Ashley Cole and Jelle Van Damme to make Galaxy debut against Tijuana
New Los Angeles Galaxy’s player, English footballer Ashley Cole shows his LA Galaxy jersey at a news conference at the StubHub Center.
Ashley Cole and Jelle Van Damme are expected to make their Galaxy debut Tuesday when the club plays host to Tijuana of Mexico’s Liga MX in an exhibition at StubHub Center. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Less certain is the status of Juninho, the Brazilian midfielder whose sale to Tijuana in December helped create the roster and payroll flexibility that allowed the Galaxy to pull off a series of off-season moves.
In six seasons with the Galaxy, Juninho played 187 regular-season games — seventh on the all-time list — and won three MLS Cups. But because his contract was sold in the off-season, he never got a chance to say goodbye. He is hoping to make up for that Tuesday.
“I want to play in front of [the fans] one more time,” he said by phone from Mexico. “It’s very special to be in that position.”
But if Juninho makes an appearance Tuesday it’s likely to be in street clothes from the stands. With Tijuana already five games into Mexico’s Clausura tournament, Juninho said he wasn’t sure Coach Miguel Herrera would allow him to risk injury in a friendly, preferring to use his team’s week off to keep his roster for the Copa MX, Mexico’s version of the U.S. Open Cup, in rhythm instead.
For Coach Bruce Arena, the Galaxy’s second exhibition game of the preseason offers another opportunity to see some of the nine players new to the team since last fall, among them goalkeeper Dan Kennedy and speedy forward Emmanuel Boateng, who made an impressive debut in the Galaxy’s victory over FC Shirak 10 days ago.
Then there’s Cole, 35, a former star left back for the English national team who joined the Galaxy last month from Roma of Italy’s Serie A and Van Damme, a 32-year-old center back who last played in Belgium for Standard Liege. Both began training with the Galaxy last week and will make extended cameos against Tijuana.
Cole and Van Damme will soon by joined by Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong, a two-time World Cup starter recently released by AC Milan. He is expected to be formerly introduced next week as the team’s newest addition.
