse Marsch to an ankle injury. In addition, midfielders Chris Armas and DaMarcus Beasley will be with the U.S. in Columbus, and midfielder Andy Williams and forward Damani Ralph will be with Jamaica in Kingston.
That’s 10 players. All that is needed is a goalkeeper and the list of the missing would make for a potentially very competitive Major League Soccer team.
The problem arises because the MLS season clashes with the international calendar. The situation will not get any better soon because Sunday’s World Cup matches are only the first of eight this year for countries in the North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region.
The Galaxy, the Fire and other affected MLS teams can expect to lose their international players again next weekend, as well as once in August, twice in September, twice in October and once in November.
Small wonder that Colorado Rapid Coach Tim Hankinson revolted and refused to release defender Pablo Mastroeni to the U.S. team until the FIFA-mandated minimum of four days before Sunday’s game.
U.S. Coach Bruce Arena reacted by dropping Mastroeni from the U.S. roster and also releasing three Kansas City Wizard players -- Tony Meola, Josh Wolff and Kerry Zavagnin.
Arena’s argument was that if the Rapids were able to play Mastroeni against the Wizards in a midweek game on Wednesday night, then the Wizards should have their U.S. players as well.
It was Arena’s way of acceding to Hankinson’s demand and getting back at him at the same time. The Wizards beat the Rapids, 1-0, on a Wolff penalty kick to end Colorado’s 16-game unbeaten streak at home.
Club versus country is not an issue that has arisen before in the U.S., and the willingness of coaches such as Hankinson to take on the national team could be seen as a welcome sign that MLS is growing up.
Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid was asked if he might take a similar hard line if push came to shove.
“That’s an interesting question, probably a good story,” Schmid replied.
“We didn’t have a midweek game, so it was something that we didn’t have to address. I think MLS has always been very supportive of the U.S. national team and we’ve always tried to be very supportive of the drive to not only qualify for the World Cup but to do well in the World Cup.
“I think that is still a very important objective for U.S. Soccer and for the development of soccer in this country.
“Obviously, the decision that Tim made and the decision that Bruce made as a result of that in terms of providing equity, is probably something that’s going to be looked at a little harder down the line as soccer grows.”
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Changing Their Ways
The Galaxy could be missing six of its 11 usual starters when it takes on the Fire today at Home Depot Center. Lineup changes are shaded with missing starters in bold:
*--* STARTING LINEUP Position TODAY’S PROBABLE LINEUP CARLOS RUIZ Forward ALEJANDRO MORENO JOVAN KIROVSKI Forward JOSEPH NGWENYA SASHA VICTORINE Midfielder SASHA VICTORINE ANDREAS HERZOG Midfielder ANDREAS HERZOG COBI JONES Midfielder COBI JONES PETER VAGENAS Midfielder MARCELO SARAGOSA CHRIS ALBRIGHT Defender CHRIS ALBRIGHT *DANNY CALIFF Defender RYAN SUAREZ HONG MYUNG-BO Defender RICKY LEWIS TYRONE MARSHALL Defender PAUL BROOME KEVIN HARTMAN Goalkeeper KEVIN HARTMAN
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* Will start today if cleared to play
