CARSON, Calif. – Clement Diop admittedly is hard to please, but the LA Galaxy were more than happy with his performance in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Portland Timbers.
Making just his third start of a fledgling Major League Soccer career, Diop was given the nod over incumbent goalkeeper Brian Rowe and did not disappoint. The 23-year-old goalkeeper ended the game with four saves including a spectacular stop of a Diego Valeri chance late in the second half to keep the Galaxy in the match.
Despite his showing, Diop refused any pats on the back after the game, simply stating that the result was far more important than any individual effort.
“I don’t care about my performance since we lost, I didn’t do well enough,” Diop told reporters. “So, I hope we will win the next game, that’s it. If we lose 1-0, if we tie 1-1, maybe I did a good job. But it’s not a good job when you lose 1-0. It’s not enough.
“I tried to keep the team in the game as much as I could. We put in a hard fight and a great effort, but we lost so the result wasn’t here and we know that we must win in Salt Lake. Everybody knows that. … I think we showed character. I think we showed that we are a tough team to play against. And we will never give up until the end of the season.”
The Galaxy were forced to dig deep after the Timbers got on the board first through a well-executed counterattack in the eighth minute. In just a 17-second span, Portland burst forward off a Galaxy set piece with a succession of quick passes that ended with Diego Chara scoring from close range.
Diop could do little to prevent Portland’s tally but raised his game afterward. As the match wore on, the goalkeeper proved to be his usual acrobatic self, making highlight-reel plays that were able to keep the Galaxy in contention until late.
After the match, Onalfo praised his young ‘keeper and offered an explanation why he received the start over Rowe.
“He’s an exciting young goalkeeper who’s only going to get better. I thought he had a good game. His passing game was good with his feet. He’s a guy that can make saves, and I thought he had a good performance,” Onalfo told reporters. “We’re dealing with a lot of adversity right now which means we’re testing our depth and we’re making our depth better. I want competition in positions, and I felt like it was a good opportunity to give Diop the game. He’s going to play for us.
“He’s going to play games this year, so if you just look at the track record, there’s often injuries to goalkeepers, and you need them to have minutes. I’m confident in him, and it’s harder when you’re going on the road. It’s better to give a game like that to a young goalkeeper at home and create competition in that position.”
Onalfo wasn’t alone in his praise as midfielder Sebastian Lletget was quick to compliment Diop on his strong showing.
“I think he’s fantastic,” Lletget said. “I think we have two great goalkeepers, but in this game, I think Curt [Onalfo] felt he was better suited. He couldn’t do much on the goal, and we should have stopped that a long time ago. I thought he did fantastic.”
Whether Onalfo will give Diop the nod in goal when the Galaxy travel to Rio Tinto Stadium to face Real Salt Lake remains to be seen, but the ‘keeper says he’ll be ready if called.
“If the coach needs me, I will be ready to perform,” Diop said. “I will do my best to bring points and wins to the team.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atwww.LAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
