Fight: Timbers earn first win vs Sounders in MLS play

 

Photo credit: AP

What a game. The Portland Timbers started the match early versus the Sounders at Jeld-Wen Field with a Kris Boyd goal in the 15th minute. Horst would double the score a few minutes later. Seattle's Eddie Johnson rounded out the score at 2-1 in the second half. It was a different kind of MLS game: honor, rivalry, and plenty of fighting.

This was the Cascadia Clasico, of course, one that dates back several decades to the age of the NASL. The on field rivalry plays off the natural competitiveness of the two cities in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle is the more established, cosmopolitan place while Portland is an alternative, and proudly sustainable city. And this carries on to the teams: the Sounders play at CenturyLink Field, an NFL venue with all the commodities, while Jeld-Wen is solely a soccer field with a distinct "made in Portland" attitude.

On the pitch tonight were two squads in dire need of a win. Seattle had been winless in 6 matches, while the Timbers were cellar dwellers in the West. John Spencer, Timbers' coach, has been rumored to be in danger of losing his position. Whether or not this is true, the Scotsman needs to get his team out of the sophomore slump and give the Timbers Army the kind of game they are so passionate about.

And yes, Portland delivered. Boyd knew what was at stake, being a son of the Old Firm rivalry between Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow. Nagbe, Al-Hassan, Jewsbury, Chara and Futty remembered last year's loss at home and were looking to avenge it. Along with Palmer and Perkins, however, Jewsbury let the emotions get to him, and Freddy Montero, a proud Sounder, responded with unsportsmanlike conduct. Two red cards and a yellow card. But hey, that's what these games are about.

The fact that ESPN chose to air this match immediately after the England - Italy Euro game was brilliant, as it captured a different audience and showed the rest of Americans and the world how seriously the game is taken in the Pacific Northwest. Full stadium, Timber Joey, the Timbers Army, and the whole of Rose City watched their team win while singing proudly "When I root I root for the Timbers!"

Open Cup Dynasty for Seattle

Photo credit: AP

Seattle won the Open Cup tonight. Three-peat. Plain and simple. The team knows. The league knows. The country knows. Then fans know. From ball possession to Montero's opportunistic goal to Alonso's magic. It was the scintillating style of a champion team. But is it a dynasty?

Seattle has a monopoly on the Open Cup at this point. From the moment they defeated DC United in their inaugural season to the sellout record-breaking crowds, it was clear that the Sounders wanted this tournament as their own. And why not? Through the last decade, the Open Cup has been more of an afterthought to the majority of teams in the league. This season alone, the New York Red Bulls pulled all of their starting players from quarterfinals. Really? Yes.

And that's why Seattle's ownership of this tournament is important. It gives them credibility and a place in the Concacaf Champions League. And that's the other piece of information that most are overlooking. The CCL is likely to gain importance as Concacaf places more emphasis and perhaps reduces the importance of Conmebol's Libertadores. Seattle is now in place to not only make important gains in the quarterfinals next year, but also have now earned a spot in the 2012/2013 edition of the CCL.

Seattle's play was emphatic of the importance of soccer in the Pacific Northwest. Sigi Shmid has built a squad from the ground up with a clear attacking style, young designated players, and a way to make their crowd, their 12th man count. Ultimately, that's one of this team's strongest points. Their attendance numbers carry the league and are reminiscent of European squads. No empty seats. Just screaming fans urging for their Montero and Neagle and Alonso to score. And it showed tonight. Seattle's strike in the 95th minute came about as a great pass to a streaking Alonso. He evaded one, two, three players, a goalkeeper and struck it home like a Donovan or a Messi would do.

Well done, Seattle Sounders. The Open Cup is your cup and your dynasty.

Seattle elevates US Open Cup to glory

The second year expansion team, Seattle Sounders FC, defeated the Columbus Crew in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament and won it for the second year in a row. For those unfamiliar with this tournament, it is akin to the English League and FA Cup tournaments, the Copa del Rey in Spain, and many other single-elimination tournaments in planet football. Yes, USA has one too, and they've had it for 97 years.

Just like in other countries, this tournament is open to almost all semi-pro and professional leagues within the country, including the USSF Division 2 (Carolina Railhawks, Miami FC, etc.), USL-2 (Crystal Palace Baltimore, Austin Aztex, etc.) and other minor leagues. Like in England when Wycombe Wanderers may upset Arsenal or Everton, a team like the Charleston Battery may defeat the LA Galaxy.

Ever since the formation of MLS, and with the exception of the Rochester Rhinos in 1999, only MLS teams have won the cup. Attendance for these matches is notoriously low because they (a) fall during midweek usually, and (b) media coverage is limited. The same can be said for most other cup tournaments throughout the planet with the exception, perhaps, being England.

But this year Seattle changed the tournament. It injected credibility with the media, given the significant, ardent fan base of the Emerald City. The team also includes world class stars: Blaisse Nkufo (Switzerland) and Angel Fernandez (Uruguay), both present at the World Cup. Added to this are young phenom Fredy Montero, Steve Zakuani, Kasey Keller, among others. And the Crew is no pushover: Frankie Hejduk, Guillermo Barros Schelloto, Robbie Rogers, Eddie Gaven, Emanuel Ekpo.

It was a fun game to watch, with plenty of action on both ends. The Crew went up first but Sanna Nyassi would even the score before the half and would add the winning tally deep into the second half. He did it in front of an emphatic 31,000+ attendees in a raucous environment worthy of the 97-year-old tournament. This is after winning it against DC United in 2009 at the RFK Stadium. Seattle is a model club worthy of praise on and off the pitch. It is a triumph for MLS and for the US fan of the sport. Well done.

MLS 2009 Attendance stats week 2

Welcome to your weekly fix of MLS attendance. A couple of notes: Why did MLS go ahead with its schedule (2nd week!) knowing full well that there would be important international matches to be played? A good number of national-teamers were out and not just US players but all of Concacaf, Conmebol, UEFA, CAF and AFC! Why not start a week early, do a mid-week run of games and then a week off for international play?

So there you have it. That's why attendance this week was less than stellar. Not even strong markets like DC and Columbus fared well. DCU hasn't created much buzz this off-season so a starting crowd of 15000+ on an international fixture is not bad. Columbus could have done better than 14686 against bitter rivals Toronto but at least it was a respectable crowd. What's not respectable? Dallas. Less than 7000 souls were present for another sub par performance from the Hoops. What does Hyndman need to do to get the team rolling? I'm not even worried about the crowds here.

Seattle saves all. An over-MLS-limit crowd was present to witness Fredy Montero light things up against title contenders Real Salt Lake. Next week comes Toronto and RSL's season debut. Numbers should be coming up. In the meantime, have a look at the pie graphs below.

One for last season (Beckham's Galaxy crowds) and....

one for this season so far (Sounders green all over).

MLS 2009

Welcome back to another edition of MLS. It is now season 14 and things are looking up (and in some instances looking down). Through the Beckham saga we have acquired new meaning abroad and domestically. The league is now 15-member strong with the addition of Seattle as an expansion team. And what an expansion team it is! A (probable European-bound) Freddy Montero opened up his account in MLS with two goals in a 3-0 win for the Pacific Northwest team on Thursday night of last week. Present was a sellout crowd of 32000+.

Added to Seattle's success is the addition of two more west coast teams--Vancouver and Portland. Both were USL teams (Whitecaps and Timbers respectively) so a form of "promotion" seems to have occurred here. Indeed, as remarked by ESPN Soccernet's Ives Galarcep, the Pacific Northwest offers a sizable contingent of true soccer fans dying to have a professional team to call their own. Leave it to Drew Carey (Seattle) and Steve Nash (Vancouver) to add a little flair to ownership plus a great deal of enthusiasm. Last I read Vancouver had already sold 5000 season seats for their debut in 2011. Waiting for their debut is also next-year's Philadelphia.

But not all is bright in MLS land. An expected, sub-par Beckham-less crowd of 18000 came to see the Galaxians face DCU in their home opener at the Home Depot Center. That's a small crowd compared to its capacity of 27000 (frequently filled last season with Goldenballs in the team). Dallas somehow managed to get in almost 16000 fans (probably there to see Blanco). They could use a DP injection, as would Houston. The two-time MLS Cup champions also opened to a reasonable crowd, even with Columbus (reigning champ) and Barros-Schelotto on the pitch. I hear, however, that the men in orange may be close to signing a major Mexican international. That would be a good start.

Disappointing, in soccer terms, were teams like New York (2008 runner's up), Dallas, San Jose and KC. I'm also sad to hear comments from abroad about the state of our league. Hopefully time will change this. In terms of positives, it's very interesting to see Toronto play so well. They have a very deep squad with the likes of DeRosario, Guevara, Ricketts, Dichio, Wynne and Frei. They may be even scarier if management is able to secure a designated player.

As always, I'll let the stats do the talk for me. Throughout the season I hope to have up-to-date attendance analysis graphics on the right column. I welcome feedback.