Clear 13 oC
| Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Madrid - July 16, 2011 @ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Carey |
| Sunday, 17 July 2011 23:26 |
|
Megastar David Beckham plays now for the Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS. It was not that long ago, however, that he plied his trade for Real madrid in Spain’s La Liga. He wore number 23 for Real madrid for four seasons ending in 2007. He is now playing his third season for the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS. It totally makes sense then that his former team, who are now coached by the enigmatic Jose Morinho, would be the ones chosen to play his present team. This is actually the second time these two teams have faced off as they played a friendly in the summer of 2010 as well. The Galaxy is currently the number one team in Major League Soccer, but they had their hands full with their opponents from Spain. Real Madrid is a legendary team. They have won 31 La Liga titles, 9 UEFA Champions League titles and are a squad presently that boasts plenty of veteran leadership. Los Angeles has players like U.S. national Landon Donovan, former Aston Villa, River Plate and New York Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel, former captain of the English national team David Beckham, and Brazilian Juninho. That is pretty good, but nothing compared to Real Madrid. They boast a line up that contains Portuguese national star Cristiano Ronaldo, Spanish national player and probably the best goaltender in the world Iker Casillas, Brazilian national player Kaka, Spanish national player Sergio Ramos, Portuguese national player Ricardo Carvalho, Portuguese national player Pepe, German national player Mesut Ozil, Portuguese national player Fabio Coentrao, and Spanish national player Xabi Alonso. Phew! They are one of the best teams money can buy. Since I brought up money, the disparity between the two teams’ salaries has to be pointed out. It was hundreds of millions of dollars in salary versus around ten million dollars. The two stars of the match are Beckham and Ronaldo. David Beckham is in the starting line-up. He just became a father for the fourth time. Though his best years are behind him, Beckham can still have an effect on a game especially from set pieces like corners (he scored directly from one recently) or free kicks and also with his deadly accurate passes. Beckham sees the game really well and is still able to play 60 yard balls accurately to teammates. Plenty of fans were there to see Ronaldo play. Love him or hate him. He is not starting the game, so his fans were left hoping he would play in the 2nd half. They weren’t disappointed, but more about that later. The Portuguese national player is dazzling to watch (except when he is throwing himself on the ground, which he does often in an attempt to draw a foul) with his pace and skill. A top notch goal scorer, Ronaldo set the La Liga record last season with 40 goals. Though this was set up to be a fun night for soccer fans, it was a risky game for Los Angeles as they wanted to represent themselves and the MLS well, but don’t want any injuries. That is a fine line to walk. Not many teams find themselves playing friendlies smack in the middle of their seasons. Too many things can go wrong. There was a great atmosphere in the stadium. Right from the start even a casual observer could see that this was going to be a long night for the Galaxy players as Real Madrid outclassed them in every department. In the 10th minute a nice ball was slotted in to Jose Callejon, who was alone inside the 18 yard box. Galaxy starting keeper Josh Saunders came out to make a big save. That was only the beginning. Throughout the game Real madrid enjoyed a large majority of the possession of the ball. They finally were able to break through with a goal after exerting lots of pressure on the Galaxy. The game’s first goal came in the 31st minute off a lovely three way passing play. Newly signed defender Fabio Coentrao found Kaka with a short pass in the middle of the pitch, the Brazilian then switched fields to give a perfectly placed ball to a streaking Callejon. Callejon took a few touches before finding the back of the net with a perfectly placed shot in the lower left corner of the Galaxy net.
The Galaxy’s best chance to score in the 1st half came shortly after the game’s opening goal. In the 36th minute the Galaxy were awarded a free kick and Beckham (who else?!) took it. He curled it in and away from Casillas beautifully finding the head of fullback Gregg Berhalter, but all he could do was put it wide of the net. A rare chance wasted for the host team. After finishing the half up 2-0, Morinho made so many substitutions (in friendlies you are allowed an unlimited amount of subs) that he practically fielded a totally new side. Eight players came out (Casillas, Sami Khedira, Esteban Granero, Joselu, Pepe, Kaka, Marcelo, Ramos) and eight (Ronaldo, Antonio Adan, Alonso, Karim Benzema, Raul Albiol, Ozil, Nacho, Alvaro Arbeloa) went in. Los Angeles also made some subs with Saunders, Donovan, Angel and Miguel Lopez (who had received a yellow card in the 38th minute) going out and Brian Perk, Hector Jimenez, Bryan Jordan, and Adam Cristman coming in. It did not take the player many had come to see, Ronaldo, long to make his mark on the game. In the 53rd minute he stepped over the ball three times at a high speed and from a severe angle rifled a left footed shot past Perk, who obviously wasn’t expecting him to shoot, on the short side. Classic, audacious Ronaldo. 3-0 Real Madrid. Shortly after the goal Perk had to make a big save on Benzema, who came in on him alone. Perk went to ground to make the save. This was threatening to be a blowout. The quickness of play by the visitors in white was too much for Los Angeles. The final Real Madrid goal came in the 58th minute with Coentrao lifting a delicate cross to the far post. Benzema was unmarked and just directed the ball with his head into the gaping side of the net. 4-0 Real Madrid. They basically took their foot off the pedal at this point in an effort not to embarrass the Galaxy. Los Angeles got some measure of revenge when they were able to score a goal in the 67th minute. Former U.S. national team player Kirovski took a strong, low shot that Adan made a good diving save on, but striker Cristman was there to head the rebound into the bottom of the net. There is some serious pressure on Real Madrid as they haven’t won a La Liga title in a couple of years. They came into the game with a serious attitude and looked pretty tight for a squad that had only been practicing for one week. This was a confident showing by Real madrid. They seem ready to take on their rivals Barcelona for the 2011-12 season. Los Angeles will take forth some lessons learned in team play and skill from the game and continue on with their season in the MLS. Game Stats: |
Every summer is right in the middle of the professional soccer season over here in North America while it is the preseason or training camp time for European squads. It has become something of a tradition that some of the larger European clubs come over here to play some friendlies. It has been called the World Football Challenge. Teams from the MLS (the only Canadian representative this year is the Vancouver Whitecaps) will be hosting some of the giants of European club football. This year Manchester United, Manchester City, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Sporting Clube de Portugal will be here to show soccer fans on this side of the pond some of the best soccer players in the world.
It was quickly 2-0 nine minutes later when some sloppy defensive play by the Galaxy and lax covering of his man by Beckham, who wore the captain’s armband during the 62 minutes he played, led to Joselu finding the room inside the box for a low shot that deflected off Beckham’s leg and past a stunned Saunders, who seemed to be expecting a cross from that angle.