Greatest MLS game to Date? (r) The whole family and some friends just finished watching the SJ v LA game on MLS shootout. Most of us stood watching the TV through the last 30 minutes of the game. Although we are all DC United fans, the whole room erupted when SJ won the game in overtime. Unbelieveably by far and away the best game of the first round perhaps of any playoff game save the 96 final, was not on national tv. I was lucky enough to have MLS Shootout and witnessed this game. All the credit in the world has to go to San Jose that is down 2-0 and 4-0 on aggregate a good way through the first half, and goes on to score 5 that's it 5 unanswered goals to win the game 5-2 and the series 5-4 on aggregate. WoW!!!! Can anyone think of a comparable MLS game. Any sports fans would be blown away by this game!!!!!! Congrats to San Jose. Since I'm going to the final in LA, I'm hoping for a Chicago v San Jose Matchup.....
I couldn't agree anymore. I'm an exiled Quakes fan currently living in Pennsylvania. I watched the game on Yahoo Platinum and could not believe it. It means so much to beat LA who are our archrivals and the darling team of the league. Plus, to win it in that fashion. LA beat us twice at the end of last season to win the Conference title and demoralize us going into the playoffs. It appeared history was going to repeat itself untill a miracle run of 5 goals, including one in the final minute and a golden goal. GOD I wish I was there!
Another reason why people are such idiots for not following MLS. MLS may not be up there in terms of quality with the EPL's and La Liga's, but nothing can beat this excitement. It goes to show just because a game might not be world class, it can still be entertaining.
In fact that game was entertaining because it wasn't world class. Normally both the Gals and the Quakes play very buttoned down soccer - tonight was sloppy, wide-open, rip-roarin' stuff.
They are also two of the better** teams in the league. LA was playing very well these past few weeks, and during quite a lot of this game. If Danny Califf hadn't shot straight at the prone form of Onstad, or other chances had been taken (possible penalty/Ruiz dive, too), they would still have walked out of this one. Both teams can pass and move very well, and play some attractive soccer at times. But what it all comes down to is the fact that playoffs/cups make games like this happen, be it the FA Cup in England or our MLS championship (I'm starting to change my mind about these things...). Great stuff, I'm watching it again as soon as I have time! Everybody should sign up for the free trial of Yahoo if they missed this! **(edit): What I mean is that they strike me as above-average in ball movement and general play. But then, the standard in MLS in that category has gone up quite a bit lately, so many of the teams can look good on their day. I don't know exactly who is that much "worse than average" but I guess the other teams that are done for the year are the ones I'm thinking of...
Damn I just watched that mess, well at least its a mess from my vantage point and I agree no game, not even the 96 final can compare. That was one of the best, most intensely played, hard fought matches I have ever seen ANYWHERE. San Jose played posessed, the Galaxy played like savvy vets the first ten with 2 goals. That game could have well saved San Jose as a franchise. I hate to say it but justice was done because LA didn't belong on the pitch with SJ tonight.
Unbelievable. I woke up the whole house with an unstiflable of scream of GOL when Roner's header went in at the last second. And then to see Faria break down in tears and point to the heavens (to his father) after scoring the game winner in OT... That has to be one of the most intensely emotional moments the league has ever seen.
We were all watching this game saying "No way SJ can keep up this intensity" "They're going to get tired now" But they never did. Congrats to SJ!
OK, so again I raise the point... Whenever folks come on BigSoccer and rave about a match, it is invariably about a match in which LOTS of goals are scored (SJ/LA), UEFA Cup a couple years ago, (among most exciting NASL) Sting-NY (5-4), etc. You figure out why there aren't more soccer fans in this country...its pretty simple...baseball in the 60s was in a decline for a very specific reason...
I've never recalled crying twice during a game. And right at the end, too. My wife still doesn't understand why I cry at moments like these. She'll have to read the post-game thread on the Quakes board, I guess. Will definintely watch the game again on Yahoo Platinum, provided it's working decently for me. And maybe she'll have to watch it with me.
As a die-hard Fire fan, all I can say is... Wow, what a game. I can't believe San Jose pulled that off. I hope to see Chicago v. San Jose in the final. I hope to be there. There have been many debates about the format, and I don't really want to start another--is this format good or bad--but one of my arguments during the debates was that the excitement of a team coming back down 2-0 to win the series would be incredible. Never in a million years would I have though a team could come back from 4-0 down in aggregate to win the series. Well done San Jose. Probably the best game I have ever seen in MLS. And I'm not talking quality of play--because it was a slop fest for most of the game. I'm talking about intensity, excitement and passion. This is what it is all about.
That was one of the most improbable things I have ever seen! I forgot about the game and tuned in 17 minutes in with LA up 2-0 and figured the Quakes were done and that I'd get to bed a little early. However, Agoos gets the nice free kick goal and Donovan saves Hartman from getting sent off with a sweet finish making the second half a must watch. If SJ didn't get the third goal early in the second half, it's lights out IMO. In any case, the Quakes had LA under siege. Great finish to the match. The $50 for the shootout was worth it for that one game alone!
WOW! What a game! Normally, with the aggregate goal format, a team with a 2-0 lead would sit back and play for a 0-0 draw or, at worst, lose 1-0 and advance 2-1. Not so with L.A. (or any of the other matches). L.A. came out attacking and with the 2-0 lead (4-0 aggregate) I thought it was over. All credit to San Jose. All I can say is WOW! Great game! I'm glad MLS did not use away goals to count twice. I understand that the announcers were L.A.'s radio guys, but that "color" commentator was terrible. Proof that soccer can do with only one commentator explaining the action, especially on radio. Great Game though - a definite top 10 all-time MLS game - fodder for a new thread?
Re: WOW! I agree; it's great that MLS didn't use away goals. With away goals, SJ would have known they had to score five in those 75 minutes, and they might have been a bit more discouraged. I like away goals in theory, but in practice the rule just kills games off way too soon. I thought the radio guys were a lot of fun. The pbp guys accent was pretty fun, though--is that how people in Cali say "San-Ho-Zaay"? The color guy wasn't all that bad, especially since he didn't have much to say in between the constant pbp. It definitely made for less useless blabber, and also meant I could try to work at the same time and not have to look at the screen every moment (not that I could tear my eyes away at the end). One thing that annoyed me was their consisitent reference to overtime as a "mini-game," even though they had pointed out that it wasn't actually the a mini-game like the first-to-5 tiebreaker was. It's normal, ordinary, FIFA-regulation overtime, for pete's sake (though we've stuck to golden over silver goals). USA today reported SJ as winning 1-0 in overtime after 4-4 in regulation, which I suppose is somewhat correct (does the match still count as tie? or is that only in case of pk decider?) but still, 5-2 was the score, AET.
Now if only ESPN classic could be persuaded to make this an "Instant Classic". It sounded amazing just from reading the pbp threads. It's not just how many goals. Afterall, the Revs and Metros played a 5-2 match only a couple weeks ago, and absolutely nobody was claiming it was a notably entertaining game. To get a great game, the stakes have to be high, and the game has to follow certain patterns. If San Jose had gotten their 5 in the in the 1st 75 minutes and then LA put in a couple late, you wouldn't see anything like the emotional response this one generated. With less scoring there just isn't as much opportunity for the story line to develop. Although I do recall that there have been two low scoring extra inning game 7s in the World Series in the last 2 decades that were pretty riveting.
I was there. The place went nuts w/ the last 2 goals. I'm still stunned. The sloppy play was due entirely to the wet field. This opened up the game incredibly. To go from the absolute high after just 13 minutes, and the tension building throughout the game made it an amazing spectator event. The only thing that cheapened it were the cheap shots by SJ. Total lack of class. I went w/ a group of 4 ppl that are soccer fans, but not of MLS. They were converted to SJ/MLS fans. One guy is a former collegiate player that hadn't seen a game since '96. He's returning for next week's game.
I agree, it was a great game to watch. It definately ranks up high in MLS terms. I jumped off the couch when Faria just missed getting his head on the Mullan cross aroung the 75th minute. My wife, sleeping beside me, thought I was getting up to go to bed. I just laughed. She can't get into the game but actually tried watching the early games that day that had no such drama.
I was also impressed with the crowd size for a playoff game in SJ. Looked and sounded good. Hopefully they all enjoyed it and return this week.
The crowd did sound great. I watched on Yahoo! Platinum also and was jumping out of my chair. Great match, best of the playoffs and best of the year so far.
I agree that people are idiots for not following MLS, but it's not entirely their fault. The MLS game of the week this weekend was one of the most depressing, unattractive matches I've ever seen, at any level. The only drama was whether Quintanilla, Kovalenko, Etcheverry, or Stoichkov would do something stupid enough to be thrown out. (Quintanilla did and was; Stoichkov did but was not.) Anyone casually turning that game on to see what MLS is all about could reasonably be excused for never wanting to watch MLS again. Of course it was bad luck (or bad planning) that ESPN carried a DC-Chicago game that never held any promise of entertainment rather than the SJ-LA game for which many held such high hopes. But that's one of the reasons why the public at large pays MLS so little attention. perc
No Joke - best ever Sometimes I wonder why I pay for MLS Shootout. Last night's game was completely worth the entire price. That game was an example of what this league is capable of becoming. (We need about 4-6 more teams so that getting into the playoffs is a struggle, not an assumption) And Wynalda's right, this game could not have been played at 4:00 in June (The weather helped alot) God I hope that SJ and Chicago make the final so we can see a wide open game in LA.