GALAXY TIES MEXICAN TEAM GALAXY 1, CHIVAS 1.

Byline: Fred J. Robledo Staff Writer

PASADENA - For a night at least, the Rose Bowl looked like Jalisco Stadium - the red, white and blue-dressed fans not decked out because of American patriotism, but because Chivas Rayadas de Guadalajara was in town Wednesday to face the Galaxy.

It wasn't a surprise. Next to the Dodgers and Lakers, Chivas is probably the most popular team in Los Angeles, having won 10 Mexican League championships and a pride that runs deep because Guadalajara is known for fielding only Mexican players - not highly paid foreigners.

Still, despite playing in home-away-from-home conditions, Chivas could only manage a 1-1 draw, failing to beat the Galaxy for the third consecutive match, in front of 20,688.

The Galaxy nearly won the game in regulation after Clint Mathis' goal in the 22nd minute, but Chivas' Manuel Rios scored in the 90th minute to tie the score. In two other matches, the Galaxy beat Chivas 4-2 in penalty kicks in 1997 and 3-1 last year at the Rose Bowl.

On the international stage, the Galaxy record moved to 3-5-2 in five seasons, which includes two victories over Chivas, a 4-1 victory over Santos Laguna (Mexico) and draws against El Salvador's national team and Aston Villa of the English Premiership.

Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid said that the difference between Chivas and other Mexican clubs compared to MLS teams is closing.

``Last year a lot of people felt we won against Chivas, but they didn't bring their best players,'' said Schmid. ``Tonight they played it like us, some guys in, some guys out; it was the same for both teams.

``I think we've shown we can play with teams like that and compete. Now if we played five more times, who would win that series? I don't know. But that's the nice point about it, I don't know. It used to be that people assumed automatically that if a U.S. team played a Mexican team the quality of Chivas, you had no chance. I don't think that's the case anymore. We can hold our own and play with them.''

MLS all-stars Cobi Jones and Robin Fraser were out of town Wednesday, in Moscow as the U.S. national team lost to Russia 2-0. Jones and Fraser will rejoin the team in time for Saturday's game against New York/New Jersey and former coach Octavio Zambrano at Giants Stadium.