CARSON, Calif. – Omar Gonzalez won’t make his return to the LA Galaxy lineup this weekend, when they visit reigning MLS Cup champion Sporting Kansas City (Saturday, 6 pm ET; ESPN2), but he’s eying the Western Conference showdown at Seattle at the end of the month.
The veteran center back, who is rehabilitating an ankle injury sustained in the United States’ World Cup loss to Belgium, trained Thursday afternoon with teammates for the first time since getting home from Brazil, but he wasn’t slated to join them for the flight to Missouri later in the day.
Head coach Bruce Arena said LA was taking it "day by day" with Gonzalez.
"Ankle is moving along well," Gonzalez said after the training session at StubHub Center. "Practiced today for the first time, and it feels good to be back on the field with the team and can’t wait to step out there."
Gonzalez, who was selected Wednesday to the Fan XI for the Aug. 6 AT&T MLS All-Star Game in Portland, Ore., against Bayern Munich, last played for the Galaxy on May 3, a 1-0 loss at Colorado. He exited at halftime after suffering a minor knee injury, which slowed his progress in the pre-World Cup camp. He’s missed 10 league games and two US Open Cup matches.
He said he was hoping to play in the July 28 against the Western Conference leading Sounders at CenturyLink Field (10 pm ET; ESPN2).
- Get the latest LA news at LAGalaxy.com
"I think that’s the target game," Gonzalez said. "Should be a crucial game for us. It’s our first meeting of the year, it’s going to be at their place and we need to get some points."
The Galaxy have a friendly Wednesday night against Manchester United at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and Gonzalez said he might get see some action in that game.
"I think that’s the plan," he said. "It’s definitely a good game to get some minutes, to get back out there and get ready for Seattle."
