The Los Angeles Galaxy are gearing up for the stretch run of their MLS Cup title defense, and they've added a Swedish international midfielder with valuable experience to help them in the final months of the season.

With 10 days to go until the MLS roster freeze deadline, the Galaxy announced the signing of Christian Wilhelmsson, adding a 32-year-old wide midfielder who was part of the Sweden Euro 2012 team and also played in the 2008 European championship, 2006 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Champions League. He came off the bench for all three of Sweden's games at Euro 2012.

Wilhelmsson, who most recently was playing his club soccer in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, had been on trial with the Galaxy over the past few days and played in the club's reserve league match against the San Jose Earthquakes Tuesday. He drew positive reviews from Galaxy reserve coach Curt Onalfo.

“I thought that he created some things. He’s a pure wide player so was able to get into some situations that were good for our team," Onalfo told reporters Tuesday. “Like I said, there were four controversial offside calls that we didn’t think were offside that would have turned the terms of the game…he had a good performance.

“For him it’s about getting minutes and utilizing this as an opportunity to advance. He played fine, he played well. You can tell that he has a lot of quality and that he’s a very quality wide player. He’s a good and very clever wide player.”

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What do you think of this development? Wondering how the high-spending Galaxy can keep a player of Wilhelmsson's caliber under the salary cap?

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