CARSON, Calif. (Tuesday, July 3, 2012) – The LA Galaxy announced today that the club has activated 2011 MLS Defender of the Year Omar Gonzalez from the Disabled List. Gonzalez, who has been out since tearing the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his left knee in January, is now eligible to make his 2012 debut on Wednesday when the club hosts the Philadelphia Union at The Home Depot Center.
WATCH: Gonzalez discusses return to action
A central figure in the Galaxy’s defensive improvement from 2009-11, Gonzalez suffered the injury during his first training session during his offseason loan with FC Nurnberg of the German Bundesliga on January 4. He returned to the U.S. a few days later and underwent surgery on January 13. Following the procedure, which was performed by club doctors from the Santa Monica Orthopaedic Group, it was announced that Gonzalez was expected to miss 7-9 months of action. He returned to light training in May and has been training fully with the club since mid-June while also playing 45 minutes in a practice game against the Galaxy’s U-18 squad on Monday.
READ: Gonzalez feeling strong after return to training
Now in his fourth season with the Galaxy, Gonzalez was selected in the first round of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft and he has been a key force in the LA back line ever since. After receiving MLS Rookie of the Year honors in 2009, the center back has been the Galaxy Defender of the Year twice (2010, 2011) and was also named the MLS Defender of the Year in 2011. In addition, Gonzalez has twice been named to both the MLS All-Star First XI and the MLS Best XI. Over his three seasons with the club, Gonzalez has seen the Galaxy keep 41 clean sheets, equaling or surpassing the club record for shutouts in a season each year while also allowing less than a goal per game in all three seasons. His size has also been an asset to the Galaxy offense, getting on the end of set pieces to score five times in his MLS regular season career, while also adding a goal each in the MLS Cup Playoffs, CONCACAF Champions League and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, with all of those goals coming as a result of set pieces.
Gonzalez and the Galaxy will be back in action at The Home Depot Center on Wednesday, July 4, when the club hosts their annual fireworks extravaganza against the Philadelphia Union. That game, which is presented by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by one of the biggest fireworks displays in all of Southern California. For more information about these games, or to purchase tickets to any Galaxy home game, please visit lagalxy.com/tickets or call 877-342-5299.
PHOTOS: Gonzalez returns to training
