OUR FANHOUSE TOOLBAR INTEGRATES THE LATEST SPORTS NEWS INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER AND INSTALLS IN SECONDS.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE TOOLBAR HERE.

Soccer

Columbus Crew Complete Job, Win MLS Cup

Posted Nov 23, 2008 6:27PM By Michael Cardillo (RSS feed)

Filed Under: MLS, Soccer

Text SizeAAA

A thought occurred to me during Sunday's MLS Cup final between the Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls -- why haven't the Crew adopted the "Submarine" nickname? Spanish Primera side Villareal CF might already colloquially own the "Yellow Submarine" title, but it could apply to the Ohio team. Submarines have crews, rights? And think of the Beatles-inspired sing-a-longs in the stands.

Either way it's better than the "America's Hardest Working Team" motto, which seems fairly impossible to prove. At least some Crew fans have adopted the "Massive" nickname.

However lame the motto, it's appropriate today as the Crew won their first MLS Cup final, beating the New York Red Bulls, 3-1, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

The win is sweet for longtime MLS vet Frankie Hejduk, who scored the game's final goal, and coach Sigi Schmid, who was kicked to the curb by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2004 after five years of relative success. The portly German-born UCLA grad becomes the first coach to win MLS championships with two clubs.

Perhaps the bigger winner is MLS itself. The Crew were the best team in the regular season and still get to lift the trophy after surviving the unpredictable four-game playoff. Nothing against New York, but the right team was left hoisting the trophy over their heads Sunday. The Crew didn't succumb to any pressure and took care of business -- fitting for "America's Hardest Working Team." The playoff scrutiny survives another year.

As he was all season, Argentine standout Guillermo Barros Schelotto starred for the Crew, assisting on all three goals and winning game MVP honors to go along with the regular season honors as well. His third chip over the top of the Red Bull defense to set up Hedjuk's header was very pleasing on the eyes.

Not that it matters to Columbus fans, but this game wasn't exactly a classic. The first half had little rhythm with a ton of fouls on both sides. The Red Bulls probably had their best chances early in the half, earning a couple corner kicks and generally dictating the run of play. Colombian hit man Juan Pablo Angel found himself open at the top of the box and skied his effort just over the box.

Less than a minute later Alejandro Moreno out-raced the New York defense and beat keeper Danny Cepero from a sheer angle, powering a low shot that went off Cepero's fingertips and inside the far post. Not quite the prettiest goal of all time, but what else would you expect from "America's Hardest Working Team"?

The best chance New York had for any life was early in the second half when the Red Bulls tied it up on John Wolyniec's goal, set up by a fine move and cut inside from Dane Richards in the 51st minute.

Again, seemingly on the Crew's next possession two minutes later, a Schelotto corner found the head of Chad Marshall, who barely even had to move his noggin as it had enough power to blast by Cepero. The goal sucked out pretty much any drama the match may have had.

Down a goal, New York never managed much of an attack, as Schelotto continued to conduct the Crew orchestra. At least the match didn't end up in penalties like previous seasons.

Hey, a win is a win and it's doubtful any of the good-sized traveling band of Crew supporters in SoCal will care if the game was a classic or not.

Oddly enough if, under some extremely rare circumstance, somebody asks me about the 2008 MLS Cup final, the thing I'll remember the most is Alexi Lalas shot-gunning a beer Red Bull on national television after losing a bet with New York fans. Yep, it happened.

Related Articles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)