Halftime Hype

The Los Angeles Galaxy will receive a test of sorts when the team hosts world-class Real Madrid at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night. Galaxy manager Bruce Arena and his squad will face Real's star-studded cast, coached by one of the best managers in the world, the recently hired Mourinho.

The exhibition comes at different times for the two teams. The Galaxy, along with other teams in the MLS, are in the middle of their season. In fact, the Galaxy traveled to play the Puerto Rico Islanders on Wednesday in a CONCACAF Champions League game. Prior to that game, the Galaxy also had played the Chicago Fire at home on Sunday.

In a phone interview on Thursday, when asked if the Galaxy's busy schedule would take a toll on the team's performance versus Real, ESPN analyst Alexi Lalas said, "The Galaxy and the players understand how to travel and regenerate physically and emotionally...It's part of being a professional athlete. It's not ideal in terms of traveling back across the country, but one thing you learn when you play in the United States is how to prepare to recover from the type of travel that exists in our league."

On the other hand, Real Madrid, like many European clubs, is still in the midst of its preseason training. However, Real also had a match on Wednesday, winning 3-2 against Club America, a Mexican soccer team, in an exhibition played in San Francisco. Make no mistake, though, this isn't entirely a vacation for the personnel. Throughout the past couple of weeks, the team has often been training twice a day at UCLA.

Asked whether the MLS teams have the advantage in these summer exhibitions, since the European clubs have not started their season yet, Lalas noted that is "not always the case."

"Maybe to a certain extent, but I think that sometimes in preseason, players play a little looser. Also, younger players...that more hungry, get the opportunity to show it. So it doesn't always work out where the team that is in season is always the better team. For the Galaxy to be playing against Real Madrid while they are in the middle of the season, maybe it's a little bit of an advantage."

Unfortunately, Real's Brazilian star, Kaka, will not participate in the game this Saturday after deciding to undergo surgery this week to repair a meniscus injury. Contrary to certain reports declaring that Kaka's injury could have ended his career, manager Mourinho believed otherwise.


Real Madrid's Christiano Ronaldo, above (Photo credits: itfilms.com)

"I cannot say this is a dramatic injury because dramatic injuries finish with the careers of players. This is not a dramatic injury," Mourinho reassured the media in a press conference on Friday.

Although many tend to focus more on the world-renown players in international exhibitions, Mourinho is quite a star himself. Having won practically every championship possible during his coaching career, Mourinho is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, manager in the world.

At the end of the day, though, fans are buying tickets to see the Real Madrid's stars on the pitch. With the exception of Kaka, that's exactly what they'll get. The roster include goalkeeper Iker Casillas, also in the net for the World Cup-winning Spanish national team; Christiano Ronaldo, one of the best soccer players in the world and perhaps the most marketed soccer player on the planet; Sergio Ramos, a top defender who plays alongside Casillas for "La Furia Roja"; and many more.

Real Madrid certainly has nothing to lose in the game, and, according to Lalas, actually gains several benefits by playing against the Galaxy.

"For Real Madrid, it's their preseason. They get the opportunity to play in front of a big crowd, spread their brand, and play against a good team in the Galaxy. If you're a coach, in preseason you want to challenge your players and not just go out and play against teams that you walk all over."

The Galaxy has several of its own players to boast, if not as highly. Landon Donovan, lauded as an American soccer hero for his late goal against Algeria in the World Cup, will be on the pitch. Another World Cup player, Edson Buddle, will also represent the Galaxy. Plus, the Galaxy's back line features Omar Gonzalez, recently called upon to replace defender Chad Marshall in the United States' friendly against Brazil on August 10.

Perhaps most notably for the Galaxy, the friendly will be the final game for Clint Mathis, a former United States national team player, who will retire after the match this weekend.

“I’ve always said I wanted to retire with the team I started, and that’s here with the Galaxy,” Mathis said after his final training session. “I was fortunate to come back here and that’s the first stadium that used to be our home stadium, the Rose Bowl."


Galaxy and former United States national team player, Clint Mathis (pictured above), will retire after Saturday's game

From the Galaxy's perspective, Saturday's friendly presents a great opportunity to play against a world-class side in Real Madrid. As Donovan said on a local radio show, the game has "significant meaning to it...Not many players get a chance to play against Real Madrid. It's a big massive club, one of the biggest clubs in the world."

These types of international exhibitions also tend to exemplify a certain amount of marketing, particularly for the foreign team. For example, at the MLS All-Star game, in which the MLS All-Stars lost to Machester United 5-2, there were plenty of fans wearing United's red jerseys among the sold-out crowd of over 70,000. Similar to the World Cup, international soccer competitions always seems to energize U.S. crowds - and have Americans reaching for their wallets. You can bet that the notable European clubs benefit financially every time they make a trip to the United States.

When pressed about whether the emphasis of the international exhibitions is on marketing or if the matches are, indeed, good for soccer, Lalas thought the latter.

"It's good for soccer to bring quality teams and to bring big stars but I think both the MLS teams and the international teams see benefits in terms of their brand. The Galaxy will get as much out of this game as Real Madrid will, in terms of the perception of their brand. I think it's advantageous to both teams, but there's certainly a marketing and a branding component to these games, and a financial component.

"Look , you know, Real Madrid's not playing for free. While it appears it was strictly about branding and money for these teams coming over, I think thankfully now they not only get the money that they need, but also the competition playing against MLS teams...the type of competition you want in a preseason."

The Galaxy are certainly familiar with international competition. Last summer they hosted other world famous clubs, falling to Barcelona in a 2-1 loss and a breaking even in a 2-2 draw versus AC Milan. Interestingly enough, during his tenure with Chelsea, Mourinho coached against the Galaxy in an international friendly on July 22, 2007. Mourinho and his squad won the game 1-0, defeating the Galaxy in David Beckham's debut.

At the time, Lalas was also general manager of the Galaxy. He recalled several things about the international match.

"You have to balance the different aspects of wanting to make sure that your team goes out and puts on a big game with the recognition that younger players...need to get time...I always looked at it as you're representing your club and it's an opportunity to send a message to your fans and to your market that you can play against big competition. You don't want to waste those opportunities because it all goes into the perception of your brand and, once again, the relevancy and credibility that you have within your market."

On paper, the game may just be a meaningless friendly. In reality, the Galaxy will have to shoulder the credibility of the MLS and demonstrate that the best of the MLS can compete with the best of Europe.