Photo by ISIphotos.com
The Seattle Sounders might want to consider opening the website 'WeWinTrophiesToo.com' after defying the odds and traveling cross-country to bring him the first trophy in the Sounders' first season.
Playing without its starting central defense, the Sounders used an overwhelming offense to keep D.C. on its toes before finally breaking through with a pair of second-half goals to score a 2-1 victory and knock off the reigning U.S. Open Cup champions in front of 17,329 at RFK Stadium.
D.C. looked vulnerable from the start but only a stellar first-half performance from goalkeeper Josh Wicks kept D.C. in the match. Wicks quickly turned from hero to goat when he was sent off for stomping on Sounders striker Fredy Montero after Seattle opened the scoring with a Montero finish of a rebound in the 67th minute.
Up a man, Seattle began heaping more pressure on before adding a second goal in the 86th minute on a goal by Roger Levesque courtesy of a pass from Sebastien LeToux.
D.C. United made things interesting in the 88th minute when Clyde Simms finished off the rebound of a free kick to make it 2-1. D.C. never could find the equalizer despite applying heavy pressure.
What did you think of Seattle's title-winning performance? Disappointed with how D.C. United played? Think Wicks just lost his mind on the stomping play, or do you think Wicks made an innocent mistake? Is Sigi Schmid officially the Sir Alex Ferguson of MLS in the trophy-winning department?
Share your thoughts below.
john is a punk
As a neutral, I have to say AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!!!
This is what the Open Cup should be: smack talking, passionate fans, good attacking soccer, and even a crazed goalkeeper (nice touch DC 🙂
It was a lot of fun to watch and I think the result was justified. Congrats Seattle!
That was the best official I have ever seen in America. Consistent calls and he let both teams play.
He did the right thing with the red. He didnt see it and consulted his linesman.
This guy should get some sort of bonus.
Seattle is a thug team with two master floppers in Montero and Ljungberg. Anyone have video of where Wicks cleats actually hit Montero? Oh you dont. End of discussion. Classless fans, classless players, and a fat coach. No big deal, see Crew 2008.
Really enjoyed the match. Congrats to Seattle and complements to DC United for drawing 17K boisterous fans.
One thought:
Josh Wicks is a headcase. He needs to have his head examined. Forget placing any blame on Montero (embellishment nonsense),…just consider the intent and WHAT COULD HAVE happened.
Watch this:
Anderlecht – Standard Liege
45 seconds into the video, and then the slow motion. Nasty…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0v69nWAGu8
Losing on the 12th won’t eliminate the Sounders from the playoffs. DCU had better worry about their own house before they worry about knocking Seattle out.
Like I said earlier if it comes to that at least we have this trophy. I do want the playoffs as well.
I’ll take the Open cup win and lose the MLS game.
Sounders will be with out Ljunberg on the 12th.
“Seattle will be looking to win the Champions League next year. I will be happy not to see DC in that again next year. ”
Couldn’t agree more. I’m sick of seeing them stink up that copmetition
and to take credit . . . . tom,
Do you think they would have had 17K without us?
Posted by: sammysounder | September 03, 2009 at 01:48 AM
Really?? Your 130 fans equaled 17k?
Revenge will be great on the 12th when Seattle gets knocked out of the playoffs.
I wasn’t at the game and missed the national anthem on TV, but I’m sure there was no disrepect intended – it is our country as well. Before every match at Qwest a conductor leads the whole stadium in singing the national anthem. It gave me tingles the first time I heard it and look forward to it at every game now. I may be wrong, but this is just Sounders fans carrying our tradition into your stadium.
Mason, lassidawg is exactly correct.
Ideally the center should have caught it as even though he points to center after a goal, he is responsible for the field. However, his vision might be obscured depending on where players are at and in this case the positioning of the players involved.
AR1 might catch this but shouldn’t be expected to because he runs up the line to indicate the goal… thus he’ll likely be out of position to see it in order to fulfill his responsibility.
The whole purpose of a 4O is for situations like this. The 4O has a responsibility to monitor everyone’s actions and behaviors as opposed to maintaining active game play. He did his job.
One question for Sounders fans at the game yesterday: What was up with the national anthem? It was nice that you were loud and proud with the singing, but definitely not cool with trying to screw up the actual singer by singing much much faster than he was going…
Josh Wicks
It was a mistake on my part and I’ve got to learn my lesson. The fourth official made a call and the ref made the final decision. That was it. I’ve got no excuses for it. Tremendously, very, very disappointing.
A quote from the Tacoma News Tribue
http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/soccer/
@ older &…
Those “professional fouls” were nowhere near horse collar. They grabbed elbow/upper arm at the worst. They even showed the replays to prove this. The offending Sounders were given yellow cards as they deserved.
I must say, the referee did do a very admirable job with the game. I can’t think of anything that was really an issue. Just the way a game is supposed to be officiated.
Congrats Sounders!
Its one thing for Wicks to try his hardest to injure a more skillful player than he – but what in the $#%^ is he doing yapping at the ref after getting sent off.
Despite all of soccer’s problems with players diving and feigning injury – many neutral sports fans respect the fact that a player given a red card will walk silently off the field. Wicks should be suspended 3 games for being a punk and 3 more for not getting the h off the field when he got caught.
Can we refer to what Wicks did as a “dirty Sanchez”? Osvaldo would be proud.
Posted by: SonicDeathMonkey
No. Do you know what a “dirty Snachez” is?
For those having an issue with the 4th official having to make the call on Wicks.
The 4th official did his job perfectly, after a goal is scored the linesman turn and run toward MF after a goal and the ref usually turns and points to midfield to indicate a goal.
The job of the 4th official is to make sure he is watching for something that can’t be seen.
I was suprised they caught it, but I remember seeing it as it happened. Of course it only took 4 replays before the FSC crew finally caught on.
Even if Wicks missed(he didn’t) and Freddy embellished he should have been red carded for the intent. So whether he made contact or not is irrelevant.
How many games does DC play before they meet on the 12th?
Seattle deserved the win. Congrats on hardware the first year.
That being said, Montero is a douche, and I can’t stand Smells Like Teen Spirit FC’s fans (or at least a lot of them), so I was rooting for DC.
And no, I’m not jealous. We win trophies too.
Any neutral observer has to love what Seattle brought to the league this year. If Portland, Vancouver and – good god in heaven – Philadelphia can come anywhere close, the league will be in great shape and set for a major expansion in exposure.
Wow. What a game. I will be smiling and whistling for the rest of season. Great night, great game, great job you Sounders.
I would like to start a Wicks on steroids rumor. Much better play than his days with the Gals and much more testosterone/anger?
Correction to last post.
Donjuego: Good Grief.
Montero didn’t embellish that much. Indeed, he did NOT pull a “rolling around in pain” move. It sure looked to me like he stomped on him. Sure, he might have missed in his attempted assault. If Wicks didn’t make contact, he sure did a good job looking like he was trying to. As Steve Goff pointed out in his blog, What the hell was Wicks doing anywhere him. He had no business going AT Montero.
Give it. Wick’s is a loon.
Posted by: matt C
For those doubting Wicks intention, read his own comments. He does nothing to dispell that A) He did it and B) it was intentional.
Also, while $100K may not be a huge amount, I think its great for the young guys who will get a chunk of that.
Looked like Wicks landed on Montero’s right hand and Fredy rolled over, clutching his hand to his chest. May have only got a finger or two… But I don’t think he was faking contact… Embellishing a little? Well…
Still, I don’t see how anyone argues that card.
Donjuego: Good Grief.
Montero didn’t embellish that much. Indeed, he did pull a “rolling around in pain” move. It sure looked to me like he stomped on him. Sure, he might have missed in his attempted assault. If Wicks didn’t make contact, he sure did a good job looking like he was trying to. As Steve Goff pointed out in his blog, What the hell was Wicks doing anywhere him. He had no business going AT Montero.
Give it. Wick’s is a loon.
Justice. Glad Seattle won, well deserved, congrats. And I look forward to seeing DC travel cross country or anywhere else it may be instead of getting all of their Cup games at home next time around. Between that, Wicks’ disgusting behavior, & Pontius’ end of game attempt to rake Keller’s eyes out and make him drop the ball say it all… same ollll’ DC.. allllwayssss cheatttting.
The trouble is that cameras don’t make the calls on the field, the officials do. The two officials with the best view either saw no contact or saw contact but no misconduct but the furthest official from the play saw misconduct.
I’m not sure how that happens.
Wow, I am one very disappointed DC United fan. Wicks owes EVERYONE under the sun an apology for his behavior, and I hope he’s done in a DC United uniform. Absolutely disgraceful.
Congrats to the Screaming Eagles and Barra Brava for the great atmosphere, and to the ECS for spurring us on to do it.
Great game, great pressure by Seattle, DC may have won if they had put all those free kicks on goal instead of over it. wicks is a punk and should be suspended from all US competition for 10+ games. The officiating was great, they made the calls that needed to be made but still let the players play. I thought DC had great fans and a class team but the team not staying for the trophy ceremony was classless.
The highlights video on mlsnet looked pretty convincing in terms of Wicks making contact..
“Mercurial” is hardly the adjective you want to apply to a goalkeeper.
Agreed that it would be nice to see a video from the other sideline of Wicks’ jump. All of the videos I’ve seen are inconclusive about contact, though they all look damning enough that I don’t have a problem with the sending off. In the meantime, well, I guess I was in the majority that didn’t watch the game, but congrats to the Sounders on a trophy in Season 1.
As a DC United fan, I thought the atmosphere was great. The Sounder fans up top were great too. There are certain supporters groups that have no class and Seattle’s is not one of them. Seattle played better and deserved to win the game. I had a blast regardless of the result although it does sting a bit today as sobriety kicked in. Next year has to be different though. We can’t loose these games at home.
I wonder who the next DC United coach will be next year…
Rory
Come up with something that actually hurts our feelings.
I’ll take getting teeth kicked in every year if it means a US Trophy
both are under two year contracts
We may or may not be home watching the playoffs, but we have something many others would want in 2009 A TROPHY. If I had to choose I would prefer the MLS CUP, but I will take the Open cup anytime.
wicks always looked like he had the IQ of a sponge….last night he proved it
‘WeWinTrophiesToo.com’
uhmmm Ives, wouldn’t they have to win more than one?
Nice step up for the US Open Cup. Now just to get that salary cap raised and roster limit expanded so teams can actually do it
Anyone got pics or video shoing Wickes making contact with Montero? I’ve not seen any.
I don’t know what really happened.
I do know that it is more likely that Montero was faking than Wickes actually made contact with him.
older-I wouldn’t say that any of those fouls rose to the level of serious foul play. The ref did an excellent job recognizing the tactical fouls and punishing the misconduct correctly.
yes, Wicks lost his mind.
Seattle deserved the victory. they pressed all match and were rewarded with two goals. DC is close to coming apart. I’m starting to see some cracks there. I’ll be surprised if they make the playoffs (recent Chicago win notwithstanding)
Neither team plays defense for crap.
Wow Seattle, you just one the least important trophy in the soccer world. Seriously.
Have fun getting your teeth kicked in in Concacaf next year when Ljunberg and Keller retire this offseason and Montero lands in Europe.
But seriously, at least you won something this year (even though nobody but the final two sent full teams to this contest)… because you’re going to be watching the playoffs from your house.
Rich kid had his third Porsche taken away and now he is throwing a hissy fit.
Be thankful for all the riches you already have, instead of complaining about not getting your umpety-teenth toy.
Did Whicks really jump on Montero? I keep watching it and I can’t tell if he jumped on Montero or over him.
Hopefully this can be a turning point for the US Open Cup. Champions League birth and a trophy to boot, it has its rewards. Hopefully more teams will take it seriously and more fans will show up for the games.
Montero is still a punk.
Posted by: Curt Onalfo | September 03, 2009 at 08:50 AM
LOL
ACES!
You stay classy Josh Wicks.
Putting Wicks to one side, anybody else think that Seattle is a bunch of cheap shot artists? Couple cynical horse collar “professional” fouls that could have been treated as serious foul play meriting a sending off.
Neutral here and I must say, what a great game. I was on the edge of my seat until the end, even if I was watching it on a computer. Great to see Seattle win and I was suprised at how happy Ljunberg looked after the game. There is no reason why this cup that you all have had for 96 years should not be very important and prestigous to win and all of this is coming from a TFC fan from Canada.
DC UNITED….
“We lose trophies to expansion teams” ad campaign is getting started
@Brian
Good one- :thumbsup:
Josh Wicks lost his mond and embarrassed the entire soccer country lost night.
what a knucklehead. Hopefully Tommy sits him on his butt for awhile.