Photo by ISIphotos.com
After 13 years of waiting, Columbus Crew fans can finally celebrate an MLS Cup title.
The Crew capped a dream season with a solid championship performance, beating a game New York Red Bulls squad, 3-1, in the 2008 MLS Cup final.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto tallied three assists, an MLS Cup record, to earn game MVP honors while defender Chad Marshall capped his own dream season with a game-winning goal (check ESPN.com later on for my feature on him).
While the Crew walked away deserving champions, the Red Bulls certainly put in a strong performance and played better than most would have thought they could. The Red Bulls attacked early and often, outplaying the Crew in the first half only to have poor finishing, and an Alejandro Moreno strike leave them down a goal at halftime.
In the end, the Red Bulls and Crew reversed roles, or at least the roles most would have expected. The Red Bulls attacked and attacked and passed the ball well while the Crew relied on the counterattack and set pieces to pull out the victory.
I will offer a more detailed breakdown of the match. For now, feel free to share your own thoughts on the match in the comments section below.
“Yet, all the focus this season was on Houston as two-time defending champions. What about DC United’s achievement? Is that not equally amazing?”
This is the US, and sadly, the US sports media will focus on the playoffs to the detriment of the regular season…
Congrats to the Crew — they were the best team this year and they beat my Chicago Fire in the Semi’s. Check out the Fire’s Diego Gutierrez’ post-game blog on the season and the loss at http://www.fanfuego.com, the social network where athletes connect directly with their fans
Congrats to the Crew — they were the best team this year and they beat my Chicago Fire in the Semi’s. Check out the Fire’s Diego Gutierrez’ post-game blog on the season and the loss at http://www.fanfuego.com, the social network where athletes connect directly with their fans
I think people upset about the “didn’t deserve to be in the cup mentality” aren’t familiar with this great game called football. Often times one team completely out plays the other yet does not get a result. This is what happened to RBNY against Real. The game enede 1-0 but Real was on the attack rattling the woodwork for the better part of a half. A “just result” would have been a 3-1 Real victory, but alas just results often times have little to do with football. Champions are crowned with results, but the results don’t always reflect the game. And that is the biggest reason the average american sports fan can not watch soccer. They need to know the better team won, but in life, as in football, this doesn’t always happen.
RBNY in the Cup final makes perfect sense if you look at the playoffs as a season-ending tournament for the top eight teams. The Red Bulls had a great run in the playoffs and deserved the right to play for the Cup. The Crew already won the Supporters Shield and were clearly the best team this season.
I just wish the MLS Cup winner wasn’t considered a better team than the Supporters Shield winner. For example, Houston won back-to-back MLS Cups, but lost the Supporters Shield both years to DC United. Yet, all the focus this season was on Houston as two-time defending champions. What about DC United’s achievement? Is that not equally amazing?
This just in, Osorio states he can bring Red Bull to the 2009 MLS Cup championships and win the title if the ownership group get’s rid of Jeff Agoof and he has full control of decisions
I was so angry when NY lost but it was expected.
Congrats Crew
How can you bash a team that barely made it to the playoffs and somehow, through grit and determination, managed to make it to the finals by beating the 2-time defending champs decisevely and an RSL team in good form? Give credit where it is due – the NYRB pulled together when they realized they got a 2nd chance to prove themselves in the playoffs. The winner of the MLS Final went to the team that deserved it even if I would have preferred by Red Bulls to have won it. Great job of both teams – first time for both franchises in 13 years of existence, they both can’t be crowned champs this year.
i don’t understand this “NYRB doesn’t belong in the Cup” mentality… if another team deserved it, they would have won the game and been there. it’s all about the results, and if any other team could have knocked off Houston and RSL or the Crew then it would have been them.
Congrats Crew!!!
Congrats to the Crew on a well deserved win. Congrats to Osorio and the Red Bulls on a great playoff run!!!
Hey Martha and the rest of you My haters/meatballs! Stop the NY bashing…The Red Bulls deserved to be in the final…they beat Houston and RSL fair and square. They also dominated the 1st 30 minutes of the Final but ultimately could not find the back of the net enough. The Crew won the game and are deserved MLS Cup Champs!
Great job Crew.
NJ Red Metros had no busines being in the final and the score reflected that.
The soccer Gods were right to tease Benedict Osrio with being so close…
Yet in reality so very far.
The Crew came out a little sloppy but RBNY didn’t take advantage. Other than that the game was as expected.
Columbus/Chicago was much better game my opinion.
Is it me, or is that not the new MLS Cup trophy that’s been featured in press releases and the “Road to the Cup” commercials?
Yeah, I don’t think the Red Bulls outplayed the Crew in the first half. They may have had the better chances, but both teams were terribly sloppy. The Crew had possession and the Red Bulls just seemed to counter dangerously. It’s hard for me to give a countering team with little possession the “outplayed” tag. I agree that the Crew needed to win this game though. Kudos to the Red Bulls for playing their butts off, but there was no team as good as the one in yellow this year.
i’m so happy. this is the first time a team i support has won their championship! go Crew!
3-1 was a fair result. Red Bull could not hit the frame to save their lives and after playing with fire too much in the playoffs it came back to burn them. Fairly decent run but I’m sure most are happy Columbus won based on the whole season body of work. I don’t think anybody really wants a team that was below 500 to win the championship.
The Crew deserved the win because of the entire season performance. The NYRB being in the cup was ridiculous!
Difficult to win when you only put one shot on goal. Too many shots went over the bar.
Dude are you drunk? LOL