Veteran defender Gregg Berhalter of the Los Angeles Galaxy waited 15 years to make his MLS debut, and it didn't even last 80 minutes in Saturday's scoreless draw with Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center.
The 35-year-old, who joined the club late last week after a long stint in Europe, was red-carded after fouling Chivas' Alecko Eskandarian in the 79th minute. He joined Brian Taylor as the only two Galaxy players to be shown a red card in their first league game with the club. Taylor, who appeared in 11 games for Los Angeles in 1997, was ejected in the 77th minute of his MLS debut against Kansas City on April 5, 1997.
Berhalter, who estimated it either was the second or third straight red card of his career -- "It happens every five years," he joked -- also become one of seven players to be sent off in their MLS debuts, along with Mike Chabala, Ciaran O'Brien, Caleb Porter, Mario Rodriguez and Jim St. Andre.
"Always an exciting moment. Come on," Berhalter said with a laugh. "It's crazy. I've waited 15 years and I only get to play 80 minutes. It's one of those things that happens. Obviously I would have liked to stay on the field for 90 minutes, but at the time I felt it was a play that needed to be made."
The feeling was unanimous among his teammates that if Berhalter hadn't come into contact with Eskandarian, the Chivas USA forward would have been all alone against Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who also was making his MLS debut and earned MLS Player of the Week honors for his performance.
"They call those professional fouls," Berhalter said, "and that was a professional foul. At that moment, I judged that, 'OK, the guy has a greater chance of scoring if I let him go.' It was a 0-0 game, late in the game, I calculated the risk and I thought it needed to be done."
Rookie defender Omar Gonzalez, who said he's already been impressed with the veteran backliner despite not having even a week of practice with him, said it was a smart play, even though it forced the Galaxy to play a man down the rest of the match.
"It's something that had to be done to get that point we needed," Gonzalez said. "He knew that. He did what he could do for us to get that point. That's what a good pro does."
"He's a leader," fellow rookie defender A.J. DeLaGarza said. "He thought it was something he had to do. I can't fault him for that."
Berhalter's club career began in 1994 when he signed with Dutch side FC Zwolle. He also spent time with Sparta Rotterdam and Cambuur Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, Crystal Palace of the English First Division, German Bundesliga side Energie Cottbus and finally TSV 1860 Munich, which released him from his contract last week to enable him to join the Galaxy.
He's quickly made an impact on the Los Angeles defense with his organizational skills and especially with Gonzalez, the club's top draft pick out of the University of Maryland. Gonzalez said Berhalter demands maximum effort.
"Gregg expects a lot from you every single day at practice and at game time," Gonzalez said. "He wants me to be 100 percent focused at all times and not take the easy way out. He doesn't want anything lazy from me, and I think that's good for me.
"He's always on his toes getting everyone ready and I can learn a lot from him."
Berhalter said he's pretty close to maximum fitness and already likes what he sees in MLS, especially if future games match the intensity of Saturday's showdown between bitter rivals. His debut might have been abbreviated but it was memorable nonetheless.
"I'm glad, first of all, to play my first game in a derby game," he said. "It was special, the crowd was great and it was a local rival. I felt good out there."
Larry Morgan is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
