David Beckham answering questions at Friday's pre-game presser at Seattle's Qwest Field

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SEATTLE – To say that RealSaltLake never traveled well is like saying most people aren't exactly fond of cold sores.

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Will David Beckham and Landon Donovan be celebrating on Sunday? (Getty Images)

This is a game I've gone back and forth with all week. Two western conference squads meeting in the league final is going to be interesting. Not many had picked both the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake to make it this far back at the start of the season.

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RSL made it to MLS Cup this year, but who will they protect for another run in 2010? (Getty Images)

Our second club for the day as we get closer to finishing out our look at each 15 MLS clubs before next week's expansion draft. Earlier in the day we took a look at the lowly New York Red Bulls, now we turn our attention to one of this year's MLS Cup participants, Real Salt Lake.

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Two teams left, one cup to play for. The long and difficult MLS season has been successfully navigated by Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles Galaxy. On Sunday, the season comes to an end and MLS will crown a champion.

In the city where MLS has been a runaway success this season, a one club will emerge victorious.

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Two teams left, one cup to play for. The long and difficult MLS season has been successfully navigated by Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles Galaxy. On Sunday, the season comes to an end and MLS will crown a champion.

In the city where MLS has been a runaway success this season, a one club will emerge victorious.

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I'm typing this post from the rear seat of a town car on my way to the airport for MLS Cup madness 2009*. So while float over the country and plot my assault on Jet City may I suggest you listen to RSL skipper Jason Kreis talk coach stuff. Then later when my feet are back on the ground we can talk punk rock stuff. Click to continue reading...

It is not just that Real Salt Lake's captain, Kyle Beckerman, has been working on his dreadlocks longer than the LA Galaxy's David Beckham has been coifed with an under-cut resembling a mullet with a racing-strip, that leads me to predict RSL as the 2009 MLS Cup winner. Rather, it is that RSL is peaking at the right time and relishes the underdog role.

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STARTERS
On Thursday Toronto FC is expected to name Preki as their new head coach.
dN
Incredible quote from Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis on his teams tough regular season: "I was very overconfident. I think I added to what was a little bit of an underlying thing on the team that we were a bit overconfident going into this season. Click to continue reading...

Kyle Beckerman and RSL are going to MLS Cup 2009. (Getty Images)

Looking back on this past weekend that was the conference finals I must say the result isn't as shocking as it initially was. The thought of a LA Galaxy-Real Salt Lake MLS Cup final was something no one would have called back in March, hell or even back at the beginning of this very month.

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• The Galaxy's win over the Dynamo was dramatic but in many ways tainted. A strange call when against Houston, and the rolling power outages that swept Southern California seemed to unfortunately coincide with upsurges in Houston play.
• Chicago vs Real Salt Lake was a better match than the Galaxy-Houston game.

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Nick Rimando saved three Chicago Fire penalty kicks to help Real Salt Lake win the Eastern Conference on a shootout after 120 minutes of soccer yielded no goals for either team. The victory puts RSL in its first-ever MLS Cup game where they will face the LA Galaxy, victors of a dramatic conference final of their own Friday, and completes a stunning late-season turnaround for the Salt Lake City side.

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WEST -- L.A. Galaxy v. Houston Dynamo
This is a quality matchup -- one better than the MLS Cup will be, sadly. These are the two best teams left in the field and I think both legs of this pairing will show it. I expect this to be a showcase of how good the league can be.
Needless to say there's a lot riding on this one, for me at least. Click to continue reading...

After up and down regular seasons that saw one team consistently dissatisfied with its results and one team barely scrape its way into the playoffs, it's only fitting that the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake take each other on. Both teams will enter the Eastern Conference Final feeling that they have something to prove - Chicago wanting to live up to the hype that built up prior to and during the season and Salt Lake wanting to prove they're first round win over Columbus was more than merely a fluke.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake are probably not the teams most observers would have pegged to be playing for the Eastern Conference title and berth in MLS Cup, but these two teams earned their places in the Final Four by virtue of strong first-round performances that should lead into a memorable East Final on Saturday night (8pm, FSC).

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake are probably not the teams most observers would have pegged to be playing for the Eastern Conference title and berth in MLS Cup, but these two teams earned their places in the Final Four by virtue of strong first-round performances that should lead into a memorable East Final on Saturday night (8pm, FSC).

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Stuart Holden and Sean Franklin set to battle things out this weekend. (Getty Images)

It seems like every year we get a big upset in the playoffs, and 2009 was no different. Thursday night in Columbus we saw Real Salt Lake go into Crew Stadium and shock the league with their 3-2 upset of the Crew, sending them through to the conference finals.

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Where to begin with this one? If you approached fans of Columbus and let them know in advance of the game, that they would take a two goal lead within the first 35 minutes at home, against the worst road team in MLS, they would have taken that in a hearbeat. And that's just what did happen, as two Guillermo Barros Schelotto goals got the Crew off to the start they needed.

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RSL was down on the strength of two Schelotto goals by the 35th minute and it appeared as if Crew would be able to get over the one goal disadvantage and advance to the quarter finals. But RSL struck back from a Javier Morales goal two minutes later. Ten minutes later, RSL were awarded a penalty by referee Baldemero Toledo, a dubious call on Frankie Hejduk as Espindola went down a bit too easily.

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Jason Kreis and RSL are the most frustrating duo in MLS. Former listeners to the American Soccer Show on CSRN will know that I have a soft spot for the club, not because of any geographic tie, but because of the presence of former Miami Fusion players up and down the organization, starting with GM Garth Lagerway.

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Andy Williams Seals the Deal for Real in Win

Andy Williams seals the deal for RSL with a late goal in Real's 4-2 aggregate win to advance in the 2009 MLS Playoffs and move on to the Eastern Conference Final. Last week after Real Salt Lake beat Columbus at home in Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, Jason Kreis said something interesting after the game. Click to continue reading...

Eric Brunner and Columbus try to slow down Yura Movsisyan and RSL tonight. (Getty Images)

Tonight the second leg of the first round playoff matches kickoff in Columbus as the Crew host Real Salt Lake. RSL holds a slight 1-0 lead in the goals department in this two-legged series thanks to the late goal from Robbie Rogers last weekend.

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With J Hutcherson -- Credit Columbus Crew coach Robert Warzycha with one thing: he's not afraid of creating a potential problem. That's what happens with the roll of the dice that was leaving out his club's designated player. Who is also Major League Soccer's reigning MVP... averaging a goal every other game this season. Click to continue reading...

Well wasn't that ugly?
For those of you who TIVO'd the Real Salt Lake vs. Columbus Crew last night, a warning:
STOP! For the love of God, don't try and watch this match. Don't even risk trying to erase it. I recommend that you yank the box out of the wall, go out back and burn it. Click to continue reading...

6 ET rolls around and my adopted Real Salt Lake squad gets their first crack at the Columbus Crew. I'm going to keep the jock-sniffing to a minimum, but I'm really excited about RSL.

Jason Kreis leads the men of Salt Lake into Rio Tinto Stadium to begin their bid for the MLS Cup against the undisputed best team in the league the Crew from Columbus.

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Columbus needs a big game from Robbie Rogers at Rio Tinto Stadium. (Getty Images)

While last night's game in Seattle got the playoffs started with a 0-0 bang, the rest of the playoff clubs get ready to join the Dynamo and Sounders in the fun. One series kicks off tomorrow night while the other two wait it out for Sunday.

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The old adage says: To be the best, you've got to beat the best.
That's exactly what Real Salt Lake will be trying to do as it hosts the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew at Rio Tinto Stadium in the first leg of the MLS playoffs on Saturday night. "Hopefully, we'll get out there and put a marker out there to show Columbus what it's going to take when we go back to their place," said RSL head coach Jason Kreis. Click to continue reading...

We knew going into the weekend we could end up with some craziness but after the dust settled it ended up not being nearly as crazy as it could have been. Real Salt Lake and New England came away with key wins and got a little help from some other clubs to sneak their way into the playoffs.

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Of the six teams still trying to qualify for the MLS playoffs heading into Saturday's action, Real Salt Lake had the longest odds of actually making it. RSL needed to win its regular season finale and have three other teams drop points in order to qualify for the post-season.

That's exactly what happened.

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Of the six teams still trying to qualify for the MLS playoffs heading into Saturday's action, Real Salt Lake had the longest odds of actually making it. RSL needed to win its regular season finale and have three other teams drop points in order to qualify for the post-season.

That's exactly what happened.

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What is there to say? Destiny in their hands, playoff berth on the line, players playing against their old clubs on both sides, arch rivals, Rocky Mountain Cup. What more do you need? The only thing I am certain of is that CBS4 Denver will not be bothering to cover any of this game but will instead be focusing on Brandon Marshall's inane comments in a bye week. Click to continue reading...

Could Preki be on the move after this season? (Getty Images)

I must say today has been full of good stuff. From MLS playoff scenarios to U-17 World Cup rosters to other items it has been a full day. Needless to say if you have missed some of these items you are in luck as I have saved some of the best links of the day to discuss here tonight.

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Major League Soccer lost one of its most respected assistant coaches to Europe this past weekend with Paul Mariner's departure from the New England Revolution to join English side Plymouth. As tough as that departure is on the Revs, it is also a big blow for MLS, which is facing an off-season where several head coaching jobs are expected to open up.

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Major League Soccer lost one of its most respected assistant coaches to Europe this past weekend with Paul Mariner's departure from the New England Revolution to join English side Plymouth. As tough as that departure is on the Revs, it is also a big blow for MLS, which is facing an off-season where several head coaching jobs are expected to open up.

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I'm not read to give up the dream of post-season play for Real Salt Lake yet, but things look pretty bleak. As Coach Jason Kreis lamented after the 1-0 loss in Toronto on Saturday, this has been a frustrating season for RSL where one can look back at missed opportunities at every turn.

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Jason Kreis and RSL need a win tonight to stay in playoff contention. (Getty Images)

While there is an important US game tonight in Washington DC, there happens to also be a MLS game tonight. Yay for MLS scheduling a game right during World Cup qualifying season, in the middle of the week no less.

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