Sweden International Christian Wilhelmsson went 58 minutes as the LA Galaxy fell 2-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes in Reserve League action on Tuesday at Nutrilite Training Facility in San Jose.
The Swede, who joined the club in training last week was a consistent threat for the reserves playing primarily on the left flank, but was whistled for four offside calls during his 58 minute stint including one that negated a goal early in the first half. In a conference call with reporters following the match, Galaxy reserve league head coach Curt Onalfo described the offside calls as "controversial", but was quick to praise the Swede.
"I thought that he created some things. He's a pure wide player so was able to get into some situations that were good for our team," said Onalfo. "Like I said, there were four controversial offside calls that we didn’t think were offside that would have turned the terms of the game...he had a good performance.”
The match was the first performance for the Swede -- who has reportedly already signed with the Galaxy according to reports in Sweden -- since an August 15th international friendly against Brazil. Although Wilhelmsson was unable to find the back of the net in his first match, Onalfo was encouraged by his showing in his first match in several weeks.
"For him it’s about getting minutes and utilizing this as an opportunity to advance He played fine, he played well," said Onalfo. "You can tell that he has a lot of quality and that he’s a very quality wide player. He’s a good and very clever wide player."
