Changing room chat: MLS rivalry as LA and Bulls lock horns
The match had been billed as a clash between the team’s two big-name, big-money imports, LA’s David Beckham and New York’s Thierry Henry, but the build-up has been dominated by a war of words between New York’s Luke Rodgers and LA’s Landon Donovan.
The pair have been trading insults ever since Rodgers unleashed a foul-mouthed criticism of Donovan after a game in May, claiming the league’s poster boy had insulted Frenchman Henry and badgered the referee.
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Hide AdRelations between the teams have sunk even further, with Sunday’s first-leg, won 1-0 by the Galaxy, ending in a melee which saw the Red Bulls’ Mexican defender Rafa Marquez given a red card along with LA’s Brazilian Juninho.
Donovan described the Red Bulls as “the cheapest team” he has played against, a derogatory American term for an unsporting or dirty team.