CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy’s Juninho, and Marcelo Sarvas have become almost inseparable since the Brazilians became a midfield tandem early in the 2012 season.
They often hang out together and their respective families are very close. The communication between them is borderline uncanny and they pretty much know how the other thinks.
“All we have to do is just look at each other and we know what we have to do,” Juninho said after training Tuesday.
That partnership, arguably one of the best in Major League Soccer, will be put to the test in the first leg of the Western Conference Championship against the Seattle Sounders on Sunday at StubHub Center (2 p.m., ESPN, ESPN Deportes).
The Sounders, winners of this year’s Supporters’ Shield – fashioned at the Galaxy’s expense in the regular-season finale – boast a dangerous attack that includes the likes of Nigerian speedster Obafemi Martins (17 goals and 13 assists), U.S. international Clint Dempsey (15 goals and 10 assists), Lamar Neagle (9 goals and 9 assists) and even former Galaxy player Chad Barrett (7 goals) and Guatemala’s Marco Pappa (6 goals and 5 assists).
It was Pappa’s two goals late in the second half of the season finale that gave the Sounders the league’s best overall record and the coveted Supporters’ Shield.
“In my opinion they have 11 good players,” Sarvas said of Seattle. “I don’t see any one player that makes that big of a difference. It’s a real team.”
Juninho said Dempsey and Martins make the Sounders go.
“They are the keys,” he said. “When they play well together it’s hard to stop them. At this time of the year you have to do it some way. You have to be right next to them and be around them at all times. You can’t let them face the goal.
“We have to do that and play our game. That’s the only way to beat Seattle.”
The 25-year-old Juninho, a 5-foot-7, 145-pounder, has been a force since he joined the Galaxy on loan from Sao Paulo in 2010. The transfer became permanent in January of 2013, partly because of skills that have resulted in 14 goals since he came to Los Angeles.
Sarvas, who turned 33 in October, first caught the eye of the Galaxy while playing for L.D. Alajuelense in CONCACAF Champions League and signed with the Galaxy in December of 2011.
He has scored nine goals since he arrived in Southern California and has added a surprising 11 assists this season, third on the team behind only Landon Donovan’s 19 assists and Robbie Keane’s 14.
Sarvas repeatedly has raved about Juninho’s performances and said of his fellow countryman, “He’s one of the faces people come to expect on the Galaxy.”
“Everyone knows how important he is to the team,” he added.
Sarvas said he and Juninho are looking forward to the challenge this weekend. It will be difficult to say the least, he said.
“It’s teams that are fighting for the final,” he said. “The game is going to be very tight; you can’t expect anything different.
“But I feel very confident going into this matchup. I think our team is ready.”
