Once Again, It's a Revolution Vs. Dynamo Final

So far, we've learned two things from Superliga:

1.) When they care, the New England Revolution and the Houston Dynamo are the two best knockout competition sides in MLS.

2.) If you can read lips, you can see that Mexican players know at least two words in English, and they aren't very nice.

More than words were thrown, however, at the end of the Revolution's 1-0 win over Atlante tonight. Atlante ended up getting five, count 'em, five red cards, including three in post-match scuffle with Revs players. Jay Heaps was shown a red for retaliation -- try to contain your glee, Duke haters -- seconds before he was shoved to the ground by Atlante goalkeeper Federico Vilar, whom cameras spotted throwing punches the fracas after he got his red.

After order was mostly restored, Vilar allegedly told a Telefutura reporter something to the effect of, "This is a country where you can buy everything, even a game and the refs." As if it were the refs who magically guided Shalrie Joseph's clinical header into the net in the 30th minute, or the refs who made Matt Reis so dominant in front of goal. This is a country where Federico Vilar is now Spanish for douchebag.

There were handbags after the Houston Dynamo's 2-0 victory over Pachuca on Tuesday as well, though they weren't nearly as bad as tonight's scuffle. Pachuca certainly had more reason to be upset, given that their 58th minute goal was disallowed by a terrible offside call. However, two late substitions -- Corey Ashe for Brad Davis in the 62nd minute and Kei Kamara for Nate Jaqua in the 68th -- gave the Dynamo a huge speed boost, and a tired Pachuca gave up late goals from Bobby Boswell and Ashe.

At least Pachuca coach Enrique Meza wouldn't make excuses for his side after the match. Atlante acted like they were somehow entitled to win and showed no willingness to admit they were outplayed. They've made themselves very easy to hate. Oh, by the way, New England and Atlante could meet again in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League, if the Revs can beat Joe Public in the qualifying round. Get your popcorn ready for that.

Before then, though, we have yet another Dynamo v. Revolution final, which kicks off in Houston Foxboro on Tuesday night. The Dynamo have won the last two MLS Cup Finals against the Revs. Can New England finally get its revenge, or does Dominic Kinnear have Steve Nicol's number? I dare say it's worth tuning in to find out.