By Alex Baker
Clarence Seedorf in LA
It could have been so cool and for a moment it looked like it was all going to come together. Clarence Seedorf, veteran Netherlands international and winner of the UEFA Champions League with three different clubs was seen training with the LA Galaxy in Carson this week. While at the same time reports surfaced that Galaxy captain Landon Donovan had put his Manhattan Beach compound up for sale.
Could it be? Was Landon’s imminent departure back to the Premier League going to create a designated player spot into which the elegant Dutch midfielder might be able to slip? Alas, no, it would not.
Instead Seedorf has signed a two-year deal with Botafogo in Brazil, as the prevailing view had been that he’d do all along. The 36-year old former Ajax man who has spent the last 10 years at AC Milan has a Brazilian wife.
Galaxy Let 2 Goal Lead Slip to Lose in California Super Clasico
It’s been a week of near misses for the LA Galaxy. After failing to replace the brooding Donovan with Seedorf the team traveled north to Stanford to face the San Jose Earthquakes in front of a racuous crowd of 50,000.
Many had no doubt turned out to see David Beckham, who coincidentally had officially been scratched from Great Britain’s Olympic roster earlier in the week.
The atmosphere was fraught from the get-go with tension on the pitch and in the stands palpable. The Galaxy gave up the lead early to a poaching Steven Lenhardt. However they managed to equalize courtesy of a free kick from non other than Beckham, who has seemingly made a career of responding to his detractors on the pitch.
The visiting Gs took the lead thanks to an own goal from Quakes defender Jason Hernandez and Landon Donovan made it 3-1 with a late first half strike.
But before the half had ended Victor Bernandez had halfed San Jose’s deficit. The Quakes struck again immediately at the start of the second half, making it 2-3 thanks to a Sam Cronin strike in the 47th.
However it would be who else but MLS league-leading scorer Chris Wondolowski who would slam home the match-winner when he scored a spectacular backheeled goal from a corner kick to give the home the lead in the 61st minute.
Unfortunately for the several hundred Galaxy supporters who’d made the trip up in buses, the reigning MLS champs simply had no response for Wondo’s wonder goal and the match ended 4-3 Quakes.
