Soccer reinforced its reputation as the most egalitarian of sports in recent days with a string of upsets that culminated Tuesday with a World Cup qualifying win by tiny South Pacific island outpost Guam — population 161,001 — over India, population 1.2 billion.

It was the second stunning win within a week for Guam, which included Galaxy defender A.J. DeLaGarza in its starting XI. Last week, the nation defeated Turkmenistan, 1-0, for its first-ever victory in World Cup qualifying.

Indian media called the defeat “embarrassing,” especially since Guam had returned to World Cup qualifying for the first time since 2000 when it was blown out in two games by a combined score of 35-0.

In contrast, Guamanians undoubtedly found the unexpected result exhilarating, a sentiment shared by most neutrals.

More than any other sport, the beautiful game brings hope to the hopeless, its inherently low-scoring character always hinting at the unexpected, the unlikely and even the impossible.

It’s the underdog U.S. Men’s National Team beating No. 1-ranked Germany and No. 6-ranked Netherlands — on foreign soil, mind you — just days apart. Even better the, late goals were virtually impossible to counter and made a nice change from the U.S. penchant for giving up goals at the end of games.

It’s lightly regarded Colombia beating European powerhouse France — a nation that defeated the U.S. Women’s National Team earlier this year — in a game last weekend regarded as one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.

And it’s traditional South American fall boys Venezuela — who went 42 straight Copa America games without a win over three decades — last weekend beating neighbors Colombia, a much more highly regarded team than its female counterparts.

There are still blowouts aplenty, especially in still-growing women’s soccer — witness Germany’s recent 10-0 demolition of Ivory Coast in Canada, for instance — but a taut clash with an overachieving underdog remains a heck of a lot more fun than most goalfests.

A contest pitting one overmatched team against a favorite is a rare sight in most American sports in which parity is valued.

But it has its place in the democracy that is soccer, a bit messy but always entertaining and revealing.

Galaxy treading water?

Speaking of presumed mismatches, on Wednesday night at StubHub Center the Galaxy faced Orange County’s PSA Elite, the lone amateur team left in the knockout U.S. Cup, in a game set to kick off just after the deadline for this column.

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena promised the club would not take the opposition lightly, but that’s what the favorites always say.

With a middling MLS record of 5-5-7, you get the feeling the Galaxy are treading water awaiting the arrival of the season’s potential savior, Steven Gerrard.

“I think he [Gerrard] is going to be great and be just like Landon Donovan and David Beckham were for us,” Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez was recently quoted as saying.

Well, OK, Gonzalez isn’t going to blather on about a 35-year-old soccer player who had a disappointing season with underachieving Liverpool and who, if history is any guide, could take a while to settle in with the underperforming MLS defending champions.

The Galaxy play the Philadelphia Union at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Carson.

Gerrard is expected to make his Galaxy debut July 11 against Club America at StubHub Center.

Fortunately, it’s not a must-win game — and you can argue the Galaxy are underdogs.

For more Southern California soccer news, read the 100 Percent Soccer blog at www.insidesocal.com/soccer.