Swedish International Christian Wilhelmsson went 58 minutes during the LA Galaxy’s 2-0 Reserve League defeat to the San Jose Earthquakes on Tuesday, his first reserve appearance since joining the club in training last week.
Throughout the match, the Swede was a threat to score as he played the first half on the left flank before switching sides in the second half. However, the 32-year-old was unable to find the back of the net, being whistled for offside a total of four times—one of which negating a goal early in the first half. Although the non-contracted Swede was unable to find the back of the net, he drew considerable praise from Galaxy Reserve head coach Curt Onalfo.
“I thought that he created some things. He’s a pure wide player so was able to get into some situations that were good for our team,” Onalfo told reporters in a conference call after the match. “Like I said, there were four controversial offside calls that we didn’t think were offside that would have turned the terms of the game...he had a good performance.”
The reserve match was Wilhelmsson’s first competitive game since August 15th when the 32-year-old winger appeared for Sweden during an international friendly with Brazil in Stockholm.
“For him it’s about getting minutes and utilizing this as an opportunity to advance,” Onalfo said. “He played fine, he played well. You can tell that he has a lot of quality and that he’s a very quality wide player. He’s a good and very clever wide player.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider
