Galaxy Does Itself Proud
The result was never in serious doubt, and to at least one Galaxy player Monday night that did not matter. Not really. The game was the thing.
How often, after all, does a kid from Pasadena get to play against the likes of David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and all the rest of Real Madrid’s own constellation of stars.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Peter Vagenas said beforehand. “It’s just more of an honor than anything. We’re just going to go out there and have fun. No one expects us to win.
“It’s almost like a bag of bricks off my shoulders, because I can go out there and enjoy it and have fun and just play soccer.”
Vagenas has been doing that for a couple of decades. As a kid growing up in the San Gabriel Valley. At UCLA. On the Sydney 2000 Olympic team. Chasing a ball and chasing a dream.
On Monday night, another little part of it came true.
The fact that Real Madrid defeated the Galaxy, 2-0, on goals by Michael Owen and Roberto Soldado in front of an enthusiastic sellout crowd of 27,000 at the Home Depot Center was unimportant. The Galaxy did itself proud, even though Real Madrid was seldom troubled, and that was all the team’s captain had wanted.
This one was for MLS. This one was for American soccer.
“I have two fighting emotions, I guess,” Vagenas, 27, said outside the Galaxy locker room before the game.
“Being a fan of soccer itself, even if I didn’t play the sport, these are people that you watch because they play at the highest level. They each have incredible stories of how they got there.
“So for me there’s a sense of awe in terms of respecting what they did because I’m doing what they do and I know how hard it is.”
But there is a flip side to Vagenas’ admiration of Real Madrid.
“The other emotion is a sense of almost fire in my belly because as an American soccer player we sort of start behind the 8-ball,” he said. “It’s very hard to get respect being an American soccer player. They automatically assume that you’re worse. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“So part of me wants to go out there and say, ‘Hey, we can play with you guys too.’ And that’s sort of what’s been dominating me up to kickoff. I want to go out there and show the fans that the gap ... is not really as big as some people might think.”
Well, yes and no.
The gap between Zidane and the rest of the world is huge. Ronaldo, who led Brazil to the World Cup in 2002, did not play, an aggravated hamstring being blamed, but Zidane, who led France to its 1998 title, was in superb form.
It was Zidane who set up the first goal, mesmerizing the Galaxy defense with his skills while Owen ran through unchecked and then beat Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman with a sweet chip shot.
That came 5 minutes 19 seconds into the match.
The second goal, on a fierce shot by Soldado in the 75th minute, sealed the victory for the visiting team, three times a world champion, nine times a European champion and 29 times champion of Spain.
In between, the Galaxy stored away a few memories.
Hartman made at least three world-class saves, two of them on blazing shots from Roberto Carlos that dipped and swerved and did everything but sit up and beg.
Hartman was impressed.
“To have somebody hit it the way he hits it, I told Ivan [trainer Ivan Pierra] to tape my wrists up extra special today,” Hartman said. “It was a privilege to play against guys like that. It was a great opportunity. We look forward to other opportunities like that.”
Vagenas also was smiling despite the loss.
“There were certain players out there who were definitely a step above, but I think we held our own for the most part,” he said. “I think if we played them again, the shock and awe would be gone and we’d probably do a little better.
“For the amount of experience they had on the field and the amount of experience we had on the field, I thought we did all right. It was fun. I’d play them every week if I could.”
