About 3,000 attend Galaxy celebration
Shianne Rosselli stood just inside the Home Depot Center gates Monday, wearing a crisp blue Galaxy jersey and clutching to her chest a plastic bag full of grass.
But this wasn’t just any grass. This swathe of bullseye bermuda and perennial ryegrass was cut from the turf on which the Galaxy won its second consecutive MLS Cup on Saturday. And that, said the 14-year-old from Corona, meant one thing:
“David Beckham stepped on it,” she said.
An hour later, Beckham again made it clear that Saturday’s final was the last time he’ll step on MLS grass. When a festive crowd of 3,000 gathered in the complex’s tennis stadium to celebrate the Galaxy’s title, showered Beckham with chants of “one more year, one more year,” he smiled and repeated what he has been saying for the last two weeks.
“This is my last year,” he said.
But it may not be the Galaxy’s last title. With this year’s victory giving the franchise four titles in 11 seasons, defender Sean Franklin says it’s time the team is mentioned in the same breath as the Lakers, winners of three NBA titles since 2002.
“A lot of people base great teams on how many championships they have,” said Franklin, who has spent five years with the Galaxy. “I think we’re giving the Lakers a little bit of a run for their money.”
Former Galaxy defender Chris Klein, now the team’s vice president, reminded the crowd that this year’s team completed an unusual trifecta by also winning an MLS Reserve League title and qualifying for the quarterfinals of next year’s CONCACAF Champions League.
“I think we’re looking at the greatest team in American soccer history,” he said.
He wasn’t getting an argument from anyone at the Home Depot Center, especially not Shawn Van Enoo of Huntington Beach, who showed up nearly three hours before the celebration to make sure he could get a picture of his son and daughter posed with the Galaxy’s four MLS Cup trophies.
“It means a lot to L.A.,” he said. “That’s the whole big deal. That’s our town’s trophy.”
