Major League Soccer’s conference finals this weekend will determine the competitors in the MSL cup. The dream match-up would have the Los Angeles Galaxy taking on the Chicago Fire. But not so fast!
If anything can be forecast, it’s that nothing is predictable in the MSL playoffs. On any given day, any team can win. And this weekend, it all comes down to one game, winners advance to the MLS cup and losers go home. All of the statistics--regular season records, goals for and against, team defensive rankings, etc,--go out the window. This weekend, each team will come out and play their best soccer knowing a berth in the championship game is on the line.
The Western Conference final is Friday, with the Los Angeles Galaxy hosting the Houston Dynamo. The Galaxy has a strong and well balanced team featuring big names like Landon Donovan and David Beckham. But one weakness that has been exploited throughout the year is that central defenders Gregg Berhalter and Omar Gonzalez have trouble getting in position against speed players. Dominic Oduro was impressive in Houston's 1-0 over time win over Seattle. He will pose problems getting behind the Berhalter and Gonzalez. Houston's trio of Brian Ching, Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark, teammates on the U.S. national team, are definitely in sync. They created numerous opportunities against Seattle, with Ching scoring the winning goal in overtime. Houston is challenging for their third title in four years. Houston will be without Mike Chabala (suspension). The Galaxy, though, have home field advantage. The game will be televised on ESPN2 with coverage starting at 11:00 eastern time.
In the Eastern Conference final, the Chicago Fire hosts Real Salt Lake. The Real barely made it into the playoffs--literally in the last game of the season--then proceeded to take down the defending champion Columbus Crew to reach the conference final. RSL is a speedy team and has a lot of momentum coming into the game. Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch knows the danger RSL poses with their tempo up front. “It's going to be a battle,” Busch said. “We have to make sure we defend from the top to the bottom first. We'll get our chances, but we have to have team defending.” The Fire, meanwhile, has Cuauhtemoc Blanco, a dangerous player who is a threat all over the field. It remains to be seen if injuries will play a factor for Chicago. Brian McBride hobbled off against New England but he is expected to play against RSL. Wilman Conde and Gonzalo Segares are also coming off injuries. The game is Saturday Nov. 14 and will be televised on Fox Soccer Channel with coverage starting at 8:00 eastern time.
These will be great games to watch. Expect all four teams to pull out all the stops. Anyone can win. The conference champions will meet in the MLS Cup in Seattle on Sunday Nov. 22.
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