Galaxy's Landon Donovan is named MLS most valuable player

Galaxy and U.S. national team forward Landon Donovan today was named Major League Soccer's most valuable player for 2009.

Donovan finished ahead of New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph and FC Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham to win the award for the first time. He is the second Galaxy player to take the honor; Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz won it in 2002.

A nine-year veteran of MLS, Donovan won league championships with the San Jose Earthquakes in 2001 and 2003 and with the Galaxy in 2005. On Sunday, he will seek a fourth title when the Galaxy plays Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup final in Seattle (5:30 Pacific, ESPN and Galavision).

Last year, Donovan finished as the top scorer in MLS with 20 goals. This season, he led the Galaxy with 12 goals and six assists in 25 games.

Thursday's award was Donovan's second in as many days. On Wednesday, his left-foot volley against the Revolution during a 2-1 victory on Aug. 8 was selected as the league's goal of the year. It was judged to be the best of the 571 goals scored in the 2009 regular season.

The Galaxy has received two other league-wide awards this year, with Coach Bruce Arena being voted MLS coach of the year and defender Omar Gonzalez chosen as rookie of the year.

The full list of MLS most valuable players:

Galaxy and Houston tied, 0-0, at halftime [UPDATED]

Halftime has arrived in MLS Western Conference final and neither the Galaxy nor the Houston Dynamo have yet managed to find a way to pierce the other's defense.

The game, in front of about 22,000 fans at the Home Depot Center has been frenetic, all hustle and bustle, but without a match-altering moment so far.

The 18-minute blackout when the lights failed did not seem to affect the players, although it did make the fans a bit restless.

The teams are so evenly matched that it could be one moment of brilliance or one unfortunate mistake that ends up deciding which side advances to the Nov. 22 MLS Cup final in Seattle against either the Chicago Fire or Real Salt Lake, who play each other in the Eastern Conference final on Saturday.

Halftime statistics, such as they are, show the Galaxy having out-shot Houston, 8-5 overall and 4-1 in shots on target.

Pretty bleak stuff, to be honest, but perhaps the second 45 minutes will produce some real drama.

Assuming the lights stay on.

[UPDATE: Galaxy advance to the MLS Cup final after defeating Houston, 2-0, in overtime.]

--Grahame L. Jones

Lights are back on in Carson and Galaxy playoff game resumes

After an 18-minute stoppage due to a floodlight failure caused by a power outage in Carson, referee Terry Vaughn has restarted the Galaxy's playoff game against the Houston Dynamo.

While the lights were out, the players from both team kept loose by executing passing drills and running on the darkened Home Depot Center Field.

The lights are back on but a scoreboard at one end of the stadium remains out.

The MLS Western Conference final is tied, 0-0, in the 25th minute and the match now is unlikely to end before 10:30 p.m. at the earliest.

-- Grahame L. Jones

Power outage interrupts Galaxy-Houston playoff game

It's looking dark here at the Home Depot Center.

Eighteen minutes into the Galaxy's MLS Western Conference final against the Houston Dynamo, the stadium's lights failed.

The score is tied, 0-0, with the Galaxy having created the only real scoring chance so far. The lights have been out for eight minutes so far, with no indication when they will come back on.

The game had already kicked off late because of ESPN2's college football commitments, and the outage will take at least 10 minutes fix, according to a spokesman for Southern California Edison. The power outage may be lightning related, and players were staying warm during the delay by running around in the dark.

-- Grahame L. Jones

Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez is named MLS rookie of the year

For the second year in a row, a Galaxy defender has been selected as Major League Soccer's rookie of the year. In 2008, it was Sean Franklin. Today it was Omar Gonzalez.

The former NCAA champion from the University of Maryland was a starter in all 30 regular-season games and compiled a team-high 2,672 minutes while helping the Galaxy cut its goals-allowed total from 62 in 2008 to 31 in 2009.

Gonzalez, 21, from Dallas, was a mainstay of the back line for Los Angeles but also scored one goal and assisted on another as the Galaxy ended a three-year barren spell by reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2005. He has started both playoff games and likely will start when the Galaxy plays the Houston Dynamo in Friday night's Western Conference final at the Home Depot Center.

At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, Gonzalez is widely seen as a future U.S. national team player, having already played for his country in the Under-17 World Cup in Peru in 2005 and for the Under-20 national team at the PanAmerican Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2007.

-- Grahame L. Jones

 

Galaxy's Bruce Arena selected as MLS coach of the year

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena today was selected coach of the year in Major League Soccer after taking Los Angeles from last place in 2008 to first place in 2009.

Arena, 58, becomes the third two-time winner of the award, joining former Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid, now with the Seattle Sounders, and former Chivas USA coach Bob Bradley, now coach of the U.S. national team.

Arena first won the honor in 1997 when he led D.C. United to the best record in MLS and to its second consecutive league championship. He joined the Galaxy on Aug. 18, 2008, and this season, with a massively revamped roster, has taken the team to Friday's Western Conference final against the Houston Dynamo at the Home Depot Center.

The Galaxy finished the regular season with a 12-6-12 record, having recorded the fewest losses in the league and having given up only 31 goals in 30 games compared to 62 goals the previous season.

The team finished in last place in its conference in 2008 but rebounded to finish in first place this season.

The list of MLS coaches of the year:

2009: Arena (Galaxy)

2008: Schmid (Columbus Crew)

2007: Preki (Chivas USA)

2006: Bradley (Chivas USA)

2005: Dominic Kinnear (San Jose Earthquakes)

2004: Greg Andrulis (Columbus Crew)

2003: Dave Sarachan (Chicago Fire)

2002: Steve Nicol (New England Revolution)

2001: Frank Yallop (San Jose Earthquakes)

2000: Bob Gansler (Kansas City Wizards)

1999: Sigi Scmid (Galaxy)

1998: Bob Bradley (Chicago Fire)

1997: Bruce Arena (D.C. United)

1996: Thomas Rongen (Tampa Bay Mutiny)

--Grahame L. Jones

 

David Beckham's AC Milan teammate Oguchi Onyewu pays Galaxy a visit

One surprise visitor to the Galaxy locker room after Sunday night's 1-0 Major League Soccer playoff victory over Chivas USA was U.S. national team defender Oguchi Onyewu.

The 27-year-old, sporting a brace on his left leg and propping himself up with a crutch after surgery on a ruptured tendon suffered Oct. 14 in a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica, was otherwise in good spirits as he chatted with future AC Milan teammate David Beckham and several other Galaxy players.

How soon will Onyewu be back on the field?

"As soon as I can, without any complications," he said. "The surgery went well. Dr. Bert Mandelbaum did a great job. Right now I'm 2 1/2 weeks out and feeling a lot better every day.

"I'm starting my rehab here in L.A. and taking it slowly until I can be more mobile and perhaps continue it elsewhere," Onyewu said.

Onyewu said he is determined to get back in time to play at the World Cup in South Africa, but the time line for his return is uncertain.

"It's anywhere from three to six months," he said. "I'm trying to get back as soon as possible but knowing that I'm not trying to rush it because I'm trying to do it right the first time without having to backtrack.

"I'm anticipating definitely being back this season. Don't count me out for the World Cup."

And is he looking forward to playing with Beckham after the Galaxy midfielder rejoins AC Milan in January?

"I'm looking forward to playing, period," Onyewu said.

-- Grahame L. Jones

Bob Bradley selects U.S. soccer roster for Slovakia and Denmark games

Bob Bradley, coach of the U.S. national soccer team, today named a roster of 22 players for friendly games in Europe against two teams that also have qualified for next year's World Cup in South Africa.

The United States will play Slovakia in Bratislava on Nov. 14 (7 a.m. PST on FSC and Galavision) and Denmark in Aarhus on Nov. 18. The latter game will be the Americans' 24th and final game of 2009.

Because the Galaxy, the Houston Dynamo, Real Salt Lake and the Chicago Fire are still involved in the Major League Soccer playoffs, the roster does not include players from those teams. It does, however, include a few surprises, most notably 2009's MLS leading goal scorer Jeff Cunningham of FC Dallas. Cunningham has not played for the national team since 2005.

Other noteworthy changes include the return of veteran goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann to the squad, as the backup to probable starter Brad Guzan, and the first call-up of FC Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty. Two Chivas USA players, Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein, are on the roster, which features 12 European-based players and 10 from MLS.

The full roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann and Troy Perkins.

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, Jimmy Conrad, Clarence Goodson, Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Heath Pearce and Jonathan Spector.

Midfielders: Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Benny Feilhaber, Sacha Kljestan, Dax McCarty and Robbie Rogers.

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey, Jeff Cunningham and Eddie Johnson.

-- Grahame L. Jones

Photo: Bob Bradley, right, watches from the sidelines during a World Cup qualifying match between the United States and Costa Rica on Oct. 14. Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images

David Beckham will rejoin AC Milan in December and return in July, Galaxy says

Galaxy midfielder David Beckham will rejoin AC Milan on loan in late December and will remain with the Serie A team through the end of the Italian season on May 16, 2010.

After that, if he is named to the roster, Beckham would be with England's national team as it prepares for and plays in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, June 11-July 11.

"I need to give myself the best chance possible to make the World Cup squad and playing for Milan on loan will help me to do that," Beckham said in a statement released today by the Galaxy.

The Major League Soccer club said it had finalized its deal with AC Milan but that "in accordance with team and league regulations, details of the loan agreement were not released."

Beckham will stay with the Galaxy through the MLS playoffs, which end on Nov. 22, and will also be with the team for its two-game tour of Germany, starting with a friendly match against FC Kaiserslautern on Nov. 26 and ending Dec. 2.

"Beckham will officially join AC Milan on Dec. 28," the Galaxy said. He will remain under contract to the Galaxy and has indicated several times in the past that he might extend his contract with MLS beyond its 2011 expiration.

Adriano Galliani, AC Milan's chief executive, was quoted by the Galaxy as saying, "We are confident his loan spell will not only improve Milan, it will help the player to take part in the World Cup."

Said Beckham: "I genuinely enjoyed my time at Milan and I look forward to meeting the players and staff again."

-- Grahame L. Jones

Major League Soccer announces its playoff schedule

Major League Soccer today released its playoff schedule, with the league's top eight teams beginning  competition Thursday. The playoffs culminate with MLS Cup 2009 on Nov. 22 in Seattle.

The full schedule (all times Pacific):

Thursday

Houston Dynamo at Seattle Sounders ( 7 p.m., ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)

Saturday

Chicago Fire at New England Revolution (1 p.m., FSC, FSE)

Columbus Crew at Real Salt Lake (3 p.m., regional)

Sunday

Galaxy at Chivas USA (2 p.m., ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)