Never thought I would see these matches get a winner in extra time. I thought one of the two would go to penalties, but man the Seattle/FC Dallas match was awesome to watch. Sorry Sounders fans I was rooting for you guys, but FC Dallas got that spot kick and converted. The final should be very entertaining.
Sheesh. That was some of the most shameless, over-the-top time wasting from Dallas that I've ever seen from an MLS side. An assistant coach taking the ball, and instead of giving it to the Seattle player for the throw in, tossing it in the stands? Come on. Dallas showing everyone what's wrong with soccer.
Yes, it was shameless. From my seat in the stadium, behind and to the right of the Dallas bench, it looked like Carlos Ruiz [who had been subbed] who grabbed the ball and kicked it into the stands. He got a yellow for it....but pretty half-baked refereeing that allowed Dallas to burn time on nothing at all to the point Ruiz thought he could get away with that crap. Seattle played solidly, but squandered the many chances it created. The post and missed opportunities made for a very frustrating evening. But give Dallas its due, it played much better than Chivas, and much much better than Colorado, against the Sounders....So close, damn. Edilson was interesting. In the first half, playing on the left, he had little effect and was in fact embarassed by Alvarez-Cuellar more than once. In the second half he took on a more free floating role, and was consistently and dangerously creative. The Sounder's backs still held him quite well, and the keeper is just quality [better than Dallas' Sala, who looked uncertain throughout the match, although perhaps not better than Burse] . Would have loved to have seen a Revs vs. Sounders final, here at Qwest. It would have been awesome soccer....damn again. Anyway, Dallas won and that's it. Go Revs, take fulsome revenge for last year's horror at Pizza Hut Park
I thought the ref did a pretty good job until the last 15 minutes or so. Then he seems to lose his mind. It was a little sad and frustrating to see that. And... well, I'm glad Dallas won. But I'm a little embarrassed by the petty hispanistrionics. I feel sad for Seattle. They sure know how to play, and I would love to see the entire team promoted to MLS. No reason for any supplemental draft or anything. They'd do better than TFC and RSL. Glad they got a good turnout last night. Probably made more money than their cut of the prize.
Don't you guys think there is a chance that, oh, I don't know, maybe you're going a little over the top on the histrionics thing? I know I saw more than one Dallas player get whacked only to hear the announcers bawling about how it is just time wasting. As if Abby O hasn't seen MLS players dive before. I'm not saying there might not have been some time wasting done. This is professional soccer, after all. But Dallas doesn't have a history of histrionics outside Ruiz and I can't imagine that all of a sudden they just started doing it for the hell of it.
Well, I don't know what the tv showed, but at the match it was pretty awful time-wasting. The worst I've ever seen, and that includes more than a few matches in southern Europe. Your key quote is "Dallas doesn't have a history of histrionics outside of Ruiz". Yesterday it was histrionics galore in the last 15 minutes of the match, and although it began and ended with Ruiz it was clear that his enthusiasm was catching. Sala, for one, was an expert student of his. Now, that whole sequence with the armband, and not "knowing" how to get off that complicated Qwest field, was remarkably rich. But then when, on the sidelines, already subbed, Ruiz grabs the ball and kicks it backwards into the crowd, as if "gee, how'd that happen to a talented schlub like me? ", was ...uh.......Magnificent Frankly, he deserved a red card for that, but the ref was too busy melting down on the possibility of irking some MLS guy to do more than reluctantly wave a yellow [for which he more than made up with his alacrity in calling that ghost "penalty" on Seattle]. Until Ruiz started his schtick, the game had been well played on both sides. It was such unnecessary and crass junk.
If you mean Italy, please. I've seen Italy time-waste in person in the World Cup and what you saw last night was nowhere near that bad. Dude, your guy cleared him out, he already had a bad knee, and that is histrionics? Are you mental? Red card? Aren't there other soccer balls that can be used? It was within the ref's discretion to give him a yellow, and I believe he did, for the ball incident. But a red card? You didn't think it was a penalty? Dude, go look at the replay. Even the insanely homer Seattle commentators admitted it was a penalty. What else would the guy have to do to deserve a penalty in your eyes? And Abby has been more than happy to give Dallas or other MLS clubs cards or whatever. If anything, you got one of the refs that doesn't care who you are in terms of who gets what cards. And more to the point, letting the brilliance of the match be outshined by some late game antics seems a bit . . . . off. It really was a great game in many respects - a top-end USL1 team playing its guts out against a solid if not spectacular MLS side playing on the road and on an unfamiliar surface. Both teams running at the other with all they had. Great saves, great blocks, great creativity. I guess that is my overall point - it seems like for some, all the focus is on some antics and a lot of perceived time wasting (some maybe, but some most likely not) rather than where it should be - on a great game.
Oh, he has a bad knee. Then why did he keep switching which knee he was holding? And don't tell me he didn't, I was about 30 feet away. As for the pk, yes, it was a legitimate call, EXCEPT when you take into account the THREE no calls that should have been made in Seattle's favor during regulation. Zac Scott was horse collared, Leighton O'Brien was shoved in the back, both in the first half, and a handball in the box, that could be seen from the far end of the stadium, in the second. No excuses, if you play well enough, the quality of(or lack there of) the officiating won't matter. If the Sounders had buried the opportunities they had, we wouldn't be having this discussion, we'd be looking forward to hosting the Rev's on 10/2.
Sorry to chime in I was just wondering how much money does the winner of this Open Cup get and also if the winner gets a chance to play in the Superliga or in the Concacaf Champions Cup?
I think there was a season or two in the past when the USOC champs got into the Concacaf Champions Cup, but not in the past few seasons.
If you can't win the MLS Cup in Frisco, then come back for seconds and get you the next best thing. Did the Rev and FCD supporters groups stand together and have a group hug afterwards? The atmosphere for the Cup Final must have been the friendliest ever. Well done you two booster groups. Jay Heaps sure looks happy it didn't go to PK's. Ha ha ha!
And so ends another great season of US Open Cup play. Let's hope that the 2008 season is alot better and all the pro sides are involved with the tournament.
dont be bitter. we were the better team on the occasion and we won. its the first thing the Revs ever won. be happy for us.
I'm not sure if its been discussed or not but why did Don Garber get the honor of presenting the medals? I mean the USSF has stated forever they wanted to have nothing to do with starting up a pro league and isn't this tournament sponsored by the federation & not the MLS even though the clubs are from that league?
My only guess is because there were two MLS teams being represented and thus the winner was going to be an MLS team?
Just because YOU can't get along with anyone doesn't mean all soccer fans act like a$$hats at other stadiums. SOME people can hate each other for the 2hrs the match lasts and still appreciate that we are all soccer fans at the end of the day. You must be so proud of your fans reputation for destruction and mayhem, I guess that's what "real supporter's" are all about.
Falvo what he said is correct. Don Garber represents MLS as the commishioner & it was two MLS sides. Also Ivan Gazidis was in attendance as Deputy Commishioner of MLS. He is also the MLS rep in the Open Cup Committiee. Of course US Soccer President Sunil Gulati Open Cup Committee Staff Liaisons: Dan Flynn, Tom King Committee Co-Chairs: Ivan Gazidis (MLS), Francisco Marcos (USL) Committee Members: Fernando Clavijo, Gerhard Mengel, Bill Goaziou