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| Friday, November 1, 2002 16:01 EST |
U.S. Open Cup alive and well
By Marc Connolly
[ESPN.com]
The best part about Thursday night's U.S. Open Cup final was how both the Columbus Crew and L.A. Galaxy treated this game with the utmost relevance and played as though a World Cup was on the line.
Captain Brian McBride, left, and the Crew finally get to celebrate a title. |
If the two MLS clubs came out and gave lackluster performances it would have been somewhat understandable.
In the Crew's case, you had a team coming off a painful semifinal series loss nearly two weeks ago to a squad in New England that they knew they were more talented than. These players could have simply licked their wounds and packed it in for the season.
L.A., on the other hand, was coming off an emotional overtime victory in the MLS Cup over the Revolution just a few days before. That "we have nothing left to prove to anyone" look ran as rampant in that locker room as the champagne did after Sunday's final.
Instead of seeing a match between the Beaten Down Boys and the Hangover Club, both teams went full throttle for the full 90 minutes. And it resulted in a game that was far more entertaining and dramatic than what was seen in Foxboro.
Ultimately, Columbus got to hoist the crystal cup by way of a 1-0 victory on a Freddy Garcia tally in the 30th minute, but it was the 2002 MLS champions that carried the play for most of the match.
In the first 15 minutes alone, Cobi Jones created four different scoring opportunities, attacking from all angles. In the free role behind the strikers that Sigi Schmid has given to him for most of the season, Jones flourished throughout the match with dangerous through-balls and crosses into the box.
A few minutes after L.A. saw its best opportunity of the first half vanish away when striker Chris Albright couldn't finish on a one-on-one against keeper Jon Busch, Columbus finally showed some offensive life.
Making a clever move with the ball on the right flank, Brian West got by his defender stormed into the box. Instead of cutting the ball back towards the penalty stripe or the 18, the 24-year-old wide midfielder sent a hard pass across the 6-yard box. Goalkeeper Matt Reis was positioned perfectly on it and seemed to know West's intentions from the get-go. But rather than safely tuck away the ball with both hands or punch it out of harm's way, Reis deflected it right in front of the goal. Freddy Garcia took the nicely-wrapped gift and deposited it into the empty net for the game's only goal.
Would usual-starter Kevin Hartman have made that save? Probably. But one cannot fault Schmid for the insertion of Reis, as the Galaxy mainstay is the top backup in the league and was worthy of getting a chance. Plus, it wasn't as though L.A. didn't have enough chances from that point on. A penalty kick should have been awarded at one point, as well.
In the 70th minute, Ezra Hendrickson broke into the box on the left side and beat Jeff Cunningham to the outside. When Hendrickson blew past him, Cunningham clearly tripped the midfielder. Referee Brian Hall, the undisputed king of U.S. officials, paused for a moment, and then made not a sound with his whistle.
The Galaxy nearly tied the game eight minutes later when Mauricio Cienfuegos sent a cross in from the left side to Simon Elliott, whose header went wide to the right from five yards out. At this point, L.A. was playing in an aggressive 2-5-3, as Alexi Lalas was substituted out for Cienfuegos in the 76th minute.
Once Chad McCarty was sent off in the 83rd minute due to his second yellow card of the match, the Galaxy were attacking at will against a Columbus side that had eight men behind the ball at all times.
It resulted in nervous moments for the home team, such as when Danny Califf snuck up from his defensive post and cracked a shot from the penalty stripe right at Busch in the 90th minute.
Or when Carlos Ruiz, who threw so many elbows throughout the night that it's a wonder Lamar Hunt didn't get one to the face during the postgame festivities, blasted a left-footed shot from 22 yards out in extra time that went right at Busch.
This was a night for the Crew, though. And when the final whistle sounded, one couldn't tell whether they had just won the MLS Cup or the U.S. Open Cup.
For a franchise that has reached the MLS semifinals four times, yet doesn't have a MLS Cup appearance under its belt or even a division or conference title (the only club without one) to its credit, it was a welcome sight, especially to the 1982-1983 New York Pancyprian-Freedoms who still remain the last back-to-back Open Cup champions. (Ask Michael Lewis about these boys - he'll remember.)
The most endearing moment of the night for me wasn't watching Brian McBride and Co. revel in their championship or seeing the freezing Columbus fans finally celebrate a title of some kind. It was noticing how upset the members of the Galaxy were when collecting their silver medals from MLS Commissioner Don Garber. There were no smiles, no "we already got our Cup" expressions or anything of the like. Just looks of pure frustration from a side that took this season-long, 89-year-old tournament as serious as the MLS Cup.
As they should.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is alive and well in this country. And the Columbus Crew are worthy champions. Finally.
Marc Connolly covers soccer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at shaketiller10@yahoo.com.
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