Galaxy’s Omar Gonzalez gearing up for busy weekend
As a rising MLS star, Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez lives in a whirlwind of nonstop activity.
A few days after attending the ESPYs, he will start for a fifth-place Galaxy (9-8-3) team looking for a critical three points against third-place Vancouver (9-5-5) on Saturday night. Then Sunday, the 24-year-old center back will meet up with the U.S. national team for the Gold Cup elimination rounds.
Nonstop may be an overstatement, but Gonzalez credits a winter sit-down with former U.S. national team coach and current Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena for keeping his focus intact.
“He sat me down and told me what it’s going to be like, how I need to be when I come back from the national team and when I leave, how it’s hard to shift gears,” Gonzalez said.
“But the great players have done it … I really took those words to heart and I’m trying to live it up.”
The 2011 MLS defender of the year said he was surprised to receive the call-up from U.S. national team Coach Juergen Klinsmann, even though he has started on a U.S. defense that has given up only three goals in six World Cup qualifying games.
Gonzalez won’t play Sunday when the U.S. takes on El Salvador in the Gold Cup quarterfinals and probably will start if the U.S. advances to Wednesday’s semifinals in Dallas and the July 28 final at Soldier Field. But he is excited about the prospect of sharing the field with Galaxy teammate Landon Donovan for the first time with the national team.
“Seeing Landon out there scoring goals and getting man of the match, it seems like he is getting back to his old ways,” Gonzalez said. “I’m really looking forward to stepping on the field with him as a teammate of the national team, and that’s something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time.”
With a win in the July 28 Gold Cup final, the U.S. would qualify for a playoff against the 2015 Gold Cup winner with a spot in the highly competitive 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia on the line.
Meanwhile, Gonzalez, who has never played in the Gold Cup, is looking to bolster his position with the national team less than a year removed from the 2014 World Cup.
“What I am hoping to show at the Gold Cup is to be able to step in and just be a good teammate,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t know what my role is yet, I haven’t spoken with Juergen. I’d like to make an impact whatever way I can.”
Arena was his usual short and not-so-sweet when discussing the call-up, since the Galaxy has been without Donovan for the last three games and could miss Gonzalez for one game while captain Robbie Keane is day to day with a hip injury.
“We don’t discuss those things,” Arena said Thursday. “Omar will be here Saturday.”
Saturday night couldn’t come soon enough for the Galaxy after conceding yet another heartbreaking stoppage-time goal July 13 at Portland, this one coming in the 94th minute to lose, 2-1.
Against Vancouver, the Galaxy has a chance to gain ground in a tight Western Conference, where the second-place through sixth-place teams are separated by just three points (or one win). The top five teams make the MLS playoffs, which start in late October or early November.
“First and foremost we have to take care of business here with the Galaxy, and then I can worry about shifting gears,” Gonzalez said.
Twitter: @andrewgastelum
