The new LA derby needed a hook ... Zlatan Ibrahimovic delivered it

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/apr/02/los-angeles-derby-lafc-la-galaxy-mls-zlatan-ibrahimovic-soccer

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A tongue-tied local television reporter endured a moment of infamy outside the StubHub Center on Saturday afternoon when he referred on-air to LA Galaxy’s derby hero as “Zultan Zibrahimovic”.

The reporter seemed to be one of the Angelenos unable to rattle off the name of a striker who, after just a couple of days on the job, already has the potential to transcend the city’s sporting scene in a manner akin to his former Paris St-Germain team-mate David Beckham.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic loves the spotlight, and even at 36, he proved that he still boasts the ability to make global headlines. But while Ibrahimovic’s impact understandably stole the show, there was more to the “lion’s” debut heroics than the swipe of his right boot from 40 yards out or the glancing header that won a 4-3 thriller in the dying seconds.

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It wasn’t even that Ibrahimovic instantly banished doubts over his fitness or mobility by demonstrating that the $1.5m outlay on his annual salary may prove to be a snip. Crucially, by putting the icing on Galaxy’s remarkable comeback, Ibrahimovic instantly provided a hook to this all-LA affair.

Suddenly, a rivalry manufactured from scratch has spice. In just 30 minutes, the narrative switched from whether Ibrahimovic would have second thoughts about joining the Galaxy, to how utterly absorbing the encounter was as an inaugural derby. It was one of MLS’s classic encounters.

The bar has been set and if subsequent games between the two neighbours come anywhere close to matching Saturday’s entertainment value, then the MLS hierarchy will rightly be patting themselves on the back for introducing a second cross-city derby to the league.

Inevitably, given they are the new kids on the block, the LAFC fans saw the trip across town as the chance to hand Galaxy a bloody nose. Hundreds of them donned the new franchise’s all-black colours and banded together in the away section to form a singing section that began their repertoire more than an hour before kick-off.

But even before the opening whistle, Galaxy fans weren’t convinced by the new neighbours, and it wasn’t because of the swathes of attention on Will Ferrell, Magic Johnson, Bob Bradley et al.

“Is it good for fans? Yes, because we all get to do outdo each other and benefit from it,” said Galaxy supporter Alexander Manriquez. “But I don’t like this creating a rivalry that doesn’t exist. This country is vast, it’s not like France or England where the clubs are so close. They should have spread it out more so football grows more in this country. If Sacramento gets a club, there’ll be four or five teams in California alone. They could spread it out to Phoenix or St Louis.”

If the game had been a damp squib, then there may have been an increase in those rumblings of discontent about the decision to award LA a second franchise. But other than disconsolate LAFC supporters, few will be grumbling now.

After Zlatan’s showing, the game has instantly cemented itself as a fixture on the MLS calendar. When July rolls around and Galaxy make their inaugural trip to the Banc of California Stadium, it won’t be just football fans in California whose interest will be piqued.

It will be fascinating to gauge the progress of the two clubs by the return fixture too, because Galaxy’s opening shot in the rivalry isn’t necessarily an accurate barometer of the campaign ahead.

Until LAFC midfielder Benny Feilhaber was caught in possession just after the hour mark and Galaxy profited from their first meaningful opportunity to create some desperately-needed momentum, Sigi Schmid’s side looked startlingly familiar to the one who endured the worst campaign in the club’s history last year.

Admittedly, Schmid was without three injured Designated Players – the Dos Santos brothers and Romain Alessandrini – but Galaxy were sluggish, careless and lacked the hunger of their neighbours.

Schmid’s post-match assessment was generous in the extreme: “In the first half, obviously we were down 2-0, but it wasn’t like I thought we had played horribly. We had gotten forward, created some chances, but obviously we got caught on the counter, we made a mistake on the first goal, we got caught that way.”

As Galaxy allowed him to manoeuvre, Carlos Vela shone in the pocket behind workhorse centre-forward Marco Urena. On this evidence, Vela’s capture from Real Sociedad could be one of the MLS signings of the season. The manner in which he linked up and interchanged with Diego Rossi and Latif Blessing will trouble far more defences than that of Galaxy.

That should be the heart of Bradley’s message to his team on the training ground this week, as he hauls them off the canvas. The LAFC boss has to use the derby as an exercise in character building.

“Things seemed to be going our way, we lost the ball and then at that moment we needed to find our way back to playing football the way we can,” said Bradley. “All of a sudden you don’t finish games and it all lends itself to a home team getting back into it so we have to learn. This day is going to go a long way towards making us a really good team.”

Perhaps LAFC’s players simply need to console themselves that the script seemed destined to conclude with Ibrahimovic soaking up the adulation of the most boisterous StubHub Center crowd for years.

As Zlatan himself put it afterwards in typically forthright fashion: “I can imagine LAFC [players] after winning 3-0 and losing 4-3. If they had Zlatan, it would be opposite…”