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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:14 EST |
Then suddenly, the biggest match in MLS history
By Jeff Bradley
[ESPN The Magazine]
LOS ANGELES -- I guess we should be used to this by now. A huge soccer match right here in the United States ... yet no one seems to know or care about it.
The U.S. will need another strong performance from Cobi Jones on Wednesday. |
Friday night at the L.A. Coliseum, D.C. United and the L.A. Galaxy will play for a chance to compete in the FIFA Club World Championship this summer in Spain. They'll also be playing for a ton of money. Conceivably, some of the lesser-paid MLS players could double their salaries in prize money if their club can win this match and secure a trip to Spain.
It's reminiscent of that '98 InterContinental Cup series between D.C. United and Vasco da Gama. Remember then-commissioner Doug Logan ranting and raving about the American sports press (he even called out my bosses at The Magazine by name) being anti-soccer? Well, here we are again ... same place, different time.
There will be a scarce number of fans at the Coliseum tomorrow night. These CONCACAF events are thrown together quickly, little is spent on advertising and promotion, and there's a really good chance even if they did advertise and promote, no one would come out anyway. Some day, perhaps when teams like D.C. and L.A. have been around 30 years or so, we'll look back at these days and laugh.
For now, it's silly to dwell on it. It makes more sense to praise D.C. United and the Galaxy for what they pulled off Wednesday night in Fullerton -- D.C. beating Alajuela of Costa Rica 2-1 and L.A. beating Real CD España on penalties to set up an all-MLS semifinal bracket and assure one American club will advance to Spain.
"We're one step ahead of Mexico tonight," said Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid. "They have more work to do to get a team to Spain. Our league knows we're getting one team there. There's no doubt it's good for our credibility, not only MLS, but American soccer."
Said D.C. coach Thomas Rongen, "That was a helluva test for our club, playing a quality opponent like Alajuela when we're in the middle of our offseason. A helluva test."
And both results were just.
D.C. got a 15th minute goal from Carey Talley and could well have made the score 2-0 before halftime. Alajuela, which did not create many chances in the match, equalized on a dubious penalty in the 74th. Then, over the game's final 15 minutes, D.C. regained control of the match and had a couple or three quality scoring chances before Ben Olsen's close-range header in injury time made United winners.
Los Angeles went up against a team content to defend with nine and 10 men and, although the Galaxy didn't create a lot of scoring opportunities, carried the game.
"The game with D.C. is going to be a real battle," said L.A. defender Alexi Lalas, after his first official game in a Galaxy uniform. "The money ... it's just not something we get a chance to play for very often ... guys are going to be going after it, there's no doubt."
The players for D.C. and L.A. fully expect the stands to be empty. In fact, few would be surprised if the fans of Pachuca and Olimpia, the combatants in the other semifinal, leave the Coliseum once the first game is over. But they don't care.
I guess they're used to this by now.
In tight space...
Preki has made it clear that he wants to stay in Kansas City. He is not happy about having to take a severe paycut, but would rather take a cut and not have to move his family then make a little more money and have to pick up and move to, say, Miami. Preki has told some people that if the MLS offer doesn't come up some, he might just return to the indoor game and play for the Kansas City Attack.
Alexi Lalas was classified as a Discovery player by MLS, which is downright hilarious. Think about it, the most flamboyant, publicized, marketed player in U.S. soccer history was "discovered." Whatever. Don't expect anyone to complain about Lalas ending up in Los Angeles, not after what the Galaxy lost in picking up Luis Hernandez last year.
More and more, we learn that a number of MLS contracts are not guaranteed. So, for teams that own allocations but are up against the limit of three Senior Internationals, there exists the possibility that a current Senior International could be waived. For example, in New England, Mauricio Ramos does not have a guaranteed contract and because he is most likely untradeable, will probably be released. Same for Mauricio Solis in San Jose and Mario Gori in Columbus.
New Colorado coach Tim Hankinson's first and biggest dilemma is what to do with Colombian forward Henry Zambrano. Currently, Zambrano and Junior Agogo are the Rapids' only two Senior International players. Zambrano is a maximum salaried player, so Hankinson will have to decide if he wants to keep him, trade him (how about Zambrano for Miami's Andrew Williams?) or waive him. "We definitely want to see what kind of shape he is in camp," said Hankinson, "then we'll go from there."
New England is trying to work with Los Angeles on a trade that would get out-of-contract Eric Wynalda home to the Galaxy, but right now, the two teams are not close.
From the tone of MLS coaches and GMs out there in Los Angeles, it doesn't seem like there's going to be a lot of money this year for marquee player signings. In fact, one GM was saying that the big debate right now is whether the league will allow teams to ask for the top A-League players as allocations rather than have them go into the SuperDraft.
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