Greetings from the nation's capital. It's been what seems like months of build up to this evening. Barbs have been traded between each club, helping to spawn one of the biggest marketing campaigns for an Open Cup final.
More than a month after the U.S. Open Cup semifinals concluded, the Dewar Cup will finally be awarded tonight. Can D.C. nab their 13th trophy? Or will Seattle put an exclamation point on what has been a tremendous debut season in MLS with their first trophy?
Kickoff is set for Wednesday at RFK Stadium (7:30pm EST, Fox Soccer Channel). I'll be providing some in-game commentary so please feel free to follow along here, and share your thoughts and opinions below.
————————-
FULL TIME– Celebrations continue, but that'll be it from me tonight. Thanks for following along, and remember to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
————————-
FULL TIME– Sounders over paying tribute to the traveling fans on hand to see this. Perhaps 60 or 70 in attendance across from the press box. United still on the field as well to grab their second place medals.
————————-
FULL TIME– A deserved win for Seattle who managed to capitalize on their chances. United can't be happy with Wicks, who deserved his red card for stomping on Montero. Seattle is celebrating in the middle of the pitch.
————————-
FULL TIME– Seattle 2, D.C. United 1. What a first season for the Sounders, as they grab silverware at their first opportunity.
————————-
95th Minute– Kocic forward and D.C.'s net is open. Moreno goes for goal? This is almost over.
————————-
94th Minute– Everyone forward for D.C., but just a minute remains.
————————-
92nd Minute– Seattle just trying to clear as United presses. Ljungberg skies an attempt on goal.
————————-
90th Minute– Is an equalizer possible? Moreno with yet another short corner.
————————-
89th Minute– Injury time approaches, Seattle content to hack it clear. Five minutes of injury time.
————————-
88th Minute– GOAL. Simms gets one back. A free kick deflects to the midfielder who scores. Ianni kept Simms onside.
————————-
87th Minute– No one helped Jakovic on that one after Le Toux shrugged him off. That should be that tonight.
————————-
86th Minute– GOAL Seattle. Roger Levesque left wide open. Le Toux beats Jakovic and taps it to a wide open Levesque. Looks like Seattle wins trophies.
————————-
85th Minute– Quaranta will need something spectacular to score from there.
————————-
83rd Minute– Not much going for D.C. Seattle content to smother anything, as a weak volley is wide of the mark.
————————-
82nd Minute– He'll come in for Olsen. Eight minutes left plus stoppage.
————————-
81st Minute– Can United get anything going on attack? Rodney Wallace is coming in for their last sub.
————————-
80th Minute– A chip from Moreno is dealt with easily by Keller. United hasn't really tested Keller much tonight.
————————-
78th Minute– Vagenas with a yellow card for a tug down of Ben Olsen. Chippy here, with the Open Cup in sight for Seattle.
————————-
78th Minute– Sounders keep five or six players back on the attack. Just 12 minutes to go.
————————-
77th Minute– Brad Evans on his way in for Montero. Earns a chorus of boos from the United fans.
————————-
75th Minute– Zakuani has come off for Levesque.
————————-
74th Minute– United still on the attack, winning a corner.
————————-
72nd Minute– Burch skies a free kick won by Emilio.
————————-
71st Minute– Back underway as D.C. is down to 10 men and down a goal. Montero is back in the game.
————————-
69th Minute– All to do for D.C. now. Kocic is going to come in for Gomez.
————————-
67th Minute– It looks like Wicks stomped on Montero after the play and could be in trouble. Sent off.
————————-
67th Minute– GOAL Seattle. Freddie Ljungberg gets behind the defense, Wicks gets a hand on the ball but Montero scores on the follow up.
————————-
65th Minute– Quaranta leads the counter but not enough on his through ball. Too much dilly dallying by United.
————————-
60th Minute– Pontius taken down in the box, shouts again for a penalty. D.C. spending too much time on the ball in the box.
————————-
59th Minute– Simms skies it over after a shout for handball is turned down. Would've been a harsh call.
————————-
55th Minute– 17,329 in attendance tonight. The marketing pays some dividends. Now about that trophy…
————————-
55th Minute– Gomez skies another chance, left alone at the top of the box.
————————-
53rd Minute– Jakovic with another clearance. The central defender and Wicks have been United's best players.
————————-
51st Minute– In six minutes Quaranta has already created more than Fred has.
————————-
50th Minute– Three D.C. players try for the dummy only for none of them to get on the end of it.
————————-
48th Minute– Ljungberg wins a corner by banging a cross off Simms. It misses everyone, and Quaranta leads the counter attack before he's hauled down by Leonardo Gonzalez who earns a yellow.
————————-
46th Minute– Burch over a free kick after Riley fouls Pontius, misses everyone.
————————-
45th Minute– The Sounders get the game back underway
————————-
HALFTIME- Fred, who has been far from his best, comes off for Quaranta.
————————-
HALFTIME- It's been a relatively even match. D.C. has had more of the ball while Seattle has had three dangerous chances Wicks has turned aside. United hasn't been able to turn their possession into anything dangerous, something that has dogged them all year.
————————-
45th Minute-
Half comes to a close with no stoppage time.
————————-
44th Minute- Montero with a free header, saved by Wicks once again.
————————-
43rd Minute- Zakuani needs to work on that left foot. He's much faster than Namoff but the more experience defender knows how to shut him down.
————————-
39th Minute- Seattle's defense backs of Gomez but he fires wide of the net.
————————-
37th Minute- The battle between Montero and Jakovic is a fierce one. Sloppy turnovers marring the game now.
————————-
34th Minute– Leonardo Gonzalez sends in a dangerous cross but Montero heads over the bar. Continues the trend of D.C. holding the ball but Seattle looking more likely to score.
————————-
32nd Minute– Olsen jukes out Vagenas and forces a save from Keller. Corner to D.C.
————————-
30th Minute– United hanging onto the ball but can't get anything going against the Seattle defense.
————————-
28th Minute– Jakovic makes a last ditch effort on Zakuani to deny the speedy winger after he's in on goal again.
————————-
27th Minute– Zakuani with a bit of a wayward spot. D.C. is giving him space but he isn't doing anything with it.
————————-
25th Minute– Gomez sends in the free kick over the bar. Needs to be better.
————————-
24th Minute– Ianni gets turned by Emilio and gets a yellow card for a jersey pull.
————————-
22nd Minute– Montero is down in the box after taking a knock.
————————-
19th Minute– Fred with a ghastly turnover in midfield. Le Toux finds Ljungberg but Wicks comes to the rescue again.
————————-
18th Minute– Gomez misses the bottom corner on the free kick after much deliberation.
————————-
16th Minute– Vagenas fouls Christian Gomez who looks gassed after a box-to-box run. Free kick in a dangerous spot.
————————-
15th Minute– Namoff is light years behind Zakuani in speed. That's a matchup to keep an eye on.
————————-
14th Minute– Seattle has carelessly turned it over a few times already and aren't looking crisp.
————————-
12th Minute– Seattle doing well to test Jakovic in the 3-5-2. Olsen with a speculative effort towards Keller that is easily dealt with.
————————-
10th Minute– Wicks with a save that he probably knew little about. Zakuani behind the defense, crosses for Montero, who hits it straight to the keeper.
————————-
9th Minute– Montero tests Wicks from long range but misses by a few feet.
————————-
8th Minute– The small crowd Seattle here is pushing United's supporters to stay fired up. The result is a great atmosphere.
————————-
6th Minute– Seattle testing the United backline with long balls towards Montero, who is marked well by Jakovic.
————————-
4th Minute– Pontius just misses. Collects a long ball but shoots wide.
————————-
4th Minute– Montero draws a free kick in a dangerous position, Ljungberg to take.
————————-
3rd Minute– D.C. bossing possession, as Seattle content to lump it forward. The first goal in this game will be HUGE.
————————-
1st Minute– Smoke bombs off in the Barra while Sounders fans toss green streamers.
————————-
1st Minute– The fans are fired up for this one as D.C. gets things underway. Let's see if the players can match it.
————————-
PRE-GAME– Seattle fans sang along to the national anthem. And were way off the actual singer.
————————-
PRE-GAME– Starters coming out.
————————-
PRE-GAME– Substitutes on their way out.
————————-
PRE-GAME– Crowd is still trickling in, but it's not looking strong at the moment.
————————-
PRE-GAME– Looks like they're bringing out the trophy for a pre-game presentation.
————————-
PRE-GAME– Players heading off the pitch after warmups. Supporters trading barbs. Decent Seattle crowd (maybe 30?) so far. Reports that over 100 made the trip.
————————-
PRE-GAME– Here is how the Sounders look (more or less)
————-Le Toux———–Montero———-
Zakuani——————————–Ljungberg
————-Alonso——-Vagenas—————-
Gonzalez——Ianni——-Wahl———–Riley
———————Keller——————–
————————-
PRE-GAME– Here is the D.C. lineup:
————-Emilio———–Moreno————-
Fred—————Gomez—————–Pontius
———-Simms———Olsen—————–
Burch———-Jakovic———-Namoff———
———————Wicks————–
————————-
PRE-GAME– D.C. defender Julius James, who was used in the previous league match against the Fire won't be available because he is cup tied, having played for Houston in the Open Cup already. Seattle has defensive problems of their own, as Tyrone Marshall and Taylor Graham will miss out due to injury and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado is unavailable because of suspension.
————————-
PRE-GAME– Just a note that the internet in the RFK press box is at times dodgy so if no updates appear, that's why.
Don’t worry Teddy we hate you as well.
It was really nice to see Seattle win this one. Finally they finish some chances!
And KBD, Seriously? Seattle and Seattle fans have been having so much smack talked about them recently, just settle down. That whole wewintrophies.com thing was pretty much asking for responses like that, everyone knew you were going to see something making fun of it if they lost. And if DC had one, we would have seen Wewintrophies.com in every post. That’s how it works.
KBD:
Go cry and come back tomorrow when you can post something of value.
I have now seen two game involving DC and Seattle, and have seen two great games with neither team rolling around on the ground in the name of wasting time.
Thnak you to Wicks for reliving all of the lessons he learned in Portland. I still don’t see why he was so upset, unless it was an out of body experience.
I look forward to seeing the trophy at the game on the 19th go Sounders.
Dear Seattle Sounders FC,
You may have won this trophy, but you’re all acting like a bunch of classless pricks about it. Congrats. No need to rub it in. All that needed to be said was said on the field.
SoShutTheFuckUpPlease.com
(if that’s actually a real site, I didn’t intend to send you there lol)
Annen_Berg:
You should email Wynalda, he’s hilarious. I’ve never seen someone take fan email so seriously. I got into an email argument with him that must have lasted weeks. He simply could not not respond to an email! I believe his last words to me were: “Run, Forrest, Run!” I think he might have more success as a comedian.
Dear DC United,
You May Win Trophies,
ButYouDidntWinThisOne.com
aristotle, brilliant idea. I think that EPL has a show where fans commentate during an EPL match. FSC could let us do MLS, or any games that their commentators would do, and I think it would be far, far more entertaining, and probably knowledgeable. I fully support your idea.
MemRook:
I agree with you about D.C. I think it’s about time for D.C. to get rid of Soehn. I’ve never believed he was going to be a good choice. Now he’s had his chance despite what he says about more time. He doesn’t look like he’s even on the right track. Ben Olsen seems to be much more of a motivator for the team than Soehn.
I agree on Fox too. It’s great that they exist but they seem like they just don’t care about production at all which doesn’t make any sense at all. At this point their production level would go up considerably if they just allowed fans to do the game each week.
FSC’s front office needs an overhaul, time to bring in some big guns with real production know-how. Revamp the lineup! Enhance the product. Give us HD! Let’s hear from commentators who want to talk about the game at hand, and please, please, please for the love of all that is good, please STOP coaching during the game:
“So and so should have trapped the ball like this, dribbled this way, passed to so and so, continued his run, shot the ball with that part of his foot,” or “Whoever should have cleared the ball with his head to this particular part of the field then professionally fouled but not intentionally fouled the opposing player in a non-dangerous area of the field.” Lord I despise FSC announcers. I just wanna hear about the game, what’s happening, not what should have happened or what they would have done if they were playing instead.
Congrats to the Sounders! Your team played a great game, and the traveling fans were nice to see.
As a DCU fan, I am officially disowning Wicks. That’s two straight games with a controversial and violent moment. I’d rather have the inexperienced Kocic start and give up 4 goals a game than have Wicks play and shut everyone out for the rest of the season (ok, that’s not true, but I am seriously pissed at him).
@Chitownfire … Excellent. You beat me to it.
What an absolute dickhead Wicks is. He owes a big apology to his teammates and the DC fans.
Man, I hate people who thread hijack.
speaking of FSC – this is sort of off topic, but I had to send this bit of constructive criticism to Fox Football Fone-In today
To whom it may concern,
I regret that my first email to Fox Football Fone-In is a vehement refusal of Eric Wynalda as co-host of FFF.
With all due respect to his career as a professional soccer player, he is a horrid addition to the program. He actually embodies all of the negative qualities of the Ugly American. He is rude, is constantly urging co-host Nick Webster (an Englishman) not to pronounce words with an English accent, is defensive, and has NO chemistry with Nick.
When I see “Fox Football Fone-In” on the cable menu, it’s now something I unfortunately need to avoid at all costs. I’ve only been able to watch 4 or 5 minutes maximum of the new series with Mr. Wynalda in the co-host chair before changing the channel. The fact that he insults the British co-hosts on their pronunciation is the hallmark of complete and utter stupidity.
Nick Webster, and especially guest host Bobby McMahon give soccer in America a kind of regal stamp of approval with their wit, their tribal knowledge of the game, and yes, their British accents. Whoever put these men in front of American audiences deserves a medal. Whoever put Eric Wynalda among their midst deserves to be fired.
You might as well see if Jim Rome can be a co-host as well. At least he wouldn’t pretend to advance the sport in America.
If you had a genuinely witty co-host that is antagonistic in all the ways I’ve described, AND is entertaining and charismatic on top of that, then you wouldn’t have people like me complaining. Mr. Wynalda is not entertaining or charismatic. Please stop the experiment.
If these words reach Mr. Wynalda, please understand I’m not trying to insult you personally. As a viewer, I’m repulsed, and as a proponent of Soccer in America, I don’t feel you’re that right man for the job and may be doing a disservice.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment me directly.
Wicks has anger issues, big surprise. Way to blow it for your team.
Didn’t see the match. The only thing I was seeing is the bottom of my empty cocktail and the sun setting in the OBX. I’ll pour one out for all my Black and Red homies.
Seattle wins a trophy, no plural there, yet. Good team, but they have a long way to go (like 14 years) before they catch up with DC United.
An interesting Open Cup final? Who would have ever thought it could happen… Sunil Gulati is pissing his pants thinking of the bank statements he’s going to be seeing in the future, hope he’s happy, the douche.
This type of rivalry is what this dull league needs. I can’t wait until next weekend, when they come back to RFK. Too bad they can’t bring their stadium with them…
It’s really too friggin’ bad that this exciting of a game had to be on poopy standard def with crappy FSC production. While I am grateful for FSC on principle, having a soccer specific channel available to me and others, I hate hate hate their production level, or lack thereof.
Keller always seems so serious and business like, even after a huge win.
by the way, Casey’s Knee, that was a funny pictured you linked to. well done.
I’m neither a DCU nor Seattle fan, however, I am really unimpressed with DC’s organization as of late (Coaching staff, players, stuff like that). I know DCU are the more traditioned team in MLS, but Seattle’s organization is top class and what this league needs more.
so epic. what a game.
Jesus, Portland better win the USL this year. Way to go Seattle
D.C. should have been allowed one more chance given that deliberate foul that stopped D.C. from putting it back into the box one more time. Oh, well. Congratulations to Seattle. The fairy tale continues.
MemRook,
Don’t expect Seattle to move to natural grass anytime soon. Qwest was sold to the Seattle citizens as a multi-purpose stadium with soccer being the biggest sport other than football played there. However, no, do not expect football lines more than just seeing where they were covered up. Go look at the game vs. Toronto FC Saturday, that is with football lines having been on the pitch not more than a few days earlier.
Very entertaining match!
Seattle Sounders. They win trophies. HE HE HE.
DC UNITED: “We (don’t) win trophies (presently)”
@MemRook
http://pix.motivatedphotos.com/2009/2/2/633692057194761860-handegg.jpg
Wicks…FAIL…he can now officially be labeled the goat…
Handegg = brilliant. Propagate it everywhere.
Damn Keller and his octopus arms!
COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN UNITED!!!!!!!
handegg. that’s good. never heard that before. Throwball, yes. handegg, no. I like it lol.
Memrock…no they are not getting grass.
They also say that there will be no lines during handegg season.
Clayton – I fully agree. Where do they find these a++holes?
Oh come on. Don’t just give me hope to make me give up!
My prediction isn’t dead yet after all!
Ooooooooooo! Drama! Love it! Dc scores.
Someone has clearly lost the argument regarding Letoux.
FSC announcers are the worst we have available to us (unless it’s the european ones during european games). Period.
Please United!!!!! Please please please please. Oh sh*t Seattle just scored.
Call me ignorant if you will, but I just can’t remember, do Seattle have any long-term plans to get a home field with grass? And also, when football season starts, are we gonna see lines at Qwest field from now on? God I hope not.
anyone else watching this on mute? these fsc announcers get worse and worse by the match IMO…
i was thinking the same thing aristotle. however, i think we’ll see him crop up again somewhere. maybe someone will be willing to give him a second chance along with anger management classes. he did look good in that first half and obviously has the tools to suceed. but it seems like he is a headcase as well.
Given his play with the Galaxy last year, and now this unforgettable incident combined with the one last week, I think Wicks’ MLS days are numbered, if not over.
@julio, ha ha! I didn’t even see your post before I did mine. we basically said the same thing and even called him a thug (with a variant in spelling). I guess it MUST be true!
MemRook
Exactly my point, that guy should never smell a US National Team jersey.He can go but a Jersey at Dick’s and put on a Howard jersey and learn and dream one day he can be half the Goal keeper Howard is.
Wicks should be suspended from the entire tournament next year.
remember when (last week ha ha) attacked his own teammate? Sounds like someone has an anger management problem.
Presenting a red car with the full moral authority of the congress of sideline officials has to be one of the biggest hard ons in the life of a match official. I could only imagine what it feels like to reach for the red with the verdict of the triumvirate. That ref is a PIMP.
Poor play Mr. Wicks >:(
Is Burch now saying “I told ya so”. Wow Wicks is an complete dumb ass for arguing his stupidity. I has crushed his team’s chances to come back.