So the number eight seed in Major League Soccer is headed to the MLS Cup final to take on the LA Galaxy.
Just as a reminder, Real Salt Lake defeated Colorado and needed help from others to earn the eight and final spot in the MLS playoffs. Then they moved from the Western Conference over to the Eastern Conference and win it.
So a team from the Western Conference are Eastern Conference Champions.
It doesn’t matter and congratulations to RSL who got the winning penalty from Ned Grabavoy !!
RSL Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando did a repeat of his penalty kick heroics like he did back in 2004 with DC United and Jason Kreis whose job was rumored to be in trouble now has a shot at winning the MLS Cup as a coach and join the likes of Frank Yallop, Dominic Kinnear, Peter Nowak as former MLS players that have won the cup as a coach.
Cuauhtemoc Blanco had one of his least impactful games of the year for Chicago and did not find the ball against Real Salt Lake.
Pretty amazing how tight all of these playoff matches have been and what little differences their were between the teams.
A special thumbs up to owner/operator Dave Checketts for being on the field and engaged with RSL’s magic moment.
INTERNATIONAL MATCHES
US went down 1-0 to Slovakia on a penalty kick and will take on Denmark this Wednesday. FC Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty gets his first cap while Eddie Johnson (remember him?) played in this match. Robin Van Persie was stretchered off for the Netherlands in a 0-0 draw with ITaly. Spain defeated Argentina 2-1 on two goals from Xabi Alonso, Lionel Messi scored via a penalty for Argentina. New Zealand defeated Bahrain 1-0 to punch it’s ticket to South Africa. Wales defeated Scotland 3-0.
Russia , France and Ireland all got wins in their first leg World Cup qualifiers.
David Beckham of LA did admit in a post game interview that the first stoppage due to the power shortage was timely for the Galaxy.
LIVE RADIO this Tuesday night at Tesars in the Woodlands with Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis. Live guests and more this Tuesday . Tesars.com for directions……
MLS and Garber finally have their Becks vs Blanco championship game, darn,Chicago is not in the final?
I dislike our officiating level, but come on guys, rigged games?, Conspiracies?
Comment by Jarrambide — November 14, 2009 @ 11:59 pm
Let’s just say Terry Vaughn was spineless, and if you defend Vaughn, God help you.
Comment by Marco — November 15, 2009 @ 12:46 am
A quick look at news columns around the country reveal little mention about the two power outages and the Dynamo’s disallowed regulation time goal. No comment I’ve seen from MLS Commissioner Don Garber. No official explanation that the outages were caused from power grid outages in the Carson California area or specific only to Home Depot Center. This might be hush hush news in the USA, but in the world’s eyes Don Garber’s MLS is a laughing stock and in England’s manager’s Fabio Capello’s opinion not even a fit league for David Beckham to train in. So much is at stake for the reputation of the MLS and so little is the concern for it.
Comment by Michael — November 15, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
REAL SALT LAKE!
btw you used the wrong “there” in the third paragraph
Comment by ali — November 15, 2009 @ 1:30 pm
Salt Lake and LA in the final on MLS Cup? I think I would rather watch Desparate Housewives. At least it will keep my in suspense!
I don’t think the match was rigged, but I think the referee was influenced. I think there is definitely a Dynamo bias in MLS. They do not like a team without a true superstar that works hard, plays hard and has success doing so. Nothing glamorous about the Dynamo, which MLS doesn’t want.
Now we have to go into a difficult off-season, where I think we will see some favorite players go. I think we have seen the last of Wade Barrett and Craig Waibel. I can see Eddie Robinson being left unprotected and then picked up by Philly (he is an east coast guy anyway) and we might see a changing of the guard in goal. Will Ricardo Clark leave? I hope not, but I will not be surprised if he does leave, since his contract is up at the end of the year. I think Stuart will stay here for next year just because it will guarantee him playing time in preparation for the World Cup. Him leavin in January could see him on the bench for a Euro team, which would hurt his chances for a spot in the World Cup. Up front, I think Landin needs to get in shape. I doubt he could start for my indoor team right now.
It was a good season for Dynamo. I look back at points lost and wonder how the home field would have worked for us against LA. I honestly did not expect us to get past Seattle in the semi-finals, but we did and we put LA to the sword, only to see that piece of crap, Terry Vaughn find his whistle that Beckham had put up his rear. If that guy ever officiates a game here in Houston next year, I will guarantee you I will do my best to make his life a living hell.
I am watching the U17 final right now and once the match is over, I am calling the Swiss FA and see if I can get a couple of those kids on a 3 month loan for High School Season. Maybe they will buy it!
Comment by Coach H — November 15, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
MLS is not taken seriously because of immature nonsense acts like these: late scheduling on purpose for the visiting team, they dont take into consideration concacaf play, un-explained blackouts, and bad referees week after week after week.
No wonder beckham and blanco are going back to their “serious professional” leagues to train for the world cup instead of staying here where everything looks like a script for a wwe match or a cheap soap opera.
I can tell you right now, that mls cup game shouldn’t even be bradcasted, we know is 15 against 11. That is 11 la players + 4 referees taking on 11 on real. MLS got their wish by having beckham win the title.
Comment by JC — November 15, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
JC, funny how MLS deserved way more respect when we won those 2 championships those first 2 years.
Funny how the league was on par with FMF those years.
Funny how we had no problems with MLS when we were the reigning champions, but we were complaining about CONCACAF because we could never get to the championship game.
Respect for MLS has nothing to do with Friday´s game, it has to do with the fact that our level is nothing to brag about because of the no depth we have thanks to our salary cap, I think we are doing miracles as a league with the cap we have.
I don´t care about all of you conspiracy guys, we were not robbed, this happens in soccer all the time, I am proud of our team, if I can get early from work Tuesday, I will go to Tesars in orange, I will be there opening day,
Everyone thinking MLS is like the WWE, stop complaining, just stop watching MLS games, stop attending games, there are a lot of things you can do in this city, and with all the channels on TV, lots of soccer games you can watch.
Comment by Jarrambide — November 15, 2009 @ 4:17 pm
Jarrambide,
People grieve in different ways. No need to spend countless posts trying to rationalize the emotionally driven comments of people who are negotiating their way through the stages of grief and loss–a loss made even more painful because of the way it occurred. They’ll work through it. I’m now in the “Acceptance” stage myself.
No, it wasn’t official corruption that kept us from winning, it was official incompetence, coupled with a weak performance from our bench. And although our starters did very well maintaining possession for long stretches, they didn’t generate enough opportunities that were truly dangerous.
The bench impact was the real problem. I thought Ashe’s speed would have had a bigger impact. Landin was the forward of choice to come off the bench, but given his complete lack of contribution it seems that Weaver would have been a much better choice…plus he has been a talisman in just about every game he played. When I saw a rusty ERob go in, I figured that Dom realized he had few impactful options on the bench, and I despaired since I didn’t think a tired Barrett or Cameron moving into midfield would contribute much to our attack.
The Dynamo had a strong season overall. Two points would have given them the Supporters’ Shield (that PK at Columbus and illegitimate goal at Seattle sure hurt in the end…more of that officiating incompetence). In their final game, the Dynamo were the better team in regulation, but struggled mightily in OT/ET. We were hurt by the first power outage, but helped by the 2nd, so it all balanced out there.
Nothing to be ashamed of this season. Now let’s focus on building the team that can overcome officiating incompetence next year, and focus on getting a home for these guys and us fans.
Comment by mattoomba — November 16, 2009 @ 12:24 am
Mattoomba. I’m at your stage now and see things the same way. The team still has a good core and great coaching staff. With a little tweaking here and there, we’ll make another run next year.
Comment by Marco — November 16, 2009 @ 8:08 am
well said Mattoomba!
Comment by Luis — November 16, 2009 @ 10:18 am
Jarrambide, I thank you for your comments and respect your opininon, Of course i am talking thru my wound, and i will always like the dynamo to be champions of everything, I know that wont happen.
I agree wiht the salary cap issue, but to me it is two fold: a lot of teams can afford more and better players than what the cap allows, the other side is that players we have in our rosters now deserve better pay. RAISE THE CAP!
I guess we are all hurt becuase we were the better team, and if that game had been played here, well the story would be different. But we just needed one more point that we lost at home against new england, seattle, kansas, real, new york columbus and the most painful one L.A.
I guess you are right and I have been saying it, we had no depth, no midfield and no attack other than ching.
Still nothing will get the idea out of my head about scheduling seattle that thursday and L.A. that late.
Comment by JC — November 16, 2009 @ 10:36 am