Los Angeles MLS Champions 02 and 05/US Open Cup 05

[BethlehemFC]

LA won 1-0 over FC Dallas last night.

Match report from MLS.net

Open Cup Final

Cogratulations LA.

[Ricochet]

congrats to the Galaxy.

[BethlehemFC]

If you get a chance to see the video of the goal -- do it. It was a sweet goal.

[vilafria]

What a game LA dominated and could have won it by at least 6 or 7 goals difference.
Cobi was the most valuable player in my view. The guy seems like he doesn't age. He's on top of his game still. Donovan played well too. What a beautiful semi-bike kicked goal by Herculez. ::nw:: . The second half had so many failed scoring opportunities that left me frustrated sitting there watching. Over all , goood turn out and a great atmosphere. Hopefully , it can be repeated in future Open Cup games and in particular in the final.

[Frank Cunha]

Donovan getting hot at the right time, big win in Colorado
now they will face new england in the final

[Frank Cunha]

1. COLORADO 0 LOS ANGELES 2: Galaxy rides Donovan to final

Nov. 5 in Denver
Colorado 0 Los Angeles 2.
Goals: Donovan (Jones) 28, Donovan 88.
Yellow Cards: Colorado - Mastroeni 22; Los Angeles - Ihemelu 25, Marshall 71.
Referee: Brian Hall.
Att.: 12,789.

Now aren't we glad that Landon Donovan didn't stay in Germany? His two spectacular goals saved the Western Conference final from being completely devoid of thrilling soccer. Superbly set up by Cobi Jones, who dodged two tacklers and avoided a third, Donovan scored his first from six yards out, stretching on the slide to poke the ball inside the near post. His second began at the halfway line and he faked out three defenders, recovered from a stumble, and curled a perfect shot inside the far post. That was his record-setting 14th career playoff goal and his fourth postseason strike this season.

REPORT CARD (1=low; 5=average; 10=high)

Colorado - 5 Cannon, 5 Denton, 7 Mastroeni, 5 Petke, 5 Cullen (6 Noel, 65), 5 Beckerman (nr Serna, 79), 6 Ben Dayan (5 Kotschau, 54), 5 Cooke, 5 Kirovski, 4 Cunningham, 4 Peguero.

Los Angeles - 5 Hartman, 5 Albright, 6 Marshall, 5 Ihemelu, 5 Dunivant, 5 Grabavoy (5 Saragosa, 70), 6 Nagamura, 6 Vagenas, 7 Jones (nr Naldo, 94+), 9 Donovan, 4 Gomez (nr Gordon, 81).

[Frank Cunha]

TODD DUNIVANT: Ex-Quake finds postseason joy with L.A.

In his rookie year, defender Todd Dunivant played a key role for the 2003 champion San Jose Earthquakes in the regular season but watched their postseason wins from the bench. This time, the 24-year-old Colorado product has been an integral part of MLS Cup-bound Los Angeles' playoff run.

By Ridge Mahoney

As the other ex-Earthquake getting ready to play for the Galaxy in MLS Cup 2005 against New England, defender Todd Dunivant doesn't draw nearly as much attention on and off the field as teammate Landon Donovan.

That suits Dunivant just fine. He knows his role is to lock down the left flank and defend staunchly. It's unglamorous, unappreciated work that is absolutely essential and one of the primary reasons the Galaxy has erased a .500 season by rolling through three playoff games.

"For us it's about scoring one goal, it doesn't matter how it happens, and not letting them score," says Donovan. "That's why we're here. It's not because we've been scoring goals, it's because everyone here has taken it upon themselves to defend better."

The Galaxy back line and midfield has been revamped and juggled numerous times this season. Defenders Tyrone Marshall (Jamaica), Chris Albright (USA), and Michael Umana (Costa Rica) have been called away by their national teams. Rookie Ugo Ihemelu has had more ups than downs while enduring the typical first-year rigors, and Pablo Chinchilla has been drafted when Umana has been unavailable.

[Frank Cunha]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WWW.SOCCERAMERICA.COM

NEWSLETTER

. WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"Steve hadn't coached in MLS before. It takes awhile to understand that it's a different game. To his credit, he adapted. Early on, he had a style that he wanted to impose. He kept a lot of what he wanted, but he also changed a lot. A lot of coaches don't do that."
-- Forward Landon Donovan of 2005 MLS champion Los Angeles on his coach, Steve Sampson, whose job looked in serious jeopardy during the Galaxy's .500 regular-season campaign. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

"Our interest is in the future, starting an FC Barcelona team or obtaining a franchise in MLS. We are at the beginning of the process and phase of starting. ... I don't know time, date, where. We are only thinking about the possibility. I love the States."
-- Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who attended the MLS Cup in Texas. (mlsnet.com)

"For the first 20 minutes they were by far the better side, they were first to the ball, their passing was sharp and they put us under a bit of pressure. But we started to play a bit after that and gain a bit of confidence."
-- Scotland coach Walter Smith after is team's 1-1 tie at home with the USA on Saturday. (AFP)




2. WINNERS & LOSERS: Los Angeles takes MLS Cup with Pando goal

Winners:

The LOS ANGELES GALAXY, which finished the regular season in fourth place of the Wetsern Conference, is MLS champion thanks to a 1-0 overtime win over New England on a goal by late sub Guillermo "Pando" Ramirez, who saw only 30 minutes of action in the Galaxy's previous seven games. Ramirez had taken a team-high 62 shots in the regular-season but scored only once, on a penalty kick.

The USA's tie 1-1 against Scotland in Saturday's friendly gave several players who hadn't figured in the qualifying campaign to impress Coach Bruce Arena. Left back JONATHAN SPECTOR defended solidly and launched several forays down the flank. Also showing well enough to stay in the picture during World Cup preparations was defensive midfielder BRIAN CARROLL.

In the first-leg of playoffs for the final spots in World Cup 2006, SPAIN thumped Slovakia, 5-1. SWITZERLAND upset 2002 World Cup third-place team Turkey, the CZECHS eked out a 1-0 win over Norway. BAHRAIN picked up a 1-1 tied in Trinidad. URUGUAY managed only a 1-0 win over Australia in Montevideo.

Losers:

NEW ENGLAND's MLS Cup history now reads 233 minutes of play without scoring. The Revs, who fell, 1-0, to Los Angeles in overtime on Sunday, lost in similar fashion to Los Angeles in 2002, when it was another Guatemalan, Carlos Ruiz, whose goal in overtime - then sudden death - downed the Revs.

American defender OGUCHI ONYEWU of Standard Liege has been handed a four-game suspension by the Belgian federation for two red cards he received earlier this season.

World Cup favorite ARGENTINA fell, 3-2, to England in a friendly in Geneva despite leading 2-1 until the 88th minute, when Michael Owen scored the first of his two goals.




3. COLLEGE-MLS WINNERS: Sampson joins Schmid & Arena

The Galaxy's MLS Cup victory gives Coach Steve Sampson a championship during his first full season as coach of a pro club. Sampson, the USA's coach at the 1998 World Cup, replaced Sigi Schmid late last season.

Sampson guided Santa Clara to the 1989 Division I NCAA title, which the Broncos' shared with the University of Virginia, coached by Bruce Arena, who won two MLS titles with D.C. United after five titles with Virginia.

Schmid, who guided the Galaxy to the 2002 MLS title, won three NCAA titles at UCLA. That means all three coaches who entered MLS with NCAA Division I titles under their belts also succeeded in lifting the pro crown.

The late Tom Fitzgerald won an NCAA Division I title with UCLA after his stint at the helm of the Columbus Crew, which has not won an MLS title.

4. MAKING A LIST: MLS champions

MLS Cup history
2005 Los Angeles 1 New England 0
2004 D.C. United 3 Kansas City 2
2003 San Jose 4 Chicago 2
2002 Los Angeles 1 New England 0
2001 San Jose 2 Los Angeles 1
2000 Kansas City 1 Chicago 0
1999 D.C. United 2 Los Angeles 0
1998 Chicago 2 D.C. United 0
1997 D.C. United 2 Colorado 1
1996 D.C. United 3 Los Angeles 2

[Frank Cunha]

anybody know what happen to the national and Open cup champion?

[Frank Cunha]

I know they won a MLS title and I believe 2 MLS cups, does somebody got the answer?

[Frank Cunha]

LA won two MLS championships and both times against New England by the 1-0 score