When the dust settles on the Major League Soccer
title game at The Home Depot Center on Sunday, one of the two combatants - the
New York Red Bulls or the heavily favored Columbus Crew - will be hoisting
their respective franchise's first ever MLS Cup Trophy.
Sunday will mark the first time since the league's inaugural season that two
teams who have never before played in the MLS Cup Final will meet for the
league championship. Columbus will be looking to be the first Supporters'
Shield winner since 2002 to win the MLS Cup while New York will aim to match
the 2005 Los Angeles Galaxy as the lowest seed (No. 8) to win the league title
game.
The game will feature two of the brightest stars in MLS, with New York striker
Juan Pablo Angel and Columbus attacker Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
"Every team has important players in this league," Crew coach Sigi Schmid
said. "I mean, one of the things I say to coaches, especially guys if they
call me and talk to me, guys who are starting off in this league is, I've
always said every team has good players, every team has players you need to be
concerned and worried about."
Schelotto was just named the league's Most Valuable Player on Thursday after
collecting seven goals and a league-leading 19 assists while Angel is
considered by many to be the top striker to ever play in the league after
collecting over 30 goals in his two-year MLS career.
"I think they have, in my opinion, one of the premiere strikers in this
league, if not the premiere striker in Juan Pablo Angel," Schmid said. "He's a
classic center forward. Good in the air, can hold the ball. He's lethal with
his finishing. That's certainly an important weapon to have."
The Crew have one of the best center backs in the league - Chad Marshall - to
match up with Angel, however.
"I'm very happy for Chad, and I'm pleased at the season he's had and the
accolade that he received, because I think he was the best defender in the
league this year in terms of central defenders for sure in my opinion," Schmid
said of Marshall winning the league's defender of the year award. "... He
knows that he's had to be the leader because he's the more experienced player
of our two center backs and he stepped into that role. He's been a good passer
for us out of the back with the ball. And obviously he's come up with some
very timely goals on set pieces and is a very dangerous force for us on those
kind of things."
Another key battleground could be the wings, where the Crew feature a solid
tandem in Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven and the Red Bulls feature the
experienced Dave van den Bergh and the speedy Dane Richards. All four have
been key contributors for their respective teams in the playoffs.
Regardless of who prevails, however, it should an exciting game because of
what is at stake.
"Obviously for me it's been a long time coming," veteran Crew fullback Frankie
Hejduk said. "I think being here in Columbus for six years, it's been a lot of
ups and downs, a lot of hard work. But with Sigi coming in and taking the
reins and pointing this organization in the right direction, you know, a lot's
changed. And it's going to be a very exciting game."
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