COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- The injury to a contributor as valuable as A.J. DeLaGarza would rattle any team, but the LA Galaxy remain resolute despite the injury.
In the 30th minute of LA's 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids, DeLaGarza went down after knocking knees with Colorado forward Omar Cummings,suffering what has been preliminarily diagnosed as a left knee sprain. DeLaGarza remains optimistic that he'll be able to return at some point in the final month of the season, but his absence could be significant for LA. The 24-year-old defender has become one of LA's most steady defenders over the past two seasons, appearing in 30 of the Galaxy's 31 league matches this season as well as three Champions League contests and both international friendlies.
Below are thoughts from David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Todd Dunivant on the impact of DeLaGarza's injury....
BECKHAM: "It’s always disappointing that we got A.J. injured because we want to keep every player fit towards the end of the regular season and then take everyone into the start of the playoffs. These games are important and we want to get maximum points and today we didn’t, but we came away with a point."
DONOVAN: "Injuries are a part of sports, A.J. for years now has been as an important player as any and if he’s out for any significant time then it’s going to hurt, but Tommy has done a really good job. He’s arguably our most improved player from the beginning of the year till now. We have to depend on him then I’m fine with that."
DUNIVANT: “It’s a tough loss losing A.J. and it’s disappointing to see him go down like that,” defender Todd Dunivant said of DeLaGarza’s injury. “We’re pulling for him and hopefully for the best with his scan and we’ll see what comes of it.”
