Sarachan, Yauss talk preseason
CARSON, Calif. (Monday, January 30, 2012) – The LA Galaxy began their second week of preseason training this morning at The Home Depot Center. After opening camp last week, the Galaxy will be back on the field for four straight days of training before playing their first preseason game on Friday against the USL Pro League’s Los Angeles Blues.
With A.J. DeLaGarza, Brian Perk and Michael Stephens all returning to the club from international duty, Bruce Arena now has 32 of the 34 players on the club’s preseason roster in camp, with only Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane remaining in England for their loan spells.
TEAM NOTES
BOYENS OFFICIALLY SIGNED: The LA Galaxy have officially signed defender Andrew Boyens after finalizing a contract with the veteran center back. The 28-year-old has been with the club throughout preseason camp and is now officially signed for the 2012 season, making him eligible to play for the club starting on March 7 against Toronto FC in the CONCACAF Champions League.
A former first round pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft, Boyens comes to the Galaxy after being selected by the club from Chivas USA in the first round of Stage 2 of the MLS Re-Entry Process in December. A New Zealand international, Boyens played for three clubs during his first five seasons in MLS, debuting with Toronto FC in 2007 before being traded to the New York Red Bulls in 2008. He played for Chivas USA last season, appearing in 12 games, before being taken by the Galaxy in the Re-Entry Process. A six-foot-four central defender, he has appeared in 68 regular season games in his MLS career, making 61 starts while scoring two goals and adding an assist. A member of New Zealand’s team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Boyens has collected 19 caps for the All Whites since making his international debut in 2006.
Boyens is the second of the club’s six Re-Entry Process selections to sign with the club, joining Pat Noonan. Three of the club’s other four picks, Jon Conway, Chris Leitch and Dasan Robinson have all elected to retire while Frankie Hejduk was unable to come to terms with the club on a new contract.
GALAXY RECOGNIZED BY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SPORTS BROADCASTERS: The LA Galaxy were honored earlier today by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters, who bestowed a Special Achievement Award on the club in recognition of their outstanding 2012 season. The organization, which was founded in 1958 and is currently led by Bob Miller, the play-by-play voice of the Los Angeles Kings on FOX Sports West, annually recognizes excellence in radio and television broadcasting in Southern California, as well as the top sporting moments in the region.
Former Galaxy star Chris Klein, who is currently the Senior Director of the Galaxy Academy, was on hand to accept the award.
LAST WEEK TO VOTE FOR L.A. SPORTS AWARDS: Voting for the annual L.A. Sports Awards is open now, giving fans the chance to vote on their favorite sporting moments from across the Southland. Fans can go to www.lasports.org to register and then vote for their favorite moment from all nine of the region’s professional teams, as well as the top moments from UCLA, USC, other local Division I schools and Individual Sports. Fans can also vote for what they think should be selected as the Moment of the Year across all sports throughout the region. Voting will remain open through Monday, February 6, with the winners being officially announced at the annual L.A. Sports Awards, which will be held on Thursday, March 15 at Club Nokia and will be televised on FOX Sports West.
The three Galaxy moments that have been nominated for the club’s Greatest Moment of 2011 are the club defeating Motagua 1-0 in Honduras on October 20 to win Group A in the CONCACAF Champions League, the club repeating as Supporters’ Shield winners and of course, the club winning their third MLS Cup with a 1-0 win over Houston at The Home Depot Center on November 20.
The MLS Cup victory is also one of 15 moments that have been nominated as the Sports Moment of the Year in Los Angeles.
INTERNATIONALS RETURN: The Galaxy welcomed three players back to the training field this afternoon with A.J. DeLaGarza, Brian Perk and Michael Stephens all returning from international duty. DeLaGarza collected the first two caps of his international career last week, starting and playing the full 90 minutes at right back a pair of 1-0 wins over Venezuela and Panama. The
Perk and Stephens had each been training with the U.S. Under-23 National Team ahead of the start of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will be held in March. The players joined up with the rest of the U-23’s earlier this month for two weeks of training at The Home Depot Center, before continuing the camp with six days of training in Costa Rica. While there, the U.S. played two games, against Saprissa and Alajuelense, with Stephens coming on in the second half of each game while Perk served as the backup to Zac MacMath in each.
ON LOAN UPDATES: Landon Donovan once again was a central figure for Everton as they claimed a 2-1 home win over Fulham in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup on Friday. Playing his sixth game since joining the club on loan earlier this month, Donovan set up a pair of goals as Everton erased an early 1-0 deficit to claim a 2-1 win. His 27th minute cross was headed home by Denis Stracqualursi, tying the score at 1-1. The game would stay that way until the 73rd minute when a Donovan cross was headed home by Marouane Fellaini, giving Everton the win. WATCH HIGHLIGHTS
With their win, Everton will now host the winner of the replay between Blackpool and Sheffield Wednesday in the tournament’s Fifth Round on Saturday, February 18. This would be the final FA Cup game that Donovan would be eligible to play in for Everton, with his loan to the club scheduled to end at the end of that month.
Robbie Keane also factored in a pair of goals for his club, Aston Villa, but they were not able to hold a 2-0 halftime lead and eventually fell to Arsenal 3-2. With the score tied 0-0 midway through the first half, Keane crossed the ball into the box for fellow Ireland international Richard Dunne, who powered a header past the Arsenal goalkeeper, giving his team a 1-0 lead. Darren Bent, who had previously been a teammate of Keane’s with Tottenham Hotspur, doubled the Villa lead just before halftime finishing the rebound of his own shot off a quick strike counterattack which Keane had helped to engineer.
Despite holding a 2-0 halftime lead, Villa conceded three goals in the first 16 minutes of the second half to fall behind 3-2 and could not grab an equalizer over the game’s final 30 minutes, knocking them out of the FA Cup. WATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Both Donovan and Keane return to Premier League action this week with Everton hosting Manchester City on Tuesday evening and Villa hosting Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday. On Saturday, Everton play away to Wigan while Villa are away to Newcastle the following day.
SEASON BEGINS
The LA Galaxy will play their first official game of 2012 on Wednesday, March 7 when they face Toronto FC in the first leg of their 2011/12 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal, which will be played at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They will open the 2012 MLS season three days later on Saturday, March 10 when they host Real Salt Lake at The Home Depot Center in MLS First Kick 2012, presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods. That game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. (PT) and tickets are on sale now as part of season ticket packages as well as three and six-game plans. For more information about this game or to purchase tickets, please visit the club’s official website at www.lagalaxy.com.
