Maykel Galindo

at Houston, 6 PDT, Azteca Site -- Robertson Stadium, Houston. Radio -- 690. Records -- Chivas USA 6-8-5; Dynamo 7-4-8. Record vs Dynamo -- 0-0-1. Update -- Chivas USA, fighting an uphill battle all season because of injuries to key offensive players (Ante Razov, Maykel Galindo, Alecko Eskandarian), tonight must play the defending MLS champion Dynamo without midfield linchpin Jesse Marsch, who has a broken jaw. -- Grahame L. Jones

The crack of the whip echoes metaphorically over the training field, and yet Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser has not so much as raised his voice, let alone his hand. There is a new man in charge, and for the Chivas USA players there is an uncertainty about whether to be welcoming or to be nervous. They should be both. Changes aplenty are under way at Los Angeles' "other" Major League Soccer team, the one not called the Galaxy, and already, even in the first week of preseason training, there is an altered mood, a new optimism, about Chivas.

Chivas USA today AT SEATTLE Time : Noon. On the air : TV: FSC and FSE. Radio: 690. Where : Qwest Field. Records : Chivas USA 11-9-3, Sounders 9-6-10. Record vs. Sounders : 2-0. Update : Chivas takes on a Seattle team that has hovered near the top of the standings all season. The Sounders are in third place in the West with 37 points, one point behind the second-place Galaxy, three behind the first-place Houston Dynamo and one point ahead of the fourth-place Colorado Rapids and fifth-place Chivas.

The 2009 Major League Soccer season has been inked into the record books, the final entry written in the claret red, cobalt blue and real gold colors of new champion Real Salt Lake. For the Galaxy and Chivas USA, meanwhile, the time has come to look ahead, not back. The year ended in frustration for Chivas USA, which is in the hunt for a new coach. Preki's departure this month to take charge of Toronto FC was understandable. He had taken Chivas to the playoffs in each of his three years but had failed to get it past the first round each time.

Chivas USA, already without scoring threat Ante Razov, probably also will be missing its leading goal scorer, Maykel Galindo, for Saturday's playoff game against Kansas City. Galindo revealed Tuesday he has a sports hernia and may face surgery. "But in all honesty I can't get operated on" yet, he said in Spanish. "I think treatment and [rehab] work, after all that's what's easing my pain, is the best thing for now." Any surgery will have to wait until after the playoffs, he said.

Paulo Nagamura's job description involves a lot of hard running, a lot of timely tackling and a lot of defensive work in Chivas USA's midfield. On Saturday night, the 26-year-old Brazilian did all of that but also added a new and unexpected wrinkle. He scored two goals in the space of five minutes -- only the fifth and sixth goals of his four-year and 113-game Major League Soccer career -- as Chivas came from behind to defeat the Colorado Rapids, 2-1, in the MLS season opener for both teams.

Whatever the common language was on the Home Depot Center field Saturday night, it certainly wasn't soccer. In an error-filled game of almost comedic proportions, it was Chivas USA that made one mistake too many and paid the price. Failing to properly clear a deep throw-in by the Galaxy's Todd Dunivant in the 80th minute, Chivas saw the ball reach an unmarked David Beckham, whose half-volley flew into the back of goalkeeper Lance Parker's net off the inside of the left post.

It was on a July evening almost two years ago that Maykel Galindo made his move. At 24, with only the clothes on his back and little money in his pocket, he walked out of his hotel in Seattle, boarded a bus waiting outside -- it didn't matter where it was going -- and rode off into a new life. Defecting from Cuba was that easy. At the time, Galindo was a starting forward on the Cuban national soccer team competing in the Gold Cup.

The 2009 Major League Soccer season has been inked into the record books, the final entry written in the claret red, cobalt blue and real gold colors of new champion Real Salt Lake. For the Galaxy and Chivas USA, meanwhile, the time has come to look ahead, not back. The year ended in frustration for Chivas USA, which is in the hunt for a new coach. Preki's departure this month to take charge of Toronto FC was understandable. He had taken Chivas to the playoffs in each of his three years but had failed to get it past the first round each time.

The crack of the whip echoes metaphorically over the training field, and yet Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser has not so much as raised his voice, let alone his hand. There is a new man in charge, and for the Chivas USA players there is an uncertainty about whether to be welcoming or to be nervous. They should be both. Changes aplenty are under way at Los Angeles' "other" Major League Soccer team, the one not called the Galaxy, and already, even in the first week of preseason training, there is an altered mood, a new optimism, about Chivas.

Chivas USA today AT SEATTLE Time : Noon. On the air : TV: FSC and FSE. Radio: 690. Where : Qwest Field. Records : Chivas USA 11-9-3, Sounders 9-6-10. Record vs. Sounders : 2-0. Update : Chivas takes on a Seattle team that has hovered near the top of the standings all season. The Sounders are in third place in the West with 37 points, one point behind the second-place Galaxy, three behind the first-place Houston Dynamo and one point ahead of the fourth-place Colorado Rapids and fifth-place Chivas.

Whatever the common language was on the Home Depot Center field Saturday night, it certainly wasn't soccer. In an error-filled game of almost comedic proportions, it was Chivas USA that made one mistake too many and paid the price. Failing to properly clear a deep throw-in by the Galaxy's Todd Dunivant in the 80th minute, Chivas saw the ball reach an unmarked David Beckham, whose half-volley flew into the back of goalkeeper Lance Parker's net off the inside of the left post.

Paulo Nagamura's job description involves a lot of hard running, a lot of timely tackling and a lot of defensive work in Chivas USA's midfield. On Saturday night, the 26-year-old Brazilian did all of that but also added a new and unexpected wrinkle. He scored two goals in the space of five minutes -- only the fifth and sixth goals of his four-year and 113-game Major League Soccer career -- as Chivas came from behind to defeat the Colorado Rapids, 2-1, in the MLS season opener for both teams.

at Houston, 6 PDT, Azteca Site -- Robertson Stadium, Houston. Radio -- 690. Records -- Chivas USA 6-8-5; Dynamo 7-4-8. Record vs Dynamo -- 0-0-1. Update -- Chivas USA, fighting an uphill battle all season because of injuries to key offensive players (Ante Razov, Maykel Galindo, Alecko Eskandarian), tonight must play the defending MLS champion Dynamo without midfield linchpin Jesse Marsch, who has a broken jaw. -- Grahame L. Jones

Chivas USA, already without scoring threat Ante Razov, probably also will be missing its leading goal scorer, Maykel Galindo, for Saturday's playoff game against Kansas City. Galindo revealed Tuesday he has a sports hernia and may face surgery. "But in all honesty I can't get operated on" yet, he said in Spanish. "I think treatment and [rehab] work, after all that's what's easing my pain, is the best thing for now." Any surgery will have to wait until after the playoffs, he said.

It was on a July evening almost two years ago that Maykel Galindo made his move. At 24, with only the clothes on his back and little money in his pocket, he walked out of his hotel in Seattle, boarded a bus waiting outside -- it didn't matter where it was going -- and rode off into a new life. Defecting from Cuba was that easy. At the time, Galindo was a starting forward on the Cuban national soccer team competing in the Gold Cup.