CARSON, Calif. – Most readers will know Joseph Paintsil as the LA Galaxy’s livewire left winger, a Ghana international and pacey goal threat who’s made the Gs 2024 MLS Cup favorites on Saturday (4 pm ET | Apple TV - Free; FOX, FOX Deportes; TSN, RDS) as part of the “Killa Ps” attacking combo alongside Riqui Puig and Gabriel Pec.
There’s another side of the Galaxy star, however, one that seems to be connecting with many of his fellow Ghanaians back home. In his spare time he’s quietly been cultivating a musical hobby, cutting lively Afrobeat songs under the name Joe Paintsil that suggest he’s got almost as much dexterity on the mic as he does with the ball at his feet.
In fact, Paintsil released a new track last week, just in time for Saturday’s Cup final against the New York Red Bulls at Dignity Health Sports Park: “Blessing,” which seems to have taken more than a little inspiration from the Galaxy’s excellent season and Audi MLS Cup Playoffs run.
“It's been really a big blessing for me, especially me making the good decision to join this fantastic club,” Paintsil told reporters in a wide-ranging, entertaining roundtable at MLS Cup Media Day on Thursday at Dignity Health Sports Park. “When it happened, I never even think twice of it. I just told my agent this is the right move for me, because how I feel within me and how my twin sister also feels, that's always the decision I always take.
“I was feeling good, my twin sister was feeling good, so I think it was the right decision for me to take. So I told my agent that, yeah, I just, we just need to do this. No matter what, how we need to do, we need to do it. And as you can see, I'm really blessed that everything was really going as planned.”
Yes, you read that correctly. Paintsil carries a special bond with his twin sister Josephine, and consults with her on major life choices, like his reported $9 million-plus transfer from Belgium’s Genk to LA last winter.
“I never make my decision without my twin sister, because she really means a lot to me. And sometimes she feels something that, she really doesn't like it. And sometimes she feels really something bad, she always calls me and find out if I'm OK. And whenever she feels something bad, I also feel something that's really off, you know?” he explained.
“It’s because I came with her in the same womb from my mom. So I think we are connected,” Paintsil continued, noting that Josephine’s career advice trumps even that of his agent. “The most important thing is my twin sister, whatever that she says, it always goes with my spirit, and I always take it, and we all make the same decision, and I just took it. And as you can see, we made a good decision.”
Gs coach Greg Vanney later said he picked up on Paintsil’s music background as LA did their due diligence during the recruitment process, and subsequently realized it was part of the personality of “a wonderful, bright human being” who settled smoothly into a talent-laden squad carrying great expectations.
“He's never looking for too much attention when it comes to that. I think he just has a passion for singing,” said Vanney. “I knew that before he came [via] some of the YouTube videos as you do your online searches and you try to find out about people. But I knew, having talked to people around him and other clubs, even though he was doing those things, they didn't even know that he was doing those things, and they never felt like it was a distraction to anything that was going on with him on the field.
“That's why I had no idea that he put out a track until somebody else sent it to me. And I thought it was really good, by the way.”
While Paintsil is all business during working hours, the 26-year-old’s creative streak gradually became a welcome ingredient in the positive vibes around the Galaxy locker room, with Paintsil’s teammates singing “Blessing” to him after their Western Conference Final win over Seattle Sounders FC.
“When we won the [conference] trophy, they were playing and they were making videos, and I was holding the cup and also singing, and it's really like, a good thing,” said Paintsil, dropping hints about a postgame performance should the Gs claim their MLS-best sixth league title.
“Me having this song really comes in the right moment, and I just really, at the end of the game, I think maybe I'm going to be singing – that's maybe, I’m not really sure. But we just need to focus on winning the cup, and when we win the cup, then everything is possible.”
Will Reus play?
Musical numbers aside, probably the biggest question in the leadup to Saturday’s final is Vanney’s choice of central-midfield trio in the wake of Puig's ACL injury last week, a decision that hinges on the health of Marco Reus.
The German legend has been working through a groin problem which forced him to exit last week’s win at halftime, and he only rejoined full team training on Thursday after a few days of individual rehab work.
Reus appeared to be part of the full group in the brief opening phases of Friday’s training which media were allowed to watch, albeit with a strip of kinesiology tape visible under his shorts, and Vanney sounded relatively optimistic about his availability for matchday.
“Marco trained full today, again,” said the coach. “Barring him walking inside and saying anything that I'm not expecting, he should be ready to go tomorrow.”
Reus faced a steep adjustment curve when he joined LA in midsummer after departing Borussia Dortmund, yet by year’s end had struck up an effective partnership with Puig as twin attacking No. 8s in Vanney’s usual 4-3-3 formation.
That said, Vanney has repeatedly alluded to the physicality and intensity the Red Bulls seek to impose in the center of the park and the Galaxy’s need to match that, particularly in the game’s opening stages. That may raise the likelihood of a more combative selection, the likes of Mark Delgado or Gastón Brugman.
“Because of our opposition and the way that we play, we know there’s going to be a battle in the middle of the field,” he said on Thursday. “It’s going to be competitive, there’s going to be a lot of duels and challenges and we need to make sure we’re ready for those moments.”
Red Bulls wait on Carballo
Meanwhile, RBNY have a lineup doubt of their own in the same area. Uruguayan center mid Felipe Carballo proved a useful midseason addition, offering both bite and passing range.
He missed the Eastern Conference Final win over Orlando with a foot injury, though, and coach Sandro Schwarz said he expects Carballo’s eligibility for selection to be a late-breaking call. If he can’t go, young homegrown Peter Stroud is the likely replacement, as was the case last time out.
“Yeah, Felipe Carballo is a question. So it's an individual program the last couple of days, and we will see today if it's possible, and then to make the last decision tomorrow morning,” said the German. “We will see.
“Felipe is more the player, especially with the ball, to find the right moment in some spaces in our buildup, and also when he's coming in the red zone and in small spaces to control the ball,” Schwarz later noted. “Peter Stroud is a more physical player, and he can run a lot and with great mentality, homegrown player as well. So great mentality, physically, he's also able then to make deep runs from the [No.] 8 position, 6 position. And Felipe is more the passing player.”
Playoff impressions
The Red Bulls’ first-year boss also flashed a bit of humor when asked whether he’s come to appreciate the North American concept of playoffs thanks to RBNY’s unexpected run as the lowest-ever seed (seventh) to reach MLS Cup, or whether he’d still prefer the European norm of league play as the only determinant of a season’s champion.
“No, playoffs is great,” he deadpanned. “When I spoke with some players which had this experience to play these playoffs, and all these guys told me, ‘Coach, it’s a new competition.’ And for me it was ‘OK, it's a new competition, but the new competition starts in six weeks, and we have in this six weeks, in this meantime, we have some games, and we have also to build up our quality.’
“It's great now to have this competition. But on the other side, I would also say, when you have 34 games like in Europe, or also here, these 34 games consistently, when you are here, when you get the most points, then it also makes a good picture.”
Schwarz also spoke of the heightened stakes surrounding this showpiece occasion, and the psychological peril and promise therein.
“We have a great atmosphere,” he said of his young team’s mentality, “And to feel, for sure, also the pressure for tomorrow, it's necessary then also, because it's a final. And without pressure, it's not possible to bring the best quality on the field. But what I have seen the last couple of weeks, and also since the first day when I came in our facility, was great: great people in the club, the whole staff. And now we are here.”
