Bleachers' Brew #287 Galaxy dreams

This appears in the Monday, December 5, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

Galaxy dreams

by rick olivares

The Philippine Men’s National Team kicked off 2011 with a memorable 2-0 win over visiting Mongolia and they closed out the year with a memorable 6-1 rout by the globetrotting Los Angeles Galaxy.

It’s been a most eventful year for Philippine football with incredible highs and deflating lows. Having the Galaxy in Manila for an exhibition match was a huge thrill and an incredible experience. Yet lost in all the euphoria of meeting and chatting with David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, Bruce Arena, and Mike Magee is that 6-1 rout. So I’ve got mixed feelings. Since when are we happy about being on the receiving end of a buttkicking? This is the worst loss since that 8-1 beating to a Thai club team last year before the Azkals went to Vietnam for the Suzuki Cup.

Nevertheless, the match left some indelible impressions and memories that still has me smiling and shaking my head in disbelief (see I said I had mixed feelings) after a friend pointed out that Indonesia only lost 1-0 to Becks and company.

A mutual admiration society

In the very first possession of the game, Azkals’ striker Phil Younghusband tried to win the ball from Beckham and instead clipped the English football star’s foot. Beckham hobbled about in pain for a few seconds leaving the entire crowd and Galaxy bench (and no doubt manager Simon Fuller and Paris Saint Germain FC) stunned and worried. Becks walked it off and made the Philippines pay in the 20^th minute with a goal. The night however, ended rather wondrously in spite of the drubbing and Beckham handed over a signed jersey to beaming Phil at the post-match press conference. Younghusband was like a little kid inside a massive toy store. Merry Christmas, Phil!

Los Angeles has its own Big Three

The Galaxy isn’t all Becks. We got to see first hand at how fast and good Keane is. Without the absent Brazilian central playmaker Juninho, Keane filled in magnificently with incredible bursts of speed with pinpoint passing. Becks scored. Keano scored. Donovan assisted Mike Magee and Adam Cristman on a pair of goals. The Galaxy’s Big Three all contributed mightily to their win.

Serving up a clinic

The day before match day, the Galaxy gave a clinic for kids at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. The following day, it was the Azkals who got served. The Carson, California-based club showed how they dominated the game with possession, excellent on and off ball skills, patience and resolve. When the current Major League Soccer Cup champions saw that the Azkals could play some you could see them raise their game a notch higher (and this wasn’t even them at their best). They hardly turned the ball over and made few mistakes. At one point, I counted at least 15 consecutive uninterrupted passes. How on earth do you allow that?

Remember, the MLS Cup ended on November 20. That was 13 days ago. The Galaxy’s intensity and focus has wavered so much from that time. They’ve been traveling and jet-lagged (with one more long flight to Melbourne, Australia and back to Los Angeles before it’s all done). The team is in flux as their starting keeper Donovan Ricketts has been traded to Montreal, some like Donovan and Beckham are looking at the January transfer window in Europe.

Classic Beckham

Beckham at 36 years of age scored on a trademark shot from about 20 yards. Keane sent a forward pass to Magee who in turn attempted a cross to the middle. Azkals centerback Carli de Murga blocked it. Magee retrieved the ball and sent it out to Keane who backed up. The Ireland international set up Beckham but the pass was a little short. Beckham had to double time before de Murga and defender Jason Sabio could get to it. The result was a classic goal that bent right in the second post far from the reach of keeper Ed Sacapaño.

Those goals

In the Galaxy’s second goal, Magee ran up the middle with Keane to the left and Donovan to the right. Magee right footed it to Donovan who pulled up for a brief second and drew two defenders. LA’s captain sent it back to Magee who has moved into better shooting position and fired towards the first post and found the back of the net. 2-nil LA.

The Azkals’ Angel Guirado responded with a deft forward pass to Younghusband outside the box and who only had defender AJ delaGarza to beat. Younghusband fooled delaGarza into thinking he was going right then shifted left. Younghusband fired using his left foot and two-time MLS keeper of the Year Josh Saunders flailed in the air as the Azkals pulled one back.

The second half had barely started and LA won a corner. Beckham’s left corner drifted off the second post but second half substitute, midfielder Jovan Kirovski headed the ball back inside the box as a couple of Philippine defenders raised their hand to signal an offside. The flag stayed down and Keane, showing keen presence of mind, got ahead of four defenders to hammer it home. 3-1 LA. The pressure is lifted from the Galaxy as they had enough cushion to be a little more adventurous.

For the Philippines, the goal was disastrous. The defense subsequently fell completely apart.

On a counter, Donovan sent a perfect forward pass to Adam Cristman who earlier replaced Sean Franklin as a third striker. As Donovan raced up the left flank, Cristman and midfielder Hector Jimenez lined up with him to stay onside. When the pass came, there was only one Philippine defender to help Sacapaño. We had no chance. Cristman headed it home and the rout was on.

In the 81^st minute, Kirovski was tripped up inside the box by Anton del Rosario and defender Greg Berhalter, who should be joining the Galaxy as a fulltime assistant coach as his career winds down, scored a penalty kick to make it 5-1.

In another defensive howler in the 87^th minute, Cristman struck for a brace when finished off a well-placed header by a teammate that found him open and unmarked to the horror of three flatfooted Azkals defenders following an perfect head flick by a teammate.

LA head coach Bruce Arena, Donovan, and Beckham all praised the Azkals for their competitiveness. They did admit the first half was to close for comfort before they put the game away in the second. They singled out Younghusband (who drew rave reviews from the American commentators on board Fox Sports), Guirado, and Caligdong as the players they were impressed with. Love was thrown around and the Dream Cup, as the game was billed, left many in a dream state myself included. Rizal was packed, the crowd was great and that opens the possibility of hosting other football clubs and international tournaments in the future.

The sobering reality is at the end of it is although we are definitely on the right track, it's going to take a lot of work to become a regional football power.

Formations:

Josh Saunders

Sean Franklin      Omar Gonzalez      AJ delaGarza      Frankie Hejduk

Chris Birchall        Mike Magee        David Beckham

Bryan Jordan        Robbie Keane        Landon Donovan

Phil Younghusband

Angel Guirado

Chieffy Caligdong        Chris Greatwich        James Younghusband

Manny Ott

Ray Jonsson       Jason Sabio       Rob Gier       Anton del Rosario

Ed Sacapaño

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Above: With match referees Jovanie Villagracia, Robert Hernandez, Grant Rojas, and Steve Supresencia about two hours before kick off. Below: with Esquire Philippines' Kissa Castañeda and Ryan Fenix at the lower grandstand.

Moderating part of the post-match presscon (Michael Weiss, Landon Donovan and Bruce Arena).

Some people are saying that had we our full team it might have been different. Really? Since when did we have a full team? How often are they together? How often do they practice as one unit? Even when they were there was the passing great? Until we start beating teams on a consistent and regular basis it's all speculation. Some people are being too hard on Ed Sacapaño when the defense was downright terrible. The Galaxy had their way.