LOS ANGELES – Christian Ramirez was five years old when the first MLS team came to Southern California. He was just twelve when that team moved from Pasadena to Carson, a short half-hour trip up the 405 freeway from his hometown of Garden Grove in Orange County.
As a young boy with a passion for the game, he has many memories of games at that arena – today called the StubHub Center – and both MLS teams who’ve called it home.
“I grew up watching the Chivas USA, [LA] Galaxy games,” Ramirez told reporters after training on Thursday afternoon.
The striker mentioned the foreign players like David Beckham who he remembers watching as he came of age but also listed a fellow Southern California-bred player: Landon Donovan.
“Early on I was there watching those [guys],” he said. “But I’m on this side.”
On Friday, Ramirez will look to became another locally-grown name to make his mark at StubHub Center – this time as a member of LAFC, who will visit their neighbors for the second time this season as part of Heineken Rivalry Week (10:30 pm ET | ESPN - Full TV & Streaming Info).
“Now to be here in a new environment, in a new rivalry, it’s something special,” said Ramirez of the significance of playing in the new local derby. “You can see it hyping up all week. The first two games have been incredible and hopefully we’re on the winning side tomorrow.”
From conversations with his teammates, Ramirez – who is feeling comfortable in the dressing room and on the pitch after scoring his first two goals for LAFC last week against Real Salt Lake – said he’s ready for a heated contest but is confident his new team’s supporters will be out in full force.
“We know we’re going into their home but The 3252 will have a pretty good presence in there so it’ll be a nice environment,” he said, adding that the most important thing is that there are three points on the table for two teams vying for playoff spots.
“As long as we can get points out of this game we can continue to create space between us and them, that’s only going to benefit us.”
LAFC boss Bob Bradley – who has thrown his new weapon into regular action since his arrival from Minnesota last month – believes Ramirez can offer something different offensively when they visit the Galaxy this time around.
“Christian has just a different style of play as a striker than Marcos [Ureña] and [Adama Diomande].” the coach said Thursday. “Christian is more subtle in the way he moves. He’s not typically involved that much in the game but he’s got great timing and ability to arrive in the box at the right time.”
With five goals scored in the first two contests against the Galaxy, LAFC haven’t had problems finding the net but his side’s inability to hold the lead so far against their cross-town rivals won’t change the way Bradley plans to use Ramirez and Co. against the Galaxy on Friday Night.
“I think all year long we’ve tried to go after teams. We’ve scored some great goals. We’re a team that tries to push forward, so you can expect that,” he said.
