“What’s a little disappointing to me, but not unexpected, is that you can be a bad soccer player, OK, and you might not be the fastest or you might not be the most skilled, but don’t show up here and be out of shape. I mean, some of the beer guts that we see and guys who after 10 minutes are huffing and puffing, that’s embarrassing to the Galaxy, it’s embarrassing to the game and ultimately it’s embarrassing to them.”
— Los Angeles Galaxy president Alexi Lalas on some of the 800 players who paid $130 apiece to participate in tryouts for a shot at becoming a teammate of David Beckham. (Los Angeles Times)
“I don’t drive back home. From my house to my job is probably like two miles, so that’s what I do, I run every day.”
— Portuguese-born Rui Fortes on his daily routine from his home and work as a machine operator in Pawtucket, R.I. Fortes and 22-year-old former French First Division player Laurent Merlin were the only players to survive and earn one-week trials with the Galaxy. (Los Angeles Times)