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2005 MLS Cup | HIGHLIGHTS

2005 MLS Cup | INFOGRAPHIC

2005 MLS Cup | ORAL HISTORY

Prior to the 2005 season, the LA Galaxy had undergone a dramatic overhaul as an organization. Midway through the 2004 season, Galaxy general manager Doug Hamilton dispatched head coach Sigi Schmid as he sought to revitalize a team that had gone winless in their last five matches in favor of Steve Sampson. Sampson immediately sought about revitalizing the team by adding players like Landon Donovan and Todd Dunivant

SAMPSON:  “For me to take over the Galaxy, it was an incredible honor and a great opportunity. The expectations were very, very high and the standard was set high. One of the things that Doug Hamilton told me was that the Galaxy were all about winning trophies and I took that to heart. It meant that we’re going to give you a two-year contract and if you haven’t won a trophy in two years, well then basically we’re going to be saying good-bye to you too. Quite frankly, I’d rather be part of an organization that gives you all the resources to win and has expectations to win then one that doesn’t, so for me it was a tremendous honor and challenge.”

VAGENAS: “He was fantastic, I can’t say enough; the bond that team created is unlike anything that I’ve ever felt. That is one of the teams that are still intertwined and that group of players still talks to one another. It was a different feeling because it surpassed soccer.”

JONES:  “I think he did a good job of relating to the players and letting people know where they stood. It was obviously difficult for him getting used to that, but he definitely set up a communication with the older players and the staff of the team. That was important especially if there were a lot of changes going on.”

PANDO
A legend in his native Guatemala after a long career with Municipal, Guillermo “Pando” Ramirez signed with the club at the start of the season and was quickly touted as one of the club’s finest talents. However, what transpired was a disaster as he struggled through the season, leading the team with 62 shots, but scoring only one goal all season.

SAMPSON: “I had seen him when I was in Costa Rica and we had played against the other CONCACAF national teams and one of the things that I wanted to do was bring players with experience as well as a strong player in midfield that could hold the ball up for us and Pando offered all of that.  One of the things that I always liked about him was that he could always put the ball in the back of the net. However, he just couldn’t finish so it became increasingly more frustrating for him and for the players to even agree for him to be on the field. It got so frustrating for him that he and Nagamura had a fight in training one day that was all that pent up frustration that came to a head.”

VAGENAS:  “If I were to be quite honest, he was one of the most talented soccer players in the league hands down. That might surprise some people to hear me say that, but unquestionably one of the most talented players in the league and one of those players that had a hard time of fitting into MLS. I remember one time we had an exhibition against Real Madrid and I remember watching Pando on the field and at that time, there wasn’t a better player on the field.”

JONES: “He was a nice guy; obviously he struggled throughout the season.  There were definitely issues because he was a new guy coming into the team, highly touted and he didn’t live up to the expectation. I think that weighed on him a lot as a player. No matter, you try to give him support and try to prop him up, but if he hasn’t scored a goal and all the talk is how he hasn’t scored a goal or done anything then it’s going to be difficult. Then it doesn’t matter what you say, even if you’re trying to help because it’s making it a little bit worse because he doesn’t want to hear it anymore. Then him, coming from a different culture and not speaking the language, it makes it difficult … it takes times for players to get used to this league and I think that weighed on him throughout.”

DONOVAN: “Pando was a great guy and always fun to be around.  He was a bit of a jokester and the guys really liked him. I remember Steve asking some of us about what we thought about Pando being used as a substitute to possibly give us a boost off the bench in the Final.  We all agreed that he had the potential to pull off a special play and that's exactly what he did.”

TODD DUNIVANT: “He was great because he always had a smile on his face. He played in front of me as the left midfielder that year. He scored a goal when we let him take a penalty; the shot went off the post and off Joe Cannon’s back for his goal during the regular season, which was pretty funny.”

THE SLIDE
The 2005 season was a difficult one for the Galaxy, who had struggled throughout the season and squeaked into the postseason as the fourth place team in the Western Conference with 45 points from a record of 13-13-6. However, the Galaxy picked up steam late in the year, ultimately winning the 2005 U.S. Open Cup trophy.  But the reasons for those struggles are up for debate.

JONES: “We struggled a lot during the season. We squeaked into the playoffs, it was a little bit of inconsistent play, a lot of national team duty, but with that every team has those duties so you can’t put that as the one excuse. Some players did not relate to the new coaching staff and the changes very well. There was a lot of transition because there were a few changes in the captaincy going on. That just throws everything out of whack for a little bit so it’s hard to get that rhythm. You get to a point in the season where you’re just focused on making that push to get into the playoffs and that’s pretty much what we did.”

VAGENAS: “One thing that I remember with Steve, and obviously I still enjoy a great relationship with him, but throughout a season, you’re going to have arguments with the coaching staff and what not. There was one point where we were having a heated discussion in his office and I said something to the effect of ‘don’t just take my advice, talk to the older players and Cobi.’ (Cobi) was gone with the national team and I think that Steve picked up the phone and threw it against the wall. Cobi was definitely gone at some points in the season because he wasn’t there that day.”

MLS CUP PLAYOFFS
After slicing through the Western Conference, knocking off the San Jose Earthquakes and Colorado Rapids, the Galaxy reached MLS Cup 2005. At MLS Cup in the brand spanking new Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, the Galaxy met the Eastern Conference Champion New England Revolution, a club that had been in the final just three years earlier against LA. The Revolution boasted a number of talented players including MLS MVP forward Taylor Twellman and a young firebrand named Clint Dempsey among many others.  The match was a physical one from the start as LA proved to be a great challenge for the favored Revolution.

JONES: “Everyone was talking about the Revolution and what a talented team that they were and everyone was probably expecting them to win. For us, we kind of relished that fact and we were the underdog and the lower seed pushing through to the final, but us as players, we were confident going in. We wanted to go out in that game and set the tone early and I think we did that. … A great example of that was the goal that Herculez Gomez scored that should have counted as everyone knows now after the fact. We stepped into the match, confident and secure in our ability. That didn’t change from the previous rounds. We had played them in the 2002 final and had that psychological edge as well. It’s a huge part of it, having the psychological edge in a championship against another team and knowing that you’ve beat them before –they’re going to be thinking about it.”

DUNIVANT: “We had confidence and we had a backline that wasn’t giving up goals. We shut out Colorado in the semifinals and did the same to New England. We had a back line that was on form and it made it difficult for clubs to shut us down. But we don’t win that championship without Herculez Gomez and he came out of nowhere, that was his breakout year and he made a big difference for us.”

VAGENAS: “I had the utmost respect for New England because without winning an MLS Cup, they were one of the most talented teams that MLS has ever put on the field. I also had confidence knowing that a few years before, we went into their home field and won MLS Cup so I looked at it, if we could beat them on their field, we could beat them on a neutral field. “

THE DISCUSSION
The date and time of the discussion is up for some debate, some say halftime, others say pregame, but on a hunch, Sampson decided to speak to a few of his veteran players on the idea of bringing Pando Ramirez into the match. Ramirez would enter the game in the 66th minute for Ned Grabavoy, who had taken his slot in the midfield earlier in the season.

SAMPSON: “He had a great week of training in the lead up to the cup and I just sensed that he could do something special and he did. I had brought Cobi, Vagenas and Landon into the locker room prior to the game and I told them that I realize that Pando hasn’t had the greatest success from a finishing standpoint, but I probably intend to play him in this game and he’s going to need your support on the field.  And they all agreed to it. I don’t think any one of us thought he’d score the winning goal, but I wanted to give us some fresh legs because the likelihood of going into overtime was great.”

VAGENAS: “Halftime of MLS Cup, he brought Cobi and myself into the locker room when it was 0-0 with New England and he told us that he was considering bringing Pando onto the field. At that point, with everything that had gone on with Pando, Cobi just looked at him. I didn’t say a word. Cobi responded and said, ‘Steve, that is your decision and if you do and it fails then you’re going to take the heat, but if you do it and it works out then it’ll be a great decision.  As corny as it sounds it is a true story. … It was weird because you’re in the heat of the battle and the last thing that you’re thinking about is changes that the coach needs to make, we’re just focused on the game.”

JONES: “With that conversation on Pando, that’s obviously a heated discussion because he wasn’t playing that well and hadn’t been doing well. My thoughts on that are that it isn’t a situation that should be determined ahead of time; it needs to be determined by the play of the game and how the match is going. Steve felt that he was a good match for that game and obviously, he had some kind of inkling of what was going on because he did bring exactly what was needed.”

THE GOAL
The winning goal came in the 107th minute when a James Riley clearance led to a Galaxy corner kick. Donovan’s cross was fisted away by New England goalkeeper Matt Reis, but fell perfectly to Ramirez, on the edge of the 18-yard-box. As the ball arched down off Reis’ fist, Ramirez stepped up and launched a right-footed volley into the back of the net, giving LA the game-winning goal.

JONES: “It set up perfect, that’s just one of those situations because it’s not expected and for him to basically volley that one from distance and past Reis into the net was absolutely amazing. I’m sorry to say it, but it’s the truth, if you had given Pando that shot a hundred times, he probably would have missed it as we saw throughout the season. But it’s all about timing; life is all about timing and being at the right place at the right time. He made the most of the situation at hand when he needed to and I think it capped off a horrible season for Pando in a bright moment and a good way.”

DUNIVANT: “It was an awesome year because we won the double with the Open Cup as well. Winning the Open Cup was a good thing to propel us forward and we were used to winning championships and it mattered come playoff time.”

THE WRONG CELEBRATION?
During that extra time period, the Galaxy had gotten wind of a little foible by MLS that provided some added motivation for the club.

SAMPSON: “We had gotten word during overtime that MLS had set up plastic protecting the New England lockers. When we caught word of this that was almost an added motivation for us. That was enough motivation to once again prove everyone wrong. When we went into locker room after the game, the MLS staff were just putting the plastic up and moving the champagne from one locker room to the other. We gained a lot of enjoyment out of the fact that no one expected us to win and they had already prepared the locker room for New England.”

THE LEGACY
The victory was the second MLS Cup title for the Galaxy and a fitting end to a wild season, but life would force soccer to take a backseat several months later. On a flight home from Costa Rica following LA’s CONCACAF Champions Cup defeat to Saprissa, Doug Hamilton would pass away at the age of 43 due to a heart attack. For the players that played on that 2005 team, the championship was a perfect send-off to the longtime Galaxy GM.

JONES: “It was a great release and it was a special moment. Pando gets a lot of the glory, but for the team, after everything we had gone through especially in season. I think that everything we had gone on in that season and ending up with that championship, with the passing of Doug, it’s something that players who had that relationship over the years can feel joy in that we gave him that last championship.”

DONOVAN: “The legacy of that team will be that we were average, at best, for most of the year but there were some special players on that team.  I think we all knew that we were better than we showed during the regular season and then we proceeded to put together our four best games of the season during the playoffs and that won us the championship.”

VAGENAS: “When I first came into the league, success seemed so easy we seemed to be playing in final after final and when you get successful early, you think it’s always going to be like that. Now looking back, I’m turning 37 soon and I’m thinking that might be my last MLS Cup Final so it adds something to it. For me personally, I feel fulfillment because it was not an easy year, it was very hard and something that I’ll always be proud of. It was a special unique group of players and that core group of players still keeps in contact today so that leaves something to be said.”