CARSON, Calif. – Todd Dunivant acknowledges that the LA Galaxy's Western Conference clash Sunday against Portland will be “a great night for me” – it's the final regular-season home game of his MLS career – but here's how it might truly be special: Get him onto the field.
The 34-yea610716396" tabindex="0">r-old defender, whose 13-year pro career will come to a close following the Galaxy’s playoff stint, would lo610716397" tabindex="0">ve the chance to run around a bit one last time for the home fans, but he's not played since July and recognizes that the importance of Sunday's outing might not present such an opportunity.
“First and foremost, this is a big game for our team, and that's what I'll be focusing on ...,” Dunivant said following LA's training session Tuesday morning at StubHub Center. “I would love to [get onto the field]. That's what I've been working for. I certainly haven't quit at this point. This is why I've worked. When there's an opportunity to help the team, I'm ready for it.”
Dunivant, who with an MLS Cup title would join former teammate Landon Donovan as the only players in MLS with six championship rings, hasn't been able to help out as much as he'd like the last two seasons.
A series of injuries have limited him to 438 minutes over 10 league games in 2014 and 2015, and he's made just seven appearances in all competitions this year: Three in MLS games, two in International Champions Cup friendlies, one in a US Open Cup game, and one USL re610716398" tabindex="0">hab appearance with LA Galaxy II.
He played just twice this season for LA before mid-July, thanks to calf and quadriceps ailments, but got onto the field five times in two weeks in midsummer, starting against Real Salt Lake in an Open Cup quarterfinal and in ICC matches 610716399" tabindex="0">with Club America and Barcelona. But he hasn't played for the first team since July 21 because of bout with plantar fasciitis.
Dunivant, who announced in August this would be his final season, was on the bench for the Sept. 23 CONCACAF Champions League draw in Trinidad against Central FC, and he says he's healthy, fit and ready to go. But Sunday's clash is a big one, with the Galaxy (14-9-9) fighting for a top-two spot in the West and Portland (12-11-8) vying for a postseason berth.
Dunivant, who has won four titles in eight-and-a-half seasons over two stints with LA, will be honored before the game. Might head coach Bruce Arena include him in his 18 and, if the situation allows, give him a few minutes?
“I haven't made any of those decisions,” Arena said. “The game we're playing Sunday is a game we need to win. We're going to play the best team we can play and do everything we can to get three points.”
Arena praised Dunivant on Tuesday as one who has “proven what he needed to prove on the field, and off the field he's been a terrific citizen for all the clubs he's served in the league.”
“I think everyone would like to go out in a blaze of glory, but it's been tough the last two years with his injuries ...,” Arena said. “He's still an important part of our team, and I think he deserves he respect and applause for the kind of career he’s had and the way he's conducted himself as a person and a player.”
Dunivant, a 2011 MLS Best XI selection, has played a vital role off the field in building the MLS Players’ Union and reaching agreement on two collective bargaining agreements with the league.
He's not quite ready to look back on his career just yet, however.
“Hopefully, that's a little ways away, a couple months away. But this is a special time, for sure,” Dunivant said. “You get a different perspective coming out to training every day, so you bring that and enjoy that, knowing you don't have many more left.”
