A.J. DeLaGarza expects to be ready for this weekend's MLS Cup final after skipping the LA Galaxy's second-leg clash in the Western Conference Championship of the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T, on Sunday night in Seattle with an ailing hamstring.
The veteran defender did not make it onto LA's 18-man game-day roster against the Sounders, whose 2-1 victory evened aggregate in the series at 2-2, with the Galaxy advancing on away goals to Sunday afternoon's championship game at StubHub Center against the New England Revolution (3 pm ET; ESPN, UniMas, UDN, TSN1, RDS2, buy tickets here).
“I feel a lot better, will be ready to play this weekend,” DeLaGarza said Monday afternoon on MLS' media teleconference with the Galaxy and Revolution. “It was just a factor of [CenturyLink Field's artificial] turf and the weather was not good to go out there.
“You saw Ozzie Alonso had two weeks to prepare for that, and he was still struggling with his hamstring. I thought it was smart on our behalf just to get a guy in there who's fresh and ready, and it paid off at the end, and we won.”
Alonso returned to the Seattle lineup Sunday after missing the first leg with a hamstring ailment picked up in the second leg of the Sounders' Western Conference semifinal triumph over FC Dallas. He was clearly bothered by it early in the game, which was played in near-freezing temperatures, and during the second half.
DeLaGarza, who has primarily played at center back this year but started the two previous playoff games at right back, hurt his right hamstring trying to cross a ball during the first leg against the Sounders. He played on despite the injury, then was lifted in the 61st minute for Dan Gargan, who has made 29 starts at right back this year in all competitions.
DeLaGarza, who won the Galaxy's Defender of the Year honor this year after seeing time at all four backline positions, said last week that his exit in the victory over Seattle was all “precaution” and that if he was “called upon, like every week I'll go out there. It's up to Bruce [Arena, head coach], but I'm ready to go.”
- Get the latest LA news at LAGalaxy.com
Gargan played at right back on Sunday. DeLaGarza was asked if he could have played had the Galaxy needed him.
“I'm a defender, not an attacker, so if I was someone that needed to play and score goals, then maybe,” he said. “But as a defender, I think you need someone back there who's ready and 100 percent or close to it.”
