Galaxy to spend Thanksgiving in Germany playing Kaiserslautern

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It wasn’t perhaps what Chris Klein and his family, or any other Galaxy player for that matter, had in mind for the holiday, but the Major League Soccer team is starting its post-season tour in Germany with a match against FC Kaiserlautern on Thanksgiving Day.

The game at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time on Nov. 26 will be televised in Los Angeles, although details have yet to be finalized. Other matches on the tour also have yet to be announced.

FC Kaiserslautern currently plays in the German second division and its 48,500-seat home ground, Fritz Walter Stadium, was one of the venues for the 2006 World Cup. The U.S. tied Italy there, 1-1. Kaiserslautern is unbeaten this season at 6-0-3 after Friday night’s victory and features American Luis Robles as its back-up goalkeeper.

The Galaxy said today that the team would fly to Germany on Nov. 23, which means travel arrangements are still up in the air, as it were, because the MLS Cup final is Nov. 22 and Coach Bruce Arena and company presumably have the intention of being in Seattle for that match.

As a side note, if the Galaxy does not make it to the MLS Cup final, Landon Donovan no doubt will stay in Europe and await the team’s arrival because the U.S. has a friendly scheduled against Denmark on Nov. 18 in Aarhus, Denmark.

-- Grahame L. Jones