PORTLAND
, Ore. –
Over the Thanksgiving break, the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer announced that defender
Leonard Griffin
has been invited to join the club as a guest player on a trip to New Zealand to play a friendly against the Oceania All-Stars on Saturday.
Griffin, who played in 28 matches for the Timbers during the 2008 season, joins five other players who have played parts of their career in Portland on the Galaxy's 19-man travel roster selected by head coach
Bruce Arena
. The list of former Timbers players includes goalkeepers
Josh Wicks
and
Josh Saunders,
defender
Mike Randolph
and forwards
Alan Gordon
and
Bryan Jordan.
The Galaxy will face the Oceania All-Stars on Saturday at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. Due to time zone differences, the match will be televised on Friday, Dec. 5 starting at 10:30 p.m. (Pacific) on Fox Soccer Channel.
The team left for New Zealand on Monday and will conduct three training sessions in advance of the friendly in Auckland. Defender
Vardan Adzemian
, who was loaned to the Timbers for the 2008 season, did not make the trip. Click here for more information on the Galaxy’s match and trip to New Zealand.
A southern California native, Griffin joined the Galaxy for two MLS Reserve Division matches following the Timbers’ 2008 USL First Division season. Griffin played for the Chicago Fire from 2004-06, and was signed by the Columbus Crew following the Timbers’ 2007 season but did not see action with the first team due to injury.
Speaking of “down under,” forward
Benjamin Totori
tallied his first goal of the 2008-09 season with Waitakere United of the New Zealand Football Championship in a 1-1 draw with Canterbury United over the weekend. On Monday, he was selected by Waitakere head coach Chris Milicich to a 20-man roster for the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup later this month.
Totori was a member of the Timbers in 2008, but a pair of knee injuries limited his time on the field for the Timbers. He returned to the Solomon Islands in late July to begin his rehab. He was a member of Waitakere’s stellar squad in 2007-08 that captured both the O-League title and NZFC championship.
Waitakere’s draw on Nov. 29, was the club’s final league match prior its FIFA Club World Cup opener on Dec. 11 against Australian side Adelaide United FC in Japan. The team leaves Wednesday for training and a tune-up match in China.
The 2008 FIFA Club World Cup marks the second straight year that Waitakere has represented the Oceania region in the tournament – it suffered a first-round loss to Iran’s Sepahan in 2007.
The 2008 FIFA Club World Cup consists of seven clubs from around the world, including England’s Manchester United, Mexico’s Pachuca and Japan’s Gamba Osaka.
Learn more about the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.
