Soccer America senior editor Ridge Mahoney is in Los Angeles, where he looks at the D.C.-Galaxy showdown with a berth in the FIFA Club World Championship at stake. A game that doesn’t count in the MLS standings could redeem a string of disappointments for the Los Angeles Galaxy against its toughest league rival. The Galaxy takes on D.C. United Friday night in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup. TELEVISION: Galavision (live), midnight (Eastern time — East Coast feed) (tape), 11 pm (Western time — West Coast feed). Fox Sports World (tape), Sunday Jan. 21, 8 pm Eastern time. The other semifinal matches Honduran club Olimpia against Mexican foe Pachuca. At stake is a spot in the FIFA World Club Championships in Spain this summer and a chance to compete against some of the top club teams in the world as well as bank a fee estimated at least $1 million. Since CONCACAF has been allotted two slots in the 12-team world finals, tonight’s semifinal winners are guaranteed of berth regardless of what happens in Sunday’s final. And that just might make up for losses to D.C. in the 1996 and 1999 MLS Cups. OLD RIVALS. “We face our rivals again in a big event,” Galaxy defender Paul Caligiuri said Thursday at a training session at the Los Angeles Coliseum, site of the semis and the final. “To this day, I can’t recollect a bigger tournament that has been hosted for club teams than this CONCACAF Cup.” For the Galaxy, this semi conjures up more than memories of those losses to D.C. In its quarterfinal match on Wednesday, the Galaxy defeated Honduran club Real Espana on penalties, 5-3, after 90 minutes of scoreless play. In 1999, the Galaxy played Mexican club Necaxa in a qualifying match for that year’s CONCACAF Champions’ tournament. Necaxa won on penalties following a 1-1 tie in regulation, and went on to win the CONCACAF finals to earn a place in the first World Club Championships. Necaxa finished third at the worlds by beating Real Madrid — that’s the Real Madrid — on penalties. It drew, 1-1, with Manchester United in the first round. All of it left Caligiuri and his L.A. teammates lamenting what might have been. “It was amazing to see them play against Vasco da Gama, and you know you were penalty kicks away from being there,” he said. “That was a game we felt we outplayed them, very similar to our game [Wednesday] night. We felt we outplayed Real Espana but were able to put the ball in the net.” SELDOM THREATENED> Against a packed defense, L.A. controlled play but seldom threatened. Real Espana’s conservative approach gave Alexi Lalas and Greg Vanney few problems. The Galaxy failed to exploit numerous set plays, a deficiency to which Coach Sigi Schmid devoted more than half an hour of Thursday’s training sessions. “Our service in those situations has to be better,” Schmid had said after the quarterfinal win over Real Espana. “You know D.C. is going to take advantage of those situations with a player like [Marco] Etcheverry.” In Thursday’s training session, Simon Elliott, Mauricio Cienfuegos and Pete Vagenas drove dozens of balls from the flanks as the Galaxy worked on set plays. United reached the semi by squeezing past Costa Rican club Alajuela 2-1 with a goal in the final minute by Ben Olsen, who ran onto a cross from Bobby Convey to gently nod a header into the net. The ball floated away from keeper Alvaro Mesen towards Chris Albright, who actually missed his own attempt to head the ball home. “He swung a nice ball in there and Chris did a great job taking two defenders and the goalie with him,” said Olsen. “He’s got a pretty large head so I think it hid the goalie and the two defenders. “The ball slips through and I had an open goal. He missed it. He’ll tell you he ducked.” SIZZLING GOAL. Carey Talley had given United a 1-0 lead with a sizzling half-volley off a driven Etcheverry corner kick. As United tired a bit in the second half, Talley was called for a foul– which appeared to have been committed outside the penalty area — on Carlos Castro in the second half and Luis Diego Arnaez put away the penalty. For Olsen and D.C., a victory could help erase the nightmares of a 2000 MLS season rife with last-minute collapses and devoid of playoffs. “Last year was a disappointment to everyone and this is a chance to redeem ourselves and show that it was a fluke,” Olsen said. “That was a season we can make look petty compared to this.” There’s nothing petty about a million bucks. “We’ve won three MLS titles, so I think any time we step on the field in a big game like this we are the team to beat,” said United head coach Thomas Rongen. “This means a team is going to Spain representing MLS, which is so important in our development right now.”