Jelle Van Damme came to Los Angeles to join a new league, in a new country and to take on a new position.

The transitions have been seamless.

Van Damme, who is originally from Belgium, moved from left back to center back and has been the anchor on the Galaxy back line, helping the team become one of the stingiest defenses in the league (39 goals allowed). He’s also a finalist for MLS Defender and Newcomer of the Year.

Van Damme isn’t worried about individual awards, saying the focus is on winning the MLS Cup. The Galaxy will attempt to keep that goal alive in the final leg of their Western Conference semifinals series against Colorado today.

The Galaxy have a 1-0 lead in the series. Fittingly, it was Van Damme setting up that winning goal last Sunday.

“When I came here, the first thing (Galaxy coach) Bruce (Arena) told me was that I was coming in as a center back,” Van Damme said. “I just focused on that position. People always told me, that eventually I would end up in that position and it came true.”

Van Damme, 33, played recently at Standard Liege in Belgium. There have also been stops in Germany (Werder Bremen) and England (Wolverhampton, Southampton), along with stints at a pair of other Belgian clubs (Ajax and Anderlecht).

With the departure of Omar Gonzalez, Arena knew he needed to fill the center back position and Van Damme was the perfect replacement.

“He has the physical qualities to be a center back, very good feet and throughout his career he’s shown to be a leader,” Arena said of his first impressions. “Those are things that potentially gave him the ability to fill a hole we had at center back.

“When you look around for experienced players, around the world, I’ll tell you, there aren’t that many good center backs as it is, in my opinion. And to get somebody with his experience from a league that’s pretty comparable to MLS, it was good and I think it was a good fit for us.”

It didn’t take Van Damme long to adjust to life in Los Angeles.

“I’m pretty sociable,” he said. “I adapt pretty fast. I’ve never had issues with that in the past.”

Getting used to travel during the season, however, was a different story.

“It was pretty rough in the beginning, I wasn’t used to it,” he said. “Flying 3-4-5 hours to play 90 minutes of soccer … time zones, it affects the body.”

As the season has progressed and Van Damme seized the leadership reins of the defense, he’s developed into more of a two-way defender, pushing forward starting the Galaxy attack, just as he did setting up Giovani dos Santos for the winning goal last week.

“He understands that there has to be a little bit of a balance,” Arena said of Van Damme. “He has to pick his spots. He’s gotten a little crazy at times.

“His leadership has been great and he’s been good on and off the field. I think he’ll be even better next year.”

**********************

GALAXY at COLORADO RAPIDS

Kickoff: 11 a.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park

TV/Radio: ESPN; KTMZ/1220

Update: The Rapids enter the game undefeated at home during the regular season (11-0-6). Even though the Rapids have been strong defensively, the same can’t be said of their goal-scoring abilities. Colorado scored just 39 goals this season and only two against the Galaxy. There are several possibilities that could send the Galaxy to the next round, including a scoreless draw, 1-0 win, 1-1 draw or even a 2-1 loss. “We’ve been a team that’s very difficult to beat and that’s a good attribute to have,” Landon Donovan said. “If we do get beat, it’s rarely by multiple goals. Our mentality is to go to Colorado and do what needs to be done to advance.”