Quakes fan not here to talk smack. That was an incredibly awesome game, and I'm glad that the Wizards and Quakes were so well-matched and both put up such a performance. The Wizards have nothing to be ashamed of, this game could have gone either way, easily. You guys were damn class on that field tonight.
was at the match...bloody awesome atmospehere i must say, loud and well passionate group tonight...almost english or italian (minus pyrotechnichs and scooters and misc. thrown objects) in crowd involvement and enthusiasm. you lads did well...however i must say we were ready to riot after the second kc goal for the missed offside call....MLS may have made headlines for all the wrong reasons tonight.... kudos to you though, gave us a real scare, kc showed its experience and savvy by not being intimidated...good luck next season... until we meet again!
I hope I don't upset any of you by being here, but I wanted to comment on this post.... Why did he take Igor out? Obviously I'm a Quakes fan, and was at the game...When they took Igor out, my Dad and I looked at each other and couldn't figure out any logic behind it whatsoever. He was dangerous....he was creating chances. Sorry, but it just didn't make sense and wanted to see if anyone had some presepective on it. Also....what a game! Props to your team! You guys should be proud of your team. They are a tough group, and they really showed how dangerous they are tonight.
I also think it was a better game than the SJ/LA game--- at least played at a much higher level, and it was more gripping throughout. I mean, when you're down 4-0 and you get a goal it's not really that exciting at the time, because you don't think you're gonna get 3 more. This was constant tension. Haven't felt like that since the US-Germany game. I didn't see the first SJ goal, but the 2nd goal was more of a great play by them, Mullan running onto a very precise cross. The 3rd? A wierd bounce, some chaos, and that can happen. I actually thought our D played well. How many times did you see textbook stand up tackles? A lot. Now, obviously I think getting Burciaga back and getting another true backliner so Diego can move up will help, but I'm not down on our D over last night. What a great goal by Klein. If you're gonna lose, I'd rather lose a game like that. Make the other team work. I think we'll be very good next year.
Taking Igor out just baffles the hell out of me. The D needs help. Jose coming back next year will help but more depth would be better. Maybe trade Diego?
From a conservation standpoint, I think Gutierrez would be good to keep. He is very versatile, and that asset can best be shown when the team has a string of injuries. Diego can slot into multiple positions. Keeping Diego could let us trim in other areas.
I'm proud of the Wizards My three favorite sports teams are the Husker football team, the USA men and the Wizards. I didn't watch last night's game but I followed it on the internet pretty closely. All I can say is that I'm proud of the Wizards for coming so close to making it to the MLS Cup Game. Their run at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs made for a pretty good season. These guys can hold their heads high. On the other hand, I can't say that about the way the Huskers lost yesterday. I had the misfortune to attend that game personally here in Lincoln. The near term future of Husker football doesn't look very good.
Re: I'm proud of the Wizards Dennis, I know what you mean. This weekend was a complete and total disaster. First the Huskers had their @sses handed to them by KSU, then the Wizards lost a heartbreaker, then the Chiefs unbeaten season went bye-bye, and then my hometown Bears blew the game against St. Louis.
Arnaud and Wolff looked amazing paired up in overtime...perhaps promising for when(if) Wolff gets healthy and fit and Davy gets more experiance. Ref wasn't terrible, but I would have liked to seen more than one card (both ways) esp. for Baby Jesus' dives or elbowing antics. I guess I'm just disappointed in our inability to hold a lead for ten minutes to win it...very telling of our entire season. I really hate Landon Donovan. He's such a little bitch. I think I hate him more than I hated Ruiz at the end of last season, and that's saying a lot.
All of us watching the match at the Pavilion let out a collective "WHAT?!" when we saw Josh coming on for Igor. Josh coming on for Wolde would have made much more sense as Wolde was largely inneffective the entire match. Speaking of Wolde, why don't we trade him for some defense?
I want to know if Igor is 100% fit. If he is, that was a poor substitution. Igor in the 70th has been a common substitution this year. The ref was slow to pull out cards for anything. Thats good to see since cards come out too fast these days, but he did go to the extremes with Donovan in the first half. I think we need to acquire a fullback/wingback. The first two SJ goals resulted from SJ wide players cutting inside of Talley and Quill respectively. Quill seems to the player we can get the most from without opening a hole in another position.
As far as planning for next year.... Remember we can't get too worked up until we find out whether there will be 10, 11, or possibly 12 teams. If the league expands then we'll be losing folks. And soon. The MLS draft at the NCSAA convention will be early January.
I was just thinking about this. Is Burciaga (or other young players) automatically protected in an expansion draft or do the Wizards need to use one of their spots to protect him? I can't remember how an MLS expansion draft works.
They did look pretty well, now imagine those two up two with Preki and Igor as attacking mids. That's sounds pretty good to me.
Disappointment This weekend has been really disappointing. Wizards, Chiefs. Finding out Roush won't be back next season. Sigh. At least the Wizards played well. That game was awesome. Watching with everyone at Coach's was great. I'm sure many patrons were surprised at the numerous chants that broke out. "here we go..." I have griped about the officiating all season. This game is no exception. Kevin Stott allowed the game to get out of hand and the preferential treatment given to the stars (baby jesus). I guess Jesus can commit no sin? It was a great season. Chris
Hi y'all. A few points from someone who was in attendance last night. 1) Those who are saying that the semi-final was a better game than the SJ/LA "Greatest MLS Match Ever" -- you're right. This one was just as tense, from the get go. The only problem was a few unfinished chances. But the ebb and flow of the game was fantastic. Unlike the LA game, both teams were great. 2) A couple of flair-ups between the players were unfortunate, but didn't seem to affect play. After the game, EVERYONE talked about how great your boys were. 3) SJ had most of the possession (it seems to me, I haven't watched the tape yet), but your boys were very dangerous on attack. Contrary to the comments about Wolde here, he did a great job coming back, holding possession, and linking up. He impressed, although he wasn't dangerous around the goal. But his performance gave the W's a chance. 4) I can't think of a classier player than Klein. 5) Is Preki through? He's usually the most dangerous man on the pitch, but seemed to be conserving energy all night. He missed a late shot wide and I couldn't believe on second look that it was actually Preki who missed. 6) As the KC bus rolled out of the stadium, a few hundred of us who were there turned and gave them a well deserved round of applause. Believe me, that's NEVER happened before. Losing such a hard game is tough, but it was a great, great match that could have gone either way. Everything about the match made me proud of the MLS and American soccer. Cheers.
No better compliment in all of sport for a losing team. I sure it's done elsewhere, but in Lincoln whenever the opposition has aquitted themselves well, win or lose, the fans near the visitor's tunnel routinely give standing O's to the other team as they leave. I've had it happen to me. As a Frosh, I was in an MU intramural final against another guy. He had 100 people cheering for him and for whatever reason, nobody from my dorm showed up (even my roomate got hurt in FB practice that day so I mean I had nobody). At the beginning of the match everything I did was jeered. About 2 hours later many of the partisan fans were cheering for both of us because it was just that good of a game. Long story short, I lost. After the final point everyone mobbed onto the court to congratulate what I thought was just him. Although they were happy for him, they were patting me on the back too. So there I was, tired, sore, carpet-burned, drained, empty, gutted, PO'ed, and having just died inside; yet people were mobbing me wanting to shake my hand. It helped later. Sure, I'd rather have the stupid T-shirt and the knowledge of being better on the day. Even without those things, it's still a nice feeling to be part of something someone else considered to be of a high caliber. I know it made me better. Coming full circle - I worked a little harder the next year and the results were different. Our guys have the same opportunity.
While not common, I have also witnessed several cases where massively partisan crowds have been equally boisterous in support of both teams after particularly spectacular games. Fans love to be entertained, and are usually willing to show their gratitude and support. Just like in baseball you will often find a home team supporting a visiting player who takes a no-hitter deep into the game, or a batter trying for a fourth home run. Though I can't recall a hockey crowd cheering for an opposing hattrick . I'm not talking about crowd that turn on their own team (like Mexico during the '97 USA/MEX WCQ), but crowd that genuinely appreciate what both teams have given them. Kudos to the Quakes fans, but I admit that I'm still feeling the affects of the game myself, so my own objectivity is tough to guarantee.
You have to say that this is wrapping up as a great finish to a great season for MLS. The two conference championships were both awesome games. Great game by both teams for the western conference championships. Can't wait for next season.
Just before the bus pulled out, Garber was being interviewed by Telemundo —— looking very happy with himself! We couldn't hear what he was saying.
Yeah he’s a jackass. He had an article saying something about the all-star game and encouraged people to email him with opinions. I received no response. Awesome game. I didn’t post on Sunday cause I didn’t want to ruin my day. The Bengals made sure I did. We played very well. Too bad. We might of won it all. I underestimated this team. They sure as hell could of won that game. Too bad Preki didn’t show up. Best game ever? Top five for sure. SJ win over LA is prob the best ever. LA win to go to the cup was fun but I’m not sure it was better than this.
After thoroughly reviewing the SJ/LA leg 2 match yesterday... the semifinal game was BY FAR a better match. More exciting throughout, and played at a much higher level. The comment about the LA/SJ match was that it was played at a fast pace, almost like an international or EPL match... I've seen many an EPL game that wasn't nearly as fast-paced or exciting as that KC/SJ game was for the entire second half. But that's just my (biased) opinion.