Galaxy Loses in Hawaii

By Kyle Galdeira
HONOLULU (Ticker) -- In a match billed as David Beckham's introduction to Hawaii, it was Bare who stole the show in the end. The Brazilian forward's goal gave Gamba Osaka a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy in the first semifinal match of the inaugural Pan Pacific Championship at Aloha Stadium on Wednesday night. Osaka advances to Saturday's championship match against the Houston Dynamo, who posted a 3-0 triumph over Sydney FC in Wednesday's other matchup.

Bare split a pair of Galaxy defenders and rocketed a ball past goalkeeper Steve Cronin to put the Japanese squad up, 1-0, three minutes into the match. Bare continued to press the action throughout the half, while Beckham approached the exhibition more conservatively as the crowd erupted and flash bulbs popped every time the ball came near him. The J League's second-leading scorer (20 goals) in 2007, Bare had an open look at the goal with just under 30 seconds to go in the opening half. But Cronin timed his dive perfectly to corral the ball and keep it a one-goal game.

Beckham did stir things up, however, when he reacted vehemently to what he thought was a late tackle by Osaka's Lucas just before the 65th minute. The English midfielder jumped up and started jawing with Lucas, mixing in some strong gesticulation before pleading his case to referee Baldomero Toledo, to no avail. Beckham got some measure of revenge in the 84th minute with a hard tackle that knocked Lucas to the ground and drew a large ovation from the crowd.

"Obviously it's always disappointing when you lose the game, when you don't start off the game well and properly, then that happens," Beckham said before a throng of international media gathered in the postgame mix zone. "They capitalized on that first break through, but we got back towards the end of the first half and we had a few chances. But the second half was a lot better, we started playing (soccer), we started playing with confidence."

Osaka has been training in Oahu since arriving on February 12, while the Galaxy flew to the Islands just two days ago. The Japanese squad appeared to have acclimated well, while Los Angeles seemed disorganized and sloppy at times. Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit voiced his displeasure with the playing surface at Aloha Stadium earlier in the week, stating that the FieldTurf played much faster than natural grass and that the potential for injury is greater. "In the beginning we had to adapt a lot to the pitch, we didn't train on the pitch at all," Gullit said. "It took us a little bit of time to adjust, but I was very happy with the way they interpreted the game. "In the second half, we put them constantly under pressure. We had our opportunities, but we are two weeks in training, so therefore, our physical conditioning is reasonable."

Los Angeles will face Sydney FC on Saturday at 6 p.m. local time, a match that precedes the tournament title game at 8:30 p.m. The Galaxy were without Landon Donovan, who did not suit up due to a leg injury. His status for Saturday's match is uncertain. Just three months removed from winning their second consecutive MLS Cup, the Dynamo continued to fire on all cylinders, taking control of the action against Sydney early and never looking back. The Dynamo kept constant pressure on Sydney's defenders, who only could manage to push the ball into the attack zone a handful of times. "I think (defensively) we kept them away pretty well until late in the game, and some of the goals we scored tonight were excellent," Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear said. "You never know how the other team's going to play, but I think we benefited from (having) more than a handful of guys (participate) in international camps, so those guys came in pretty fit. The other guys were pretty smart and (showed up) in pretty decent shape."

Dwayne De Rosario took possession in the attacking third and unleashed a 30-yard blast in the 27th minute to put the Houston squad up, 1-0. Just a minute later, Stuart Holden took a pass from De Rosario and rocketed a shot past goalkeeper Clint Bolton to double Houston's lead. "Dwayne just hit a bomb, not much to that one," said Houston's Brian Ching, who assisted on the game's first score. The Dynamo continued to pour it on as Chris Wondolowski took advantage of some lackluster defense by Sydney. After picking up a loose ball, he fired a shot from just outside the box in the 42nd minute to make it 3-0.

For Houston forward Brian Ching, the tournament serves as an opportunity for the Haleiwa, Oahu native to play in front of his hometown fans for the first time since representing the Kamehameha Schools as one of the state's best prep soccer players 12 years ago. Ching exited the game in the 64th minute in favor of a substitute, and the fan favorite was greeted by a wave of applause as he acknowledged the crowd.