Complete craziness!
IN any language, exciting ....... video compilation of the Zlatan goal call from announcers from around the world!
LAFC made LA Galaxy defenders look like they had concrete shoes on and bang, 3-0 lead!
But the LA Galaxy woke up in the second half and LAFC started to get a little tight.
3-1, with the Lleget goal. Good to see him on the way to full force after so many months of rehab from his foot surgery that could have been career ending.
Zlatan comes into the game!
Boateng crosses and Pontius scores on a diving header, 3-2.
Free kick by LAFC goal keeper and Steres heads it upfield. Zlatan sees that the LAFC goalie is too far from his goal and the properly gauges the flight of the header and on the bounce strikes a swerving shot into the goal, 3-3!
LAFC realizes they could lose this thing and they wake up and start to attack and get shot that hits the post.
As the game appears to be winding down to a draw, LAG pushes forward as the ball goes toward the open space to the right of the goal box and Cole, 37, tracks it down and hits a cross into the box and Zlatan, 36, out jumps everyone to head the ball into the goal, 4-3!
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LA Galaxy were one of the "originals" when MLS started in 1996. Soccer was still on the periphery of most sports fans including myself back then.
David Beckham arrived in 2007 and the LA Galaxy and MLS began to get a bit more attention. I would check in on their progress on and off but mostly off. I did make it to one Galaxy game when both Beckham and Donovan were on the field.
It would not be until 2010 that I would follow the club more routinely. The Landon Donovan late game goal against Algeria in the World Cup pushed me into soccer fandom!
Got pretty spoiled as the LA Galaxy won 3 MLS Cups between 2010-2014 in 4 MLS Cup final appearances.
After that great run, the team model of relying on 30+ y/o European stars began to run into trouble as Robby Keane and Steven Gerrard just couldn't stay healthy enough to make a difference and so the LA Galaxy flamed out in the playoffs in 2015 and 2016.
2017 was a dumpster fire as the team went toward a youth movement and some of their veteran players got hurt or just didn't play well resulted in the team finishing with the worst record in MLS.
With the launching of LAFC in 2018, it was tempting to "jump ship" but I decided to stick with the LA Galaxy as it is pretty hard to change clubs once you have some history of rooting for them.
No hard feelings about LAFC. It is good for the sport and the city to have a solid rival in town. In a face-to-face match, I have my team to root for. In other situations, I'll check in on how they are doing and wish them well. This is how I think of the Angels (I am a Dodger fan) and the Clippers (I am a Laker fan). I happily rooted for the Angels the year they beat the Giants to win the World Series!
LAFC has definitely gotten off to a great start and the LA Galaxy could learn from them about scouting for talent in Latin America.
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