The Los Angeles Galaxy could not hold on to a first half lead as Real Madrid rallied its way to a 3-2 victory Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in front of 89, 134 fans in attendance. The Galaxy, who began the game with their typical starters, scored two goals in the last five minutes of the first half against Real, who opened the game with a cast of mostly reserves.
It's worth being noted that Real's "reserves" are nothing to scoff at. The Galaxy's Gregg Berhalter put it best when he said, "When you look at both [starting] 11's, you would take both of those 11's any day."
Todd Dunivant scored the first goal of the game in the 41st minute, the benefactor of a scramble in front of the net. In stoppage time, the Galaxy were awarded a penalty kick after Real's Royston Drenthe kicked the Galaxy's Juninho in the chest in the penalty area. Landon Donovan would subsequently make the penalty kick, burying the ball into the bottom left corner. Despite heading into the locker room with a 2-0 lead at halftime, as history will show, the exhibition was a tale of two halves.
The first half also marked the conclusion of a noteworthy career when the Galaxy's Clint Mathis was subbed out in the 27th minute. After the game, the former U.S. international reflected on his playing days. "It was a great opportunity for me to finish my career with the same team and in the stadium where I started. It was an emotional day."
In the second half, Real brought in its notable stars, including Iker Casillas and Christiano Ronaldo, not to mention Xabi Alonso and Gonzalo Higuain, who would make the greatest contribution to the game.
Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez would later describe Real as "just flying in the second half. It was just amazing to seem them play at that speed."
On the other hand, the Galaxy rested their starters after the first half, opting to put their younger players on the pitch during the second half. Basically, as a friend of mine pointed out, the second half was a match-up between MLS reserves against elite European starters.
Shortly after halftime, Real's Higuain connected on a near perfect pass from Christiano Ronaldo in the 52nd minute. The Galaxy gave up their lead for good when Higuain scored again when he kicked the ball from the right side of the penalty box, resulting in a successful 15-yard shot landing in the upper corner in the 62nd minute.
Real wasn't done just yet. Higuain almost earned a hat trick, but the Galaxy's second-string goalkeeper, Josh Saunders, who replaced Donovan Ricketts at halftime, tapped the ball out. Unfortunately for the Galaxy, the ball managed to land in front of Alonso, the recent World Cup champion, who launched a goal traveling past the head of Saunders and into the net.
Real Madrid defender Raul Albiol summarized the contrast in the halves when he said, "The game definitely had two halves to it. Unfortunately we ended up down by two goals and went into the break losing. We reorganized during the break and ended up winning the game."
In the end, both sides enjoyed the game. Real Madrid midfielder Pedro Leon said, "The team responded well to turn a potentially negative result into a positive result and we leave here on a positive note." Despite taking a hard knock, when asked to dwell on the game, the Galaxy's Juninho confessed that, "It was the greatest experience of my career."
The result didn't matter much to the Galaxy, as head coach Bruce Arena would say after the game. "Our motivation in the game is to put on a good show and to allow people in our league to see Real Madrid. The result is not that important as much as putting on a good exhibition and allowing fans to enjoy themselves."
As for the game being a barometer to compare the MLS to European competition, the Galaxy's Michael Stephens realized soccer in America still has a long way to go. "It was a great experience playing guys of their caliber to gauge yourself against the highest. Anything you do you want to be able to see how you match up against the best. It shows how much there is to improve."
