COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The LA Galaxy’s stomping grounds in Carson, Calif. are a good half hour’s commute from the glitz and lights of downtown Tinsel Town, but don’t tell that Tim Howard.
To the Colorado Rapids goalkeeper, it’s all Hollywood.
“[The Galaxy] come into these playoffs as a favorite,” Howard said ahead of the Western Conference Semifinal first leg on Sunday (5 pm ET; ESPN in the US | TSN1/4 in Canada). “MLS would love nothing more than to have their glamour club go far.”
LA does enter the weekend as a media darling, given favorable odds by ESPN’s Soccer Power Index to advance to the MLS Cup final. But Howard, a star in his own right, is happy for the Rapids to fly under the radar.
“That suits us,” he said. “We’re happy to be the underdogs. They have all the pressure on them and we’re going to give as good as we get. Hopefully we can do ourselves justice and bring it back to our home fans and allow them to push us forward in the second leg.”
Colorado’s roster isn’t peppered with names like Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane or Steven Gerrard, all of whom are all expected to be available on Sunday. But with Howard in net and increasing contributions from Jermaine Jones, who continues to make progress in his return from a knee injury which sidelined him for nearly four months, the Rapids will definitely have a boost.
“He’ll definitely be seeing the field,” Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni said of Jones’ progress this week. “We want to put him in a position to log some good minutes. We’re going to continue to build his fitness so that he can play in a way that we need him to play.”
Jones himself is anxious to make a contribution, and return to the kind of form that saw him contribute three goals in four games during the early part of the season.
“That was the small piece that I was trying to bring to the team and then they started to believe they could be winners.” Jones said of his contributions this season. “Everyone knows that I hate to lose. This is how I go into every training session and in games.”
Like Howard and the rest of his Rapids teammates, Jones isn’t shying away from their big-name opposition.
“I really don’t care,” Jones said. “The point is, we’ve played everybody and we’ve played good against everybody. So I think the other teams now go out with a different eye on us. They go with more respect and they know what can happen when you don’t respect us.”
The Rapids may not feel like they’ve gotten the respect that they deserve yet, but they did offer up praise for their opponents, particularly Donovan; a former teammate of Mastroeni, Howard and Jones with the US national team.
“I think they have a lot of weapons,” Howard said of the Galaxy attack. “Landon coming back was a surprise to most everyone. They’re such a good team, we’re focused on stopping them as a whole. Landon is a big piece of that. Whether he has been all season or not, he has the ability to electrify and take over games.”
Added Mastroeni, “Landon is one of the best players in the history of US soccer. He comes back and brings a wealth of experience and belief. He’s a guy that’s won numerous MLS Cups, he’s a guy that’s done it on the international level. Adding that to an already experienced and savvy group continues to bolster their confidence. He’s a player that’s made a big difference since coming back.”
Stars and “glamour clubs” aside, the Rapids believe it’s now their time to shine under the bright lights.
“We can compete with anyone on any given day,” said Mastroeni. “Over the course of the season, we’ve proven that we’re a pretty tough team to play against. Playoffs are more of the same.”
