Photo by ISIphotos.com
Yes Real Salt Lake fans, last night really happened.
Real Salt Lake won the 2009 MLS Cup Final, beating the Los Angeles Galaxy in penalty kicks to cap a dream run through the playoffs.
RSL outplayed the favored Galaxy over the course of the 120 minutes before penalties, then the underdogs showed their poise yet again, winning their second penalty shootout in eight days to bring Utah its first professional sports title.
The ending was a bitter pill for the Galaxy, which enjoyed a strong season to help its club climb out of a three-year long spell of ineptitude. League MVP Landon Donovan won't soon forget his crucial penalty kick miss, but he was not alone in delivering a disappointing performance for the Galaxy.
Here are some observations from Sunday night's dramatic final:
Kyle Beckerman was a beastall match long. Yes, he missed a penalty that he clearly rushed, but the RSL captain was the stabilizing force in midfield for Real Salt Lake and didn't put a foot wrong in outplaying the Galaxy tandem of Chris Birchall and Jovan Kirovski.
Clint Mathis captures his long-awaited title. The veteran midfielder stepped in for the injured Javier Morales and provided some creativity in midfield that helped RSL's attack keep the Galaxy on its heels in the second half. He then delivered a club penalty to win his first MLS title, exactly ten years after losing in the '99 final with Los Angeles.
Bruce Arena's central midfield fell flat. With David Beckham hobbled and unable to handle the rigors of the middle of the park, and with Dema Kovalenko sick, Arena was forced to play a central midfield tandem of Jovan Kirovski and Chris Birchall. That spelled doom for the Galaxy attack because it placed an even heavier burden on Landon Donovan, who was given little service and even less support as RSL threw numbers at him.
Robbie Findley rose to the challenge. Nick Rimando won game MVP honors, but Findley was just as deserving. He finished off one of RSL's only clear chances to equalize, he pressed the Galaxy back-line throughout the match, and he stepped up and converted his penalty attempt in the shootout. He has really matured throughout the latter part of the season and established himself as a young player with heart to go with his talent. He also has the look of a player ready to fight for a place in the U.S. national team mix.
Jason Kreis earned deserves tons of credit. Real Salt Lake's head coach saw his team go through phases of inconsistency for most of the season, but he eventually settled on a lineup that hit its stride and proved to be the right combination to deliver a title. As the youngest head coach to ever win an MLS Cup at 36, Kreis has established himself as one of the most promising young head coaches MLS has seen in years.
MVP honors for being a great host city. For the first time I can remember (and this was my eighth straight MLS Cup) a host city truly embraced an MLS Cup Final. In past finals, you could pass through a city and not even realize a championship was being played that weekend. Not so in Seattle, where there were signs of the Cup's arrival in town all over the city and visiting fans were treated to an atmosphere befitting a Cup Final.
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What did you think of the final? Impressed with Real Salt Lake's performance? Disappointed with the Galaxy's showing? Still surprised that Donovan missed his penalty? Think RSL can repeat?
Share your thoughts below.
Not going to work my friend. Euro Snobs will NEVER look at the MLS as an option. So you market to the normal sports fan because that is 90% of American while the Euro Snobs are 5%. Where is the other 5% you ask…the soccer fans who can enjoy a league that isn’t one of the best in the world for what it his…hence all of the MLS fans already part of the game.
RSL had a bigger fan base because their team actually helped them get to the game by chartering buses and a plane where as the Galaxy as Tim Lick-wicky put it at the hawks nest “were more concentrated on the game” BS! thanx again for the help GALAXY bastards
As far as the Seattle organization… F**k them, their security, and most of their fans, they tried so hard to make it about themselves chanting and making everything baby crap green, GET OVER YOURSELVES! With your fabed up support, this wasn’t your cup final but if stupid Don Garbage & MLS let you do all that stuff….
P.s.
Congrats RSL we deserved to lose, I mean 3 forwards missed PKs! weak
Honestly, what’s so bad about it?
I’ve thought about reducing the number of players on the field as well, but I’m not sure it would work because I think at the end of 120 players would just be too exhausted to cover the extra ground.
i must agree,
MVP of league, team captain and captain of national team MUST finish those…does he need a nats jersey on or what?!!?!sad landy…very sad.
on a higher note, good luck in EUrope. @I said it, i doubt he gets any opportunities like that in europe any time soon(PK’s)
donovan choked like a 80yr old eating a well done steak. keeper bailed his ass out and then the last guy screws up(starts with a B) so yeah, they desr=erved the loss..period. GOODLUCK IN EUROPE LANDY, DO THAT THERE AND RIIIIIDDDDDE PIIIIIIIIINNNEE!
RSL won the MLS Cup but did they really deserve the championship? NO!! RSL are a sub .500 team which in any other league with a single table wouldn’t have won a championship. They won the MLS Cup because they sneaked into the playoffs and then were hot throughout the playoffs.
RSL’s win last night gives little importance to winning games early in the season. Fans might as well not show up to stadiums because this win makes those early season games meaningless! Why should players worry about playing hard at the beginning of the season when the team only needs to have good form at the end of the season?
If MLS insists on having a playoff format have a playoff involving the top two teams in each conference. Better yet make the MLS Cup a true championship game between the top team in the east and the top team in the west.
I’ve been a fan of this league from it’s inception but RSL’s win last night made a mockery of having a good season and playing hard to be in first place. I think last night’s win may have turned me away from MLS. How can I support a league that wants to be taken seriously when thier only policies make them a joke
After Donovan overshot his penalty, the camera focussed on Beckham – and he had a quick wry smile for just a moment before he regained his composure.
I wish I could read his mind; was he remembering his own over-the-bar missed penalty v. Portugal in European finals? Perhaps something more cynical?
Maybe someone from the series ‘LIE TO ME’ could offer help.
Thoughts?
“Who said we’re trying to attract the “common sports fan”?”
Beggars can’t be choosers, the MLS will take any fan support it can get. The MLS is trying to grow. Euro snobs are not going to give the MLS a chance until it has the ca$h to spend on first rate talent. Which means they need to grow their profits. I would also wager that the majority of people that play soccer in the US are “common sports fans” as well. Add to that a large portion of soccer players in the US can’t drive yet (teams can only give out so many free tickets to AYSO and youth club teams).
The success of soccer (the MLS) in America will rely on the promotion of teams in their market, and integration into their communities. This is boosted greatly by the teams success on the field.
The reason why 99% of people want this is because its done in europe!! thats it! There is no other legitimate reason. Or atleast I haven’t heard one. If someone can make a decisive argument about why crowning the champ with the most points makes this league and the regular season better without using the term legitimate or that the rest of the world does it, then I am all ears.
Thats completley untrue and baseless if these so called fans would turn out maybe but they won’t because they are too good to support anything thats not like what they are used to in europe. I think gearing the game towards the casual fan works better because you don’t have the ridiculous comparisons of whats going on in other leagues, and they are already used to the american system of sports, and plus there are more casual fans then there are “true fans” in this country.
Thumbs up to RSL fans making the trip and their owner apparently making their travel easier
And who cares what the fans look like or where they’re from
This was my fourth Cup in a row and it was definitely impressive to be walking around the city with my Revolution coat on having people ask me, “Are you going to the game tomorrow?” When I told people I was from LA, the same reaction followed. The entire city knew about this game and embraced it. The atmosphere was fantastic. Waaaaaaay better than last year in LA where the interest seemed pathetically low.
I feel bad for Landycakes. It was Superliga final all over again. The guy just can’t strike a ball when all eyes are on him. That silly hand-kissing superstition he has obviously doesn’t work.
Yea, Salt lake residents are waking up today and finding out they had a soccer team. There will be a parade around city hall. All 5 RSL fans are expected to attend.
really? Findley deserved honors?
his goal was a messy clean up…
prior to, and after, he missed many opportunities…
but damn is he fast
the one good thing from the final is that those boatload of fans will now be able to put some dough down for the benefit of the leagues as they catch their Mexican or Central American (hon, gua, or salvadore) play the Galaxy in next year’s concacaf cl. Hopefully for the good of that tournament, the crew will forfeit participation so that slot can go to Hou or chivas usa.
Yeah, I tried being neutral to start, but after hearing an LA fan curse and berate my pregnant wife for chearing for Findley early in the second half, I have to admit, I became a vocal RSL supporter from that point on. I’m not generalizing, I’m sure most LA fans are great, but the traveling ones by us were ridiculous
LA Deserved to play in front of their supports? Not judging by the amount (or lack of) supporters they brought to Seattle.
Weak.
RSL deserved to win based on traveling support alone.
a riot would’ve really put the game on European newspapers
and i will post a pic of RSL being “greeted” by 500 fans upon their return in front of a soccer apparel store inside of a suburban mall. I wish a 100k would line the streets of Salt Lake for them. Its the freakin holidays, come out Salt Lake! But thats just wishful thinking. Can you blame Donovan for wanting to go where the passion is and where the top talent in the world plays?
Do you know what “rule of law” means?
As a Galaxy fan, this loss really hurts, especially with our captain (who is supposed to me Mr. Automatic) missing a penalty. I really feel for Josh Saunders. I was praying that the game wasn’t going to go to penalties. Unfortunately it did, and the Galaxy penalty takers didn’t seem to learn from the Chicago Fire’s penalty experience with Rimando that you don’t go low on him (especially to his left). Josh Saunders was great though. Stopping 2 penalty kicks should be enough but his team didn’t back him up.
However, I must say that Clint Mathis was superb last night. He looked great with the ball at his feet, running around space. Sucks that it had to come at the expense of my team, but I’m happy old Cletus was able to win one. I had visions of 2002 watching him last night.
Mike, sorry, no, not in reference to your comment but rather Ives’ comment. I realized after writing it I hadn’t made that clear.
Too often Ives’ writes as if his observations are the rule of law rather than having the humility to admit he doesn’t always know what he’s talking about. His saying Beckerman was going to miss before the shot was taken was like going into the Bellagio and betting on Black at the roulette table.
(SBI-Listen Ulrich, if you’re going to criticize what I say, at least actually get what I say right. I wrote “He looked to give away his direction” NOT “He gave away his direction by looking”. My statements about Beckerman’s saved PK had nothing to do with him looking in a particular direction, but rather with his seemingly hurried kick potentially giving away which direction he would go. YOu do that by the positioning of your hips and legs as Sninho stated. I didn’t mean to try and take away credit from Saunders, who still had to actually react and make the save, but my impression was that Beckerman gave something away in the run-up.
As for your perception of me thinking that what I say is somehow the rule, that’s just dumb. I have confidence in my opinions, and you don’t have to agree with them. I also don’t tell people they are wrong when we’re talking opinions. I’ll always say that we’ll agree to disagree. I don’t see how that’s me thinking I’m holier than thou. Perhaps you’re intimidated by strong opinions. Not sure what else to tell you.)
…and now that the MLS Cup is done, I wonder when we’ll here about what Donovan is doing next season. He assuredly will go somewhere abroad, but the options it would seem would be many, except for Germany. I just don’t think he fits into the Bundesliga style of play at all.
I could see him in a mid-level EPL club, Ligue 1, or maybe Serie A with the right club. I hope he doesn’t go to La Liga. It seems whenever our talent heads over there, they end up riding pine.
And not having a playoff system is stupid. There, I said it. The European leagues do it wrong. Call me uneducated, a retarded soccer fan, etc. I don’t care. Saying the team who has the best record during the season is the Champions is boring. Plus, I didn’t hear anyone complaining when the US beat Spain in the confederations cup. “But Spain is the best team in the world! They haven’t lost in forever! This confederation playoff after the group stage is crap! Let the team with the most points after the group stage win the tournament!” That would of been boring. Plus, the USA had a miracle happen to even get past the group stage (Just like RSL) IF the US would have won would any of you been complaining? Would anyone be saying we didn’t deserve it but Spain did for being the better team in the group stage? NO. We would of gone on forever about how they showed heart, and we played well when it counted, etc. So enough with the “Columbus is the real champion because they won the supporters shield” or “RSL is a sub winning team so playoffs are crap and should not be in MLS”. The US only won 1 game out of 3, which made them a losing team in the confederations cup final.
Wow…That is honestly the worst idea I’ve ever heard. If you wanna mess with it, just take off one player per team every 5 minutes until the field is wide open, and the winner is scored.
The Mexican league has playoffs, and there are a lot more fans of that league here in the US than the Premiere league, based on demographics.
Perhaps it was the installation and maintenence and or the sod.
AP “Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola said the only downside to the night was the subpar playing surface. Sounders officials laid in a grass field over the normal Qwest artificial surface, but couldn’t begin doing so until Sunday due to the Kenny Chesney concert on Saturday.”
Beckerman > Beckham on the day.
Who said we’re trying to attract the “common sports fan”?
That’s the problem MLS has had is their marketing targeting the wrong people. The easiest way to expand is to turn players and fans of La Liga, the Mexican league and the Premier League fans into MLS fans, not targeting basketball and football fans.
If we could get 70% of the people who play soccer to follow MLS then the league would be huge. That’s should be the target of the marketing.
Really? The dumbest comment a commentator could EVER make about PKs is that a player took a good shot and the keeper came up with a great save? Really? Seems pretty standard to me. Even if he did guess right (keep in mind, by the way, I never said that the keeper “knew” where the ball was going), it was still a hard shot that probably would have hit side netting and the keeper had to do very well to keep out.