SOCCER: BOTTOMS UP FOURTH-SEEDED GALAXY TO CELEBRATE MLS CUP TITLE WITH FANS.Byline: Scott French Staff Writer During the difficult months - June and July, when the Galaxy couldn't beat anybody except the expansion stragglers - even Peter Vagenas Peter Vagenas (born Panayiotis Alexiou Vagenas on February 6, 1978 in Pasadena, California), is an American soccer defensive midfielder, who currently plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. was having doubts. L.A.'s captain, a product of St. Francis High of La Canada Flintridge and UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , knew what his team was capable of, but indifferent and inconsistent performances dropped the Galaxy down the Western Conference standings, from first to second to third and, finally, fourth. ``That first month,'' Vagenas said, ``everyone thought we were going to win hands down. And that's when we started losing our edge.'' It culminated in a .500 regular-season, with just one victory outside Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, - and just seven wins in 24 games against all except first-year clubs Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake. Heading into the playoffs as the lowest seed, the Galaxy - no matter its triumph in the single-elimination U.S. Open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
How sweet that made its stunning run to the MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the final game of the Major League Soccer postseason, officially recognized as the championship of the league. The trophy is called the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy, after the founding chairman of MLS. championship, secured last Sunday in Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in Collin County and Denton County, Texas (USA). It is a northern suburb of Dallas. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 33,714, while according to 2007 estimate, the city's population is approximately 95,000. , with a 1-0 overtime victory against Eastern Conference champion New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. . ``I knew we always had what it took to get it done in the end ...,'' said Vagenas, who will join teammates and coaches this afternoon at Home Depot Center to celebrate the title with Galaxy fans. ``A lot of things have to go well to win a championship. Being the best team doesn't mean you'll win the championship. You need things to fall your way.'' Everything seemed to be going L.A.'s way when the season started. It acquired 23-year-old forward Landon Donovan, widely considered the most talented U.S. player, on the eve On the Eve (Накануне in Russian) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. of the opener and bolted to a 7-2-2 start. Then things started going wrong. International call-ups often deprived the Galaxy of its best players, and it struggled to win on the road. Some players were privately critical of coach Steve Sampson, whose job security was vanishing as losses piled up. There were positives - the emergence of forward Herculez Gomez, who scored 21 goals in all competitions, and growing maturity of rookie central defender Ugo Ihemelu - but nobody outside the Galaxy gave the team a chance when the playoffs began in late October. Led by Donovan (a two-time MLS See multilevel security. champion with the San Jose Earthquakes
In Frisco, the Galaxy dominated the Revolution. The backline backline the upper outline of the body's silhouette viewed from the side. , anchored by Tyrone Marshall, made MLS MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. and scoring champion Taylor Twellman ineffective, and goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, another UCLA product, made a handful of superb stops. Then Guillermo ``Pando'' Ramirez, a Guatemalan midfielder whose performance had sagged so badly he lost his starting job - not once, but twice - came off the bench and volleyed home a rebound in overtime. It was his first goal after missing on 62 shots - many of them well off-target - during the regular season, the worst shooting performance in the league's 10 years. ``Pando had a very frustrating year,'' Sampson said. ``There was a point late in the season where I think he completely lost his confidence. But in the final game, I felt that if anyone had something to prove, it was him.'' Ramirez was an unlikely hero, but 15 minutes after his goal, the Galaxy was celebrating its second Major League Soccer crown. ``That sums up the season for this team,'' Vagenas said. ``If there was anyone who could have brought an end to this storybook sto·ry·book n. A book containing a collection of stories, usually for children. adj. Occurring in or resembling the style or content of a storybook: storybook characters; a storybook romance. ending,'' Sampson said, ``it was Pando Ramirez.'' And now it's time to celebrate. ``Someone said the other day, the only thing sweeter would have been to win at Home Depot Center in front of our fans,'' Vagenas said. ``We took a lot of criticism - why were we so phenomenal at Home Depot Center (where the Galaxy was 10-3-3 this year) and so bad on the road. ``For us, it truly comes down to when we're at home, there are 25,000 fans every Saturday night cheering us on. They make the atmosphere so special. To celebrate with them ... they deserve it. They carried us through this season.'' Scott French, (818) 713-3627 scott.french(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Peter Vagenas, center, of the Galaxy and his teammates will celebrate their recent MLS Cup victory with their fans today. Doug Benc/Getty Images Box: GALAXY FAN FETE |
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