Team Profile: Los Angeles Galaxy

Brief History: The Galaxy, a charter member of Major League Soccer, is a team with a short but storied history as one of the top clubs in the top division.. The team has won two MLS Cups, which is second to only DC United and has taken the U.S. Open Cup twice as well. The team reached the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup a combined 9 times and came away with 4 domestic championships. The team also won the Supporters Shield (top regular season record) in 1998 and 2002. As far as recent success; the Galaxy claimed the 2005 MLS Cup, were runner-ups in SuperLiga 2007 (an MLS vs. Mexican club competition), and claimed 3^rd place in the 2003 La Manga Cup (teams from U.S. Russia, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) and 2008 Pan Pacific Championships (teams from U.S. Mexico, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Japan.).

Los Galacticos: The Galaxy have certainly earned their name for having a galaxy full of stars. Some notable players in Galaxy’s history include current members David Beckham (England), Landon Donovan (USA), Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala) and Able Xavier (Portugal). Other famous names include Americans such as Cobi Jones, Alexi Lalas, and Clint Mathis. Foreign stars such as Brazil’s Weldon, Austria’s Andreas Herzog, Mexico’s Jorge Campos, and South Korea’s Hong Myung-Bo have left their mark for the Southern California club.

2008 Outlook: If truth be told, few people truly believe the Galaxy will be able to overcome the strong MLS contingent this year. Houston Dynamo should be favored in the league with DC United not far behind. If Beckham can stay healthy and the Galaxy can withstand a few games without Donovan and Ruiz due to national team call-ups the Galaxy could make a deep run in the playoffs. Look for the Galaxy and Chivas USA to fight for the 2^nd place spot in the west behind 2-time defending MLS Champion Houston Dynamo.