CARSON, Calif. -- In July, the month belonged to the LA Galaxy's Designated Player trio of David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane, but to date, the month of August has belonged to LA's Brazilian midfielder Juninho.
In five starts in all competitions this month -- that's 423 minutes of action -- the Brazilian midfielder has tallied five goals including a pair of two goal performances against Chivas USA on August 12th and Isidro Metapán on August 23rd. Juninho bagged his fifth goal of the month as he finished a Jose Villarreal pass in the 66th minute for the game-winning goal in LA's 2-0 victory over FC Dallas on Sunday. The goal brought Juninho's regular season goal total to four this season -- a career high -- and six in all competitions. Interestingly enough, all six of these goals have come at The Home Depot Center and all six have come on the stadium's south end.
But goals haven't been the only facet of Juninho's game that has succeeded during LA's recent rise up the table as the Brazilian has formed an effective partnership with countryman Marcelo Sarvas and David Beckham that has stifled opposing midfields. On Sunday, the group added FCD playmaker David Ferreira to this list as the Colombian midfielder struggled to create going forward due to constant pressure from LA's midfield triumvirate.
When asked on Sunday what he attributes his recent run of form to, the answer was simple for the Brazilian. Confidence.
"I summarize right now, everything just being the confidence that I have, and everything just plays off of that," said Juninho. "And thank God that right now I was able to score a lot of goals this week and hopefully that continues going forward."
