The thought of writing this post after the opening day game against DC United never entered my
head. That was a slightly improved version of the meltdown season of 2008 defensive breakdowns, not
much stability in the middle and an attack that put two in the back of the net, but looked
frustrating doing it.
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The DVD is the A&E-produced History of the MLS Cup, which was released just before last year's
championship game.
I was sent two review copies (that I haven't looked at) so will give one sealed, never-viewed
91-minute history of the cup (great for re-gifting this holiday season!) to the first person who
correctly predicts the score of Sunday's game in the comments section of this blog post.
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WVHooligan 20 November @ 04:27 PM EST
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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Remember that New Mexico womens soccer player Elizabeth Lambert that displayed some 'roid rage a
couple weeks ago against BYU?
Well she got all dolled up for a New York Times story in response to that game.
Pretty interesting stuff.
Now the links:
- Don't fart in the refs face.
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WVHooligan 19 November @ 03:59 PM EST
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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SoccerLens 19 November @ 07:00 AM EST
Nine months, 456 matches, and controversy aplenty. And it all comes down to to one game, one
high-octane head-to-head for the title.
The fourteenth season of Major League Soccer is nearing its end and, while Seattle Sounders have
skewed an otherwise worrying attendance picture, the action on the field has impressed.
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On this busy day of international soccer, check out this interesting piece from Soccer America
magazine on Real Salt Lake owner, Dave Checketts. I don't know anything about the man and maybe he
is not Mr. Nice Guy but, according to goalkeeper Nick Rimando, at least he seems to care about his
team. Can anyone imagine Mr.
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If you'll pardon the double dip, allow me to re-purpose something I knocked out for MLS Insider
yesterday. I got to talking to Nick Rimando for a minute and he pointed out something that I didn't
think of; he basically closed out his buddy Brandon Prideaux's career with that save in the
shootout (they were teammates at D.
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Du Nord 16 November @ 03:54 PM EST
2009 DU NORD MLS BEST 11The 2009 du Nord MLS Best 11 was announced on Sun Nov 15. See the list here. You can also listen to
this week's United Mania podcast (which was broadcast on Sunday) to hear the list announced and
discussed.
STARTERSIt will be Los Angeles v Salt Lake for the 2009 MLS Cup - Sun Nov 22 in Seattle.
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Real Salt Lake?
Wow.
What a run for the underdogs. They survived (barely) a crazy last weekend in the regular
season.
Then they eliminated the defending champs in the first round.
Finally, on Saturday they went to Chicago and eliminated the Fire via shootout (thank you Nick
Rimando).
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For the second season in a row the Fire had a chance to make a trip to the MLS Cup Final and once
again they came up short. The home fans at Toyota Park showed up in force, but they didn't see the
same commitment and coherence from their team that they got in last week's 2-0 home win over Prince
and the New England Revolution.
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Western Conference Final
LA 2-0 Houston
After two halves, two overtime periods, and two 18+ minute power outages the Western Conference
final, which was appropriately played on Friday the 13th, came to an end with the number one seed
in the west advancing to the final.
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Western Conference Final
LA 2-0 Houston
After two halves, two overtime periods, and two 18+ minute power outages the Western Conference
final, which was appropriately played on Friday the 13th, came to an end with the number one seed
in the west advancing to the final.
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Photo by ISIphotos.comÂ
Real Salt Lake is heading to its first MLS Cup Final after beating the Chicago Fire on penalty
kicks at Toyota Park on Saturday night.
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando stole the show, making three penalty saves to win the second playoff
penalty shootout of his career.
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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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I will have a piece up at ESPN Soccernet later today looking back at the pair of weekend
conference finals and gazing ahead at this weekend's MLS championship. Here's a little sneak peak
at the most interesting note:
It involved Landon Donovan and his ability to convert penalty kicks. And it involves
RealSaltLake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, whose heroic performance in Saturday's penalty kick
tiebreaker against Chicago is a big reason why the men of Utah remain alive today.
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A common saying amongst those in the soccer world is that a penalty kick shootout is a cruel way
to decide a match.
After Saturday night, the Chicago Fire knows that saying back to front.
120 minutes of action saw the Fire and Real Salt Lake knotted at 0-0 so it all came down to a
penalty shootout.
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MLS Cup 2009
vs
Real Salt Lake (#4 East) vs LA Galaxy (#1 West)
The semi-final tonight between Real Salt Lake and the Chicago Fire was a wild one. Â Some people
might say 120 minutes with no scoring is a boring game but this was far from boring.
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The Offside 14 November @ 11:47 PM EST
Final score 0-0 aet, RSL takes it on penalties, 5-4. First, just like last year, we have to go with
the "AMERICANS: A GEOGRAPHICALLY CHALLENGED PEOPLE award," (given last year under a different name
to): MLS. So...yeah. Salt Lake. In the Eastern Conference finals. Why am I getting visions of MLS
Commissioner Don [.
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Real Salt Lake needed extra time and penalties to see off Chicago and win the Eastern Conference
final Saturday night at Toyota Park. With both sides applying offensive pressure throughout the 120
minutes, Chicago keeper Jon Busch and his opposite number Nick Rimando held up and kept it
scoreless. In penalties, RSL's Javier Morales missed in the second round and Rimando saved John
Thorrington's attempt in the fourth.
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The Chicago Fire will look to reach its fourth MLS Cup Final by beating Real Salt Lake in
tonight's MLS Eastern Conference Final (8pm, FSC).
The winner of tonight's match will face the Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS Cup Final. The Galaxy
defeated the Houston Dynamo, 2-0, in overtime on Friday night.
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The Netminder 12 November @ 02:03 PM EST
Salt Lake vs. Chicago: Saturday's MLS playoff teams have one thing in common --
their goalkeepers are the shortest starting netminders in the league. Chicago's Jon Busch is listed
at 5-10; Salt Lake's Nick Rimando at 5-9.
"People that tell me I wasn't going to achieve anything because I was too short, I just remember
that, and I like to shove it in their face whenever I can," Rimando says.
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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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The Major League Soccer Playoffs continue on Thursday, November 5, 2009 with the second leg of
the Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake. RSL had a 1-0 lead on aggregate heading into this match. So,
who won and advance to the Conference Finals? Here's a recap of the match along with video
highlights.
Real Salt Lake beats the Columbus Crew 3-2 (4-2 on aggregate) Video Highlights
(will be added later)
1st Half
Real Salt Lake nearly took the lead in the 10th minute as a through ball was sent for Andy
Williams.
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The regular season is over and the playoffs are the order of the day in Major League Soccer.
Surprise qualifiers Real Salt Lake made themselves known in the first leg of their tie with
Supporters Shield winners Columbus Crew, while all four conference semi-finals were even matches
with little to separate the sides.
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Previous Updates
#1 4/12 68 players remaining #2 5/25 34 players remaining #3 6/25 23 players remaining #4 7/19 11
players remaining #5
8/17
5 players remaining
OTFATT is short for "On the field, all the time." In these updates throughout the season, I've kept
track of which MLS players have played every minute of every game (regular season only).
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Fox Soccer Channel really know its soccer. I love the cable network, and I love the broadcasting
duo of Max Bretos and Christopher Sullivan, who worked Saturday's 3-0 Real Salt Lake victory over
the Colorado Rapids.
And although they don't work every Rapids game, the offered keen insight into the team and its
playoff fortunes throughout Saturday night's telecast from Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
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3rd Degree 27 September @ 09:18 PM EST
Jeff Cunningham's torrid goal-scoring streak continued Saturday night as his two goals all but
ended road-sick Real Salt Lake's playoff chances in a 3-0 FC Dallas win. In what might have been
the most complete match of the season, FC Dallas went ahead in the 5th minute against the early run
of play.
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It is widely known around Utah punk & footie circles that Rancid's Branden Steineckert is
kindasortamaybe into RSL just a little bit. And maybe on certain days he's a little bit of a D.C.
United fan as well but we won't ask too many questions because we all know this whole "who do you
support?
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Now why would you think I am worried about RSL making the playoffs?
But sometimes, you have to face reality. Real looked awful out of the blocks in Houston. It was
as if RSL was still working at fifty percent effort at the start of the game while the Houston
Dynamo was playing at high tempo.
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When I posted my expansion draft preview recently, the subject that stirred up the most debate was
this one. Anyone who's followed MLS for a number of years knows that it's a bit of a mystery. When
exactly do Generation Adidas players graduate, and what are the criteria?
Basically, players are supposed to graduate when they no longer need the roster protection that it
provides.
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Chicago takes early lead but walks away with 1 point
Real Salt Lake's offense found some life in the second half, and the Chicago Fire escaped Rio Tinto
Stadium with a 1-all draw Saturday night in Sandy, Utah.
For just a little more than 70 minutes, it looked like the Fire were en route to their seventh road
victory.
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Real Salt Lake's Fabian Espindola is ecstatic about two things this week: 1) scoring a nice goal
in Wednesday's match against Chivas-USA at home in Rio Tinto; and 2) probably getting the start in
Kansas City today when RSL faces off against the Wizards. Even without Javier Morales or Yura
Movsisyan in the lineup, RSL saw great play from Espindola, Robbie Findley , Kyle Beckerman, and of
course Nick Rimando.
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