Steven Gerrard started and played the first 45 minutes of his American debut as the LA Galaxy beat Club America 2-1 on Saturday night in an International Champions Cup game at StubHub Center.
After a six-week layoff following the end of his 17th and final English Premier League season at Liverpool, Gerrard played his traditional spot in the central midfield for the Galaxy in the friendly exhibition against the Mexican power.
Having only started practising with the Galaxy on Tuesday, Gerrard seemed more comfortable when moving forward in an attacking role, but was caught flat-footed several times on defence.
Gerrard put an early shot on goal from 35 metres out that had to be punched away by goalie Hugo Gonzalez.
Club America scored on the counter, with Carlos Darwin Quintero putting the ball between Brian Rowe’s legs for a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.
Galaxy captain Robbie Keane equalised in the 45th minute. After masterfully collecting a long ball from Juninho with his first touch, Keane coolly placed the ball into the open net from 10 metres out after Gonzalez misjudged the initial pass and came off his line in a futile attempt to send it away.
Alan Gordon scored the winner in the 80th minute, outjumping two defenders and heading in Raul Mendiola’s perfect cross with a high arcing shot.
Gerrard was the focus for the sellout crowd of 27,934 not adorned in the yellow of the traditional Mexican. His No.8 jerseys – both in Liverpool red and Galaxy white – were worn in abundance, and a sizeable contingent of international media was on hand to cover the match.
What they saw was a Gerrard who played as he had during his final seasons at Liverpool, with equal moments of good and bad. He misplayed a backward pass from Keane just inside the centre line and had to send it out of play for a corner kick after scrambling to recover, but also forced Gonzalez into a sprawling right-footed save with a shot just outside the box in the 22nd minute.
A Merseyside institution for half his life, Gerrard scored 120 goals in 504 appearances and led Liverpool to three League Cups, two FA Cups, two UEFA Super Cups, one UEFA Cup and the 2005 Champions League.
In the 2005 Champions League Final, Gerrard scored and earned a penalty kick as Liverpool dramatically overturned a 3-0 deficit against AC Milan and went on to win the title on penalty kicks. That result, now known as the “Miracle in Istanbul”, would become the cornerstone of Gerrard’s living legend status at Liverpool.
Gerrard will play his first Major League Soccer match on July 17 when the Galaxy host the San Jose Earthquakes.
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