PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – The LA Galaxy may be in scenic Trinidad and Tobago, but they only have business on their mind as they prepare to face Central FC on Wednesday (5 pm PT/ Fox Soccer Plus).
The Galaxy can win Group D with a point in either of their next two group matches against Central FC or Comunicaciones in Guatemala in October. The game may seem like low stakes for Bruce Arena’s men but the Galaxy boss contends that Wednesday’s match is a must-win for his team.
“We’re coming here to win the game,” said Arena. “That’s our objective.”
With some of the Galaxy reserves likely to get substantial minutes, the players are eager to show themselves in a pivotal CONCACAF match.
“The way that we’re looking at it is that we’re coming here for a win. We’re certainly not coming here for a draw or a loss,” said midfielder Rafael Garcia. We’re prepared to do whatever it takes to get a victory, and hopefully not concede so that we can win the group.
“I’m sure that whatever guy is chosen to get a run out tomorrow will do so with a professional mentality because we’re here to win.”
Winning on the road will not be easy, as the Couva Sharks upset Comunicaciones, 1-0 at Hasely Crawford Stadium in their last Champions League match. However, Central FC won’t be the only foe that the Galaxy must overcome on Wednesday.
The Galaxy must also deal with the travel and playing conditions that are common when playing in the CONCACAF Champions League. On Monday, the team traveled 10 hours and 5,190 miles to Port of Spain, and will play in temperatures in the low 90s at kickoff.
“The team has done well with the travel. They looked good in training, and we have another 24 hours before the match so our team will be fine,” said Arena. ‘We’ve been in hot and humid conditions before in the United States, so this weather isn’t too bad. This is a great country with great people; hopefully it’ll be a great game.”
Added midfielder Baggio Husidic, “It’s not too much different than what we’re used to. Houston and Dallas both have much worse humidity than here. This is actually quite nice especially when the sun goes down because it’ll be much cooler. It should make for good conditions.”
Although Wednesday’s match promises to be a difficult one, the Galaxy are confident that they can get the job done in Trinidad and lock down Group D.
“We’ve had a good start in this competition with two great results at home, and we want to continue that,” said midfielder Mika Vayrynen. We want to continue where we left off in our last game which is scoring goals and not conceding so we can get through to the next stage of the competition.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at www.LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
