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Red Bulls heading to MLS Cup

Davevandenbergh2_ap

After 13 mostly disappointing and sometimes painful years of existence, the New York Red Bulls, the club formerly known as the MetroStars, are headed to the MLS Cup final for the first time in club history.

As you might expect, getting there was as far from easy as you could get. The Red Bulls scored early and defended well and eventually held on for dear life as Real Salt Lake attacked in waves as the home team searched for an equalizer. Diving saves from Danny Cepero, missed wide-open chances and three different shots hitting the post were all RSL had to show from an all-out blitz on the Red Bulls goal.

Ultimately, it was Dave Van Den Bergh’s goal, his third in three matches against Real Salt Lake this season, that provided the difference in a Western Conference final for the ages.

Now the Red Bulls will complete their improbable playoff run in the MLS Cup final against the Columbus Crew next Sunday at Home Depot Center.

What did you think of the match? Was it the most nerve-racking 90 minutes of your life? Can you believe this team has come together and gone on this type of run? Do you think the Red Bulls have anything left to win the MLS Cup final? Did all those near-misses make you start believing that this just might be a team of destiny?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Point of clarification from someone who was cracking on the quality of the game while it was happening. It was a poorly played game that was HUGELY entertaining. Big difference between quality of soccer on display and entertainment value. Any fan of the game would be enthralled with the last 20 minutes, but Ruud Gullit could make that Exhibit A next time he trashes us for being a pub league, and the punchline would be that the winner just might be the champs. Sorry, but how many players from that game would have made the pitch in Chi-Col, maybe 6?

    The idea that the league is pulling strings for NY is ridiculous. RSL lost because they couldn’t finish.

    I’ll be pulling for Columbus since GBS is the man, but a NY win wouldn’t bother me, this is my home for soccer and I’ve seen y’all suffer enough.

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  2. There’s an art to being a windup artist. It depends upon actually having plausible explanations and playing on insecurities. Tim, with his simpering style and infantile attention seeking, isn’t anything but a clown.

    Keep at it, Tim. We all enjoy laughing at you.

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  3. Tim,

    So if RSL ended up winning MLS cup it wouldn’t have been unjust, given they had ONE more point than RBNY in the regular season? Makes no sense, you’re just bitter.

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  4. Tim,

    So if RSL win MLS cup it wouldn’t have been unjust, given they had ONE more point that RBNY in the regular season? Makes no sense, you’re just bitter.

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  5. All the haters who were saying things in the commentary last night about how so bad the game was to watch you guys can SYFPH!!! On the road, cold night, supporters outnumbered by 19,950 people, and you guys complain about the means to the endgame? You make no sense. Probably the same people who showed up to boo Eli Manning on draft day and now you want to get you picture taken with him and everything. I got one thing to say. KEEP IT UP!!! KEEP ON DRINKING THE HATERADE. Its the haters of the world, like you, that makes successful people so happy and that are partially fueling this team to the MLS CUP. 3 weeks ago you all wanted to fire JCO and half the squad. Now, youre probably on some website lookin to book tickets to LA and MLS Cup. If ya’ll were real SUPPORTERS like me and many others who post here, you follow the first rule of team support. You can complain about how your team performs or how its run, but you never ever wish defeat on a team you claim to support becuase it wasnt “pleasing on the eye”. It makes you not a SUPPORTER but a FAN. And as we all know, fans blow around air, like some on here last night.

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  6. Hincha

    What the hell are you talking about? Did you just wake up and fall out of bed? There is a salary cap in this league that equalizes the teams so NY DOES NOT have a bigger budget than any other team. We chose to use our DP and we weren’t the only ones. However, we also had a $350k cap hit from Reyna that was useless to us for half a season. We’ve had $500k of cap in Rojas, Pietravallo and Cichero that has largely been sitting on the bench in the playoffs. We sold Altidore for a league record transfer fee and only saw $500k of allocation money. We had a sell-on clause for Michael Bradley that should have netted another $500k of allocation money but we likely saw a fraction of that.

    In fact, we are doing this on a fraction of salary cap. Danny Cepero gets paid league minimum $13k for a developmental player, as does Diego Jimenez. Sassano, Ubiparipovic, Richards get paid league minimum for senior roster players of their years.

    Combined salary of the starting 11 last night including Angel? $2.26mm. Without Angel? $662k. Even if I add in Rojas and Pietravallo, the salary of players ex Angel was $948k and that’s using the guaranteed comp numbers, not base salary.

    So please point out again how this is a large market team with a bigger budget. Or why don’t you just stop talking and stop coming to games? jackass

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  7. Jason stop whining man if you honestly think the refs helped RBNY you don’t know what soccer is. Maruffo was MORE than generous to them, they couldn’t find the back of the net, deal with it

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  8. For everyone complaining — waaaahhhh! Get lost. Try suffering for 13 years like the Red Bulls diehards have done.

    As a NY fan, I’m the first to admit that last night’s game was not pretty. In fact, I have no idea why NY decided to play it that way. However, it was Osorio’s game plan and the team executed it.

    I’ve seen this team play much better. Play attacking soccer, which is what they’re geared to do with Angel, van den Bergh and Richards (not to mention Magee and Kandji on the bench). Having had the benefit of seeing the two games against RSL this season, I have also seen NY play RSL much better.

    I don’t know why they chose to bunker rather than just keep attacking and work for an insurance goal, but that’s what happened and it was successful. I have seen this strategy fail so many times before that I can’t believe it worked last night. But the fact is that NY was able to get the clean sheet, which is a different story than winning by one goal while giving up goals in the process. I think altitude was a big factor, the team was clearly trying to conserve energy and players were already cramping at the end of the game.

    It’s also a fact that the game plan against RSL was considerably different from the one against Houston in the 2nd leg — which ended 3-0 and not 1-0.

    How will NY play against Columbus? Who knows. I hope they don’t bunker, but if they bunker and win, I’ll take it.

    I hear a lot of people bitching and moaning, but if it was your team here instead of NY, then all your complaints would suddenly vanish.

    I should also mention that after the Kandji debacle, NY fans realized that the only way we’d get to this point was DESPITE the league execs, not because of them.

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  9. Watching the game last night, I thought only Real Salt Lake looked like worthy winners. NY took their one good chance and then dug in for the rest of the game. It was not pretty and does not bode well for the final from a neutral’s perspective.

    I also worry about attendance for the game. RSL would have probably brought a reasonable fan base. I suspect that is not the case with NY.

    Columbus must now be favorites, but so were Houston and RSL, so you never know.

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  10. Look, I’ll put it this way: It’s a shame that a team like the NYRBs who have a greater population to draw fans (and thus income), have probably the biggest payroll at the beginning of the season (except for maybe LA) has to have a team that resorts to cynical negative soccer to just get by. It does soccer no good in America to have a team like the NYRB in it’s largest market playing the type of soccer that it does. No wonder people in NY would rather stay home and watch the Mexican league or European football on TV. NY should at least try to have a team that plays attractive football. I do miss the Cosmos! With all the resources that NYRB have at their disposal, having to resort to that type of soccer is pathetic.

    And no, while you need a good defense to win, you don’t need to play defensive soccer. Who’s won the most World Cups? Brazil. Who just won Euro 2000? Spain. What type of teams have won the VAST majority of Euro’s? Teams that play attacking soccer. Who has won the majority of MLS cups? Houston, LA and DCU. Were those teams playing defensive or attacking soccer? Winners of the EPL and La Liga the last decade? Attacking soccer or defensive soccer? Who’s won the most European Champions League CUps? Real Madrid who plays attacking football. So you’re dead wrong confusing having a good defense with playing defensive tactically.

    If the MLS wants to survive, grow and gain a fan base, it had better hope that it does not have more teams like the NYRBs or people will stay home andc continue to watch other leagues on TV.

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  11. You know, this just seems so familiar to another playoff run a New York team made. They said we couldn’t beat a team from Texas. We smacked them in the mouth. They said we had no shot in the conference championship and we came out victorious. Now, against the best team in the league they give us no chance again. Well, we know how that turned out.

    New York Giants, New York Red Bulls… champs in 08! Vamos Metro, been long overdue.

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  12. Posted this elsewhere:

    When was the last time the Bulls won two games in a row on the road in the playoffs?

    When was the last time the Bulls weren’t screwed by refs like Toledo and Marrufo?

    When was the last time the post and good goalkeeping saved our asses multiple times?

    The answer to these questions… Never!

    Here are my player ratings:

    Cepero 8+ Conway who? Honestly Cepero has played huge the last 3 games…

    Leitch 8 Keeps growing on me…hustled like he belonged out there…

    Mendes 7 Filled in admirably for Boyens… made some strange clearances but held his own against RSL’s attackers

    Jimenez 9 MOTM for me … he cleared almost all the long over head balls out of danger… my only gripe is that his distribution could be better

    Goldy 7 The weak link in the D this game but still played with fire and brimstone

    Richards 7 Not as effective this game as Russell did a good job keeping him in check but Dane almost scored on a breakaway despite this…

    Sinisa 6 Obviously the left calf injury slowed him down…subbed early for Rojas

    Sassano 8+ This kid has found a home as a d-mid…not missing Stammy so much

    VDB 8+ One heck of a tap in goal…probably the biggest goal in RBNY history

    only bigger one would be next Sunday’s game winner

    Angel 8 Tracked back on D when needed and kept the boys in the game with superior positioning…Angel will be huge next Sunday…he loves HDC!

    Woly 8+ Did not stop working the whole game and gave a great cross for the goal

    Subs:

    Rojas 7 OK job filling in for Sinisa… gave us some control in the mid-field when needed

    P-Val Not on long enough

    Just one more victory and we are the MLS Champs…oh and by the way the Bulls are in the CCC next year…woo hoo!

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  13. “After 13 mostly disappointing and sometimes painful years of existence” You got that right Ives. I’m so proud of my boys. Vamos METROS CARAJO!!!!

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  14. Hey NYRB fans who think you have a great defense because the team didn’t allow any goals the last two games: I hope Osorio thinks the same way and hold pat for next year so you guys won’t come close to making the playoffs. The fact that Houston and RSL didn’t score has nothing to do with the NYRB defense. The defense was totally porous in both games (look at shots at goal) but only luck and lack of finishing a myriad of clear chances by Houston and RSL prevented NYRB from being blown off the field 5-1 in both games, not the defense (with the exception of the NYRB goalkeeper who did have two great games). The NYRB defense continuously let Houston and RSL into prime scoring opportunities. The fact that they were not converted had nothing to do with the NYRB defense.

    However, I credit the NYRB attackers. They had very few chances in both games, but their efficiency at converting their few chances into goals was very impressive. Vandenberg and JPA are those type of players where they only need 1 or 2 opportunities and not 4 or 5 to score, and that is an invaluable asset to have in soccer. You better hope you don’t lose JPA or Vanderberg or you won’t win 4 games next year.

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  15. Congrats NYRB!!!!

    There was luck in it but 13 years of no luck means no one can complain either way.

    Also the ref was NOT biased against NYRB. As a matter of fact it seemed that he was a RSL supporter.

    It may have been ugly but it was effective!

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  16. Jl, i can’t understand how peoplelike you can say that it is a crime new york won. The key word is WON, we won, who the hell cares how we did it, we won, not salt lake, ny won. Can you understnd that, if we won and so therefore were able to convert on our chances than how can idiots like you possibly think that red bull did not deserve it. And another thing, we deserve to be in the playoffs because dc united did not win, so we had the most points, can you understand that one. Who cares what are record was, the fact is we got in, and we played our hearts out. Keep crying about, but i wont be able to hear your moaning and crying over the cheers when we get that trophy.

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  17. As a fan of neither team last night, I have to say its an absolute crime that NY won that game. They were outplayed the entire 90 mins and did nothing but sit in a shell and defend. If thats the type of team you as fans want, thats fair. It got the win. However, as a a fan of the game, there was no justice last night. Worse yet is that a team with a losing record can make the playoffs much less the Finals. Oh well, you play the cards as they are dealt. I will have to support Columbus, as they at least play entertaining and good soccer. BTW that Cepero kid is an impressive keeper. How was he not starting over Conway all season? He seems to have much better ability to react to shots and the athleticism to get to them.

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  18. To all the MLS conspiracy theorists: if MLS was favoring the Red Bulls then why would they have sold one of the team’s best players, Jozy Altidore, in the middle of the season?

    To all those bitching about the playoff format: where were you when Portsmouth and Cardiff City faced off in the FA Cup or when Tottenham beat Chelsea in the Carling Cup?

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  19. Okay that makes sense. The league waits 13 years to fix it for us cuz they need the big market win. Did you guys figure out who shot JFK yet?

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  20. After 13 long seasons of torture, I am proud of this team and how they’ve handled the adversity this season and made their way to the club’s first title game.

    Yes, there was a lot of luck involved with the posts and RSL’s inability to finish, but the team worked hard and earned this. If Danny Cepero didn’t lock down a starting gig in this league the last month or so, there is no justice.

    We’re still missing a strong midfielder and center defender to lock this team up a bit, but this is a great result and I look forward to a spirited game.

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  21. Congrats to NYRB on reaching the final for the first time in 13 years, as a Crew fan, I know exactly how you feel.

    Hey, you went up 1-0 and basically bunkered in, and they couldn’t finish.

    I must say based on regular season form, we must be favored.

    However, Angel is the best target man in the league (the battle with Marshall should be fantastic), and the wing play of Van den Bergh and Richards always scares me.

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  22. I just want to say as a life long fan of the red bulls, that is about time something good happens to this club and we fully deserved it. It doesn’t matter how many times the ball hits the post, it didn’t go in and there is nothing anyone could have done there so don’t go blaming it on the bulls. The ref i believed called a fair game, and if there was any bias at all it would have to be in favor of real salt lake. Any one who says that red bulls don’t deserve to be in the championship, are absolutly crazy. Tim the red bulls did much more than just play well in the games that counted, they played their hearts out with a bunch of no name players. They worked better together than any other team in the league. There are no more deserving people on this earth than the fans of this team and the players. I also don’t understand how don gaber could have possible have payed off the refs, were was he when the red bulls recieved call after call against them, and defeat after deafeat in the playoffs in years prior to this one. Jason your comments shouldn’t even be addressed, shut up and stop whining. COME ON YOU BULLS we only need 90 more minutes to get to the promised land.

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  23. This more than anything proves what an absolute joke the MLS playoff format is. Metrobulls lost more than they won, luck into a playoff spot in the west and this is the result. No more than 4 teams should make the playoffs at all. Go Crew.

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  24. Danny Cepero and the good play defense did the work…..Good luck next Sunday…hope Win big.

    Please “coach” JC Osorio keep your prayers, that still working in your favor.

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  25. I think the best thing about the Red Bulls is that the first trophey in their case is the WESTERN CONFERENCE Final. Classic MLS!

    Good luck in the final. If you win… Well, I won’t say anything to avoid curses, but good luck.

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  26. Unreal. Totally unreal.

    As a Chicago Fire fan/season ticket holder I’m not very happy because the best teams aren’t playing in the Cup. However, I’m not a RBNY hater, so congrats to you folks – quite possibly the most tortured fans in MLS.

    I’m still pulling for the Crew but I will say this, JCO > Hamlett.

    Congrats again Red Bulls fans (make sure to keep Angel).

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  27. Shew, that was one sloppy first half by both teams, and it got only marginally better in the second. It often looked like they were playing on a plastic pitch, the way nobody could trap the ball or send properly weighted passes. Thursday night’s Columbus-Chicago game looked like Chelsea-Arsenal compared to this one.

    That said: What an exciting match. Congrats to the Red Bulls for getting done what they needed to get done. And congrats to Salt Lake for the good season (and for getting a really pumped-up sellout crowd into their new stadium).

    Speaking as a neutral observer, this has been a really fun year for MLS.

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  28. Perfect example of the flaws in the American playoff system. If justice will be served Columbus will win next Sunday because they were the best team this season and in any other league they would have won the title.

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  29. i read plenty of hatred and envy in some of these posts. i hope the bashers will wake up. not everyone plays like brazil. some of you might even root for the italian team “snoozefest”, who by the way, won several world cups. if the redbulls were losing 1-0, obviously they would have taken risks to win the game. at times, parking the team bus in front of the net is a good thing. go redbulls

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  30. I suspect I am getting into a very similar argument to ones I have with my 4 year old, but have you ever actually watched soccer outside the US or any professional sport?

    The better team does not always win, the winner wins. Although I would not count this as a great game, there was a ton of drama.

    If you tell me there is championship American football game where the underdog prevails after 3 goal line stands and two field goals that bounced outside the goal post, I would look for the rebroadcast if I missed it live.

    If you told me a US hockey team would barely hold on after being pummeled for the last 10 minutes against a superior team, I would call that a Miracle and say it changed a sport forever.

    If you told me that the average World Cup Final (the most popular televised event on the planet (including, gasp, in the US if you count all television outlets)) was generally anything but a defensive game with a ton of luck involved, I would call you a liar.

    This is sport. This game will win fans. This game is destined to be legendary in long future history of MLS.

    Soy del Metro.

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  31. I’m still euphoric. The match was a complete nerve-racker – I don’t care for the Italian style of putting ten men in the box after scoring a single goal, but hey, the Red Bulls pulled it off. A huge congrats to the team. After all those RSL shots hit the goalpost, we have a new meaning for post-season – ha! The lowly pun! GO RED BULLS! With this kind of luck, you’re definitely a team of destiny.

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  32. YEEEESSSSS!! GOOOOOOOOOL! VanDerbergh!!!

    I am amazed & delighted Red Bulls are going to the MLS Cup. Truth be told RSL was the better team last night but in futbol the one that scores is the winner. The Bulls are lucky to make it to the final but then again … we’ve been one of the unluckiest teams in MLS history til now. I’d like to commend the RSL fans who braved the cold temperatures to attend the game. I hope you can build up on what you have and go to the final next year (unless RB stands in the way of course).

    Whatever the RBs do in the final is just icing on the cake. Since RBs are the underdogs I hope they make a game out of it. A lot of people will be watching on TV and would be a shame if the RBs don;t show up for the game.

    Go Bulls.

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  33. mcscheffel,

    that’s fine if you like 1-0 0-0 snooze fests where both teams put 10 men back and play for a counter attack. but you’ll be watching it on tv because soccer will die if here in the u.s. on a professional level if you teams keep playing those tactics. And I said nothing about JPA and vandenberg, they and richards are the only reason that they are where they are. I said before the game that they singlehandedly can pull a game out where NY has nothing else going for it. Both are great players.

    I don’t take anything away from the win for NYRB, just don’t pretend that NYRBs were the better team out there and that it was because of that that they won and the only reason that RSL was able to attack was because NYRB withdrew into a defensive shell after they scored. That is not the case. RSL dominated the midfield and the run of play from the start of the game, before the goal was scored and the goal was scored against the run of play.

    And NYRBs “injuries” in the last 5 minutes were a joke. MLS has got to clamp down on that. Teams should keep playing until there is a natural break in play. The “injured” player should not be able to reenter the field for at least 5 minutes if the game has to stop to cart him off.

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  34. I love the playoff format! Change the name of the divisions. Without relegation forget single table madness. On the last weekend of the league multiple teams were fighting for a playoff spot creating excitement. Look at the crowds at Colombus, Houston, and Utah – c’mon accept we love playoffs.

    Make the Supprters Shield a bigger trophy if you like or increase that team’s salary cap space w/the league picking up the balance. The MLS is flawed, but its the only league we’ve got. We are not Europe or South America -get over it. Our league is spread over a continent – not like Euro where teams have little cost for travel and wear and tear -on the players.

    The playoffs are about upsets and the favorites pummeling the imitators.

    REDBULL – demonstrated what people have been saying all season – THE EAST is dominant over the WEST.

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  35. For all those who complain about the playoffs SHUT UP!! The best team should beat anyone on anyday. If north carolina loses before the final four should we scrap the ncaa playoffs? NO! if the Hawks could have beaten Boston does the NBA think about a change NO!!! thats the beauty of it, if we all wanted to know who wins the league cup at the beginning of the season we would watch the premier league. This is the beauty of mls if you don’t like it watch something else. The game was choppy last night but both teams were pressing. Hats off to the red bulls, should be a good game!!

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  36. You’re not right, Tim.

    You’re not a fan. You haven’t had this team in your heart. You haven’t watched all our misfortune over the years. Sure, it’s not pretty football, but when we go back in history, and we look at this game, the Metro will always consider this a triumph.

    It’s soccer. You don’t get scored on how pretty you are. Save that for figure skating. You get scored on how many times you put the ball away. New York won.

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  37. Hincha Tim,

    I like the kind of soccer where my team wins. If there are junior high players like Angel an VDB, I think the US has a very bright future indeed.

    In regards to the game:

    Painful game to watch as there was never a moment that Red Bull felt like they had it in hand. Ref was really inconsistent. I thought RSL did a good job with Richards. I think Jason Kreiss would have killed to throw on a jersey and show his team what opportunistic finishing is.

    13 years from the opening loss against Hollywood FC (Andrew Shue?!?!?!??!) and here we are. The curse of Caricola is lifted!!!!!!

    If you see a crazed, overtired man in a RedBull’s jersey wandering around Hunterdon county giggling to himself, that would be me.

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  38. I like how you NYers rewrite history. You make it sound like the NYRB’s were playing on even terms with RSL until they scored their goal and then they dropped into a defensive shell which is why RSL was able to get forward. What a bunch of crap. You got the win, but don’t chalk it up to anything but an inferior team who was outplayed the ENTIRE match getting away with a lucky win. RSL was totally dominating the match before NYRBs scored. The game up to goal was played in NYRBs half with RSL threatening time after time. NYRB was clearing the ball down the field like a junior high soccer team before they scored.

    What I will give NYRBs credit for is this and its what has got them this far: they finish what few chances they get and that was the difference in this game and against Houston.

    The match was not pretty not because RSL did not come to play and attack but because NYRB and Osorio play crap soccer. So if you like watching soccer that a junior high kid can play with no soul or flair but hang on for a 0-0 or a lucky 1-0 result than NYRBs are your team. Have fun watching a snooze fest. And I disagree that the result is everything. At the end of the day, soccer has to entertain or fans will lose interest. Playing cynical defensive soccer will not make soccer grow as a sport in the U.S.

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  39. DC Fan here. For all of you complaining about the refs — put a cork in it. NY/NJ won — congrats to them.

    As much as I love to hate NY/NJ, the whole league will benefit if they put a good product on the field. They have done enough so far. Howewver, the fact they are in the final adds more proof to the fact that aside from winning the supporters shield, the MLS reg season is somewhat of a joke.

    I for one will be pulling for Columbus because that is what we DC fans do — root for whoever plays NY/NJ. I would expect NY/NJ fans to return the favor. However, (and I can’t believe I’m going to say this) a tiny, tiny, tiny part of me would be happy for a NY win. The fans who have stuck with this team deserve it.

    One other thing. Do any of you NY/NJ fans find the phrase “NY/NJ Red Bull — Western Conference Champions” sort of stupid? This playoff format has to be changed. If they keep this format, they should rename the conferences like the used to have in hockey. Use names, Rothenberg and Hunt maybe. Although that may seem stupid as well. Ok I’m done.

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  40. red bulls have a huge market they can dip into but have not been able to because 1) the team is mediocre 2) so is the MLS.

    GOOD luck NY & Columbus.

    so far the crew-chi game has been QUALITY.

    the rest looked like collegiate games

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