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Texts From Last Night: LA Galaxy v. Morelia

CARSON, CA - JUNE 5:   Los Angeles Galaxy fans celebrate as the game ends with the Houston Dynamo on June 5, 2010 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The Galaxy won 4-1.  (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
CARSON, CA - JUNE 5: Los Angeles Galaxy fans celebrate as the game ends with the Houston Dynamo on June 5, 2010 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The Galaxy won 4-1. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
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Despite the possibly misleading title, I think this will be a new feature on LAGConf. A quick hitting record of all the bits I missed while writing an emotionally driven game recap the night before. The texts you see the next morning and go, "Oh yeah, that did happen":

  • David Beckham not available. I think this was repeated over and over enough before the match that most people knew, but the rule in CONCACAF Champions League group play is two yellow cards = suspension. So he was unavailable. There was a brief moment of panic last night as it was reported that AJ DeLaGarza had earned his second yellow, but fortunately it wasn't true. AJ's yellow last night was his first. 
  • Robbie Keane kept out of the 18. Keane's been having l leg issues since the match in Costa Rica. On last night's injury report it was said he was kept out with right gluteus tightness. Tight ass syndrome. No idea if he'll try to play Saturday. 
  • Hejduk back in the starting lineup. Mostly what I remember from his performance is watching him jog after balls going out, but apparently he had a solid game. @OptaJack reports he completed 98% of his passes. That's a smart player.
  • Hector Jimenez came in as a sub. I fielded questions before the match asking who he was, he's been on the reserve squad for most of the year. Bruce Arena said he brought him in because he need a right winger to get balls in. He did look solid crossing, no one was getting on the end of them though. 
  • Landon Donovan, my god. Won't be on the scoresheet, but he really put the team on his back. He's always the emotional leader of the team, but it really showed without Beckham and Keane in the match. 
  • Just to explain the rules, the HDC cannot sell more than 7,500 tickets if the match starts before 7:30 on a weekday. 7:30 and later on a weekday, and the cap is 10,500 or 12,500. I've heard both figures. Crowd was maybe 70/30 for Morelia. Better percentage than US/Mexico fans at the Gold Cup final. The Galaxy fans were loud too, trust me, it wasn't like you could hear a pin drop after Juninho saved the day. 
  • The HDC did make the smart move of knowing the cap and only allowing fans in half the stadium. For TVs sake, they moved the cameras to the other side of the pitch, which means the advertising signs had to be moved. Which created the off effect of the stadium looking backwards. The benches were behind ad boards. Very strange. 
  • Morelia sent a full squad but they were without a key player. Still, Morelia's coach insisted they had chances and that there wasn't much more he could have added. Morelia came out hot in the second half, needing that equalizer, and got it. They had at least four strong chances after that to go ahead. Make no doubt about it, Morelia played really well and the Galaxy just had luck on their side. 
  • Alajuelense will move back to the top of the group tonight with a win. They close up group stages at Morelia. Should Alajuelense lose that match, and the Galaxy win theirs, the Galaxy and Morelia go through. The tiebreaker is head to head, which the Galaxy win 2-1 over Ala. The Galaxy finish 3-3 with Morelia, with both teams having an away goal.