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2008 SuperLiga Review
August 9, 2008 | Halftime Report | Add a comment
The field of eight was down to two teams and only the reigning MLS top-tier clubs remained: The Houston Dynamo and the New England Revolution. These teams had met the previous two years in the MLS Cup finals, both years the Dynamo coming out victorious. Would the $1 million purse make any difference in the outcome?
The SuperLiga, now in its second year, started off much more established this year with the eight teams competing being selected from the top tiers of the 2007 results. The top four teams from the MLS (Club Deportivo Chivas USA, D.C. United, Houston Dynamo and the New England Revolution) and top four from the Primera División (Atlante, Pachuca CF, Chivas de Guadalajara and Santos Laguna) entered the tournament on the 12th of July, 2008. The teams were split into two groups of four with the top two teams from each going on to a knockout phase.
In the opening matches of round robin play, Guadalajara notched its first win 2-1, including a single goal and several missed chances including two post-ringers by the United; the reigning MLS champion Dynamo came out strong against the reigning Primera champion Atlante, finishing with a resounding 4-0 shutout; the Revolution controlled the pace against Santos Laguna, sliding by with a lone goal in the 70th minute of their first ever SuperLiga match; and Pachuca continued its SuperLiga success as they beat Chivas USA 2-1.
Round-robin play continued into the week with Atlante notching its first win over D.C. 3-2, Guadalajara downing the Dynamo 1-0 after its impressive start, the Revolution performing a 1-0 upset of reigning SuperLiga champion Pachuca and Chivas USA grabbing three points from Santos with a single goal in the 73rd minute.
Heading into the weekend, two teams were tied for first with six points: New England and Guadalajara. However, no team had yet to clinch a spot in the finals nor was any team statistically out of the race as even the two teams with no points could gain entry into the knockout rounds with their own victories and other match results going “their way”.
The weekend’s matches started with the Dynamo making their mark yet again, leaving the United in their wake 3-1, not yet clinching their spot but making it very improbable that they would not continue on. In the second game of the day, Atlante picked up a crucial three points in a two to nil shutout against Guadalajara to not only knock Guadalajara out but to push themselves into the final four. The following day would see two ties as the Revolution and Chivas USA finished 1-1 to give New England the overall first place with seven points and Pachuca and Santos both tallied single goals. The tie by Pachuca put them into a tie for second in their group with Chivas USA, both teams with 4 points, 3 goals for and 3 goals against with Pachuca winning match between them and therefore being the true second place team.
With round-robin play ending, only the New England Revolution, Houston Dynamo, CF Pachuca and Atlante remained for the knockout rounds. Tuesday’s game saw the Dynamo upset the reigning champs, who knocked them out the previous year, 2-0 in a high tempo game marked by dazzling saves by both goaltenders. The following day, saw a more defensive game and some bad chances by both sides as the Revolution pulled out a 1-0 win over Atlante to create not only an all MLS SuperLiga Final but a rematch of the previous two years’ MLS Cup finals teams.
Leading into this game, the Dynamo had owned a 2-0-0 undefeated record against the Revolution in title matches, winning the 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups. However, statistics and history mean absolutely nothing when $1 million dollars is put on the line. Out of the gate, both teams seemed ready to explode as early scoring chances barely missed hitting their mark. This intensity worked in the Dynamo’s favor. In the 18th minute, a miscue between Revolution goalie Matt Reis and defenseman Amaechi Igwa was volleyed by Dynamo’s Nate Jaqua just past the kneeling glove of Reis to start the scoring. Play continued at that rapid pace for the rest of the half with the Revolution feeling the desperation and not letting the Dynamo feel comfortable with a single goal lead. Their continued efforts paid off in the 41st minute when Mauricio Castro of the Revs took a pass at midfield down the line almost to the corner of the goalie box when he sent a cross that seemed to overshoot everyone and was bound for the end line as a goal kick. The streaking captain Steve Rolston pounded it home from the corner of the 6 yard box. The first half would end in a 1-1 tie.
The second half was a much different game for both sides. Instead of the quick “on the trigger” pace taken by both teams in the first half, the second half was a more defensive battle marked by long countering passes over the midfield to the forwards. The second half would end rather uneventfully with a series of substitutions for both clubs and the score still tied 1-1 going into overtime.
In overtime, play resumed as it had in the first half, both teams feeling the urgency to end it quickly. This paid off for the Dynamo, once again pulling into the lead with a 98th minute strike by Kei Kamara to put the score to 2-1. However, less than 5 minutes later, a free kick from just outside the Dynamo goal box was headed past Pat Onstad by the Revs Shalrie Joseph, knotting the game (again) at 2-2. The last 3 minutes of the first overtime and the second overtime would be uneventful and, in a repeat of the 2007 MLS Cup, they would go to the shootout.
With the crowd on their feet at Gillette Stadium, both teams sank their first attempts. In usual fashion, goalie Reis then took his turn, putting his shot well over the net and the Dynamo took advantage with Chris Wondolowski netting his chance to put the Dynamo up 2-1. Joseph then scored on his attempt while Reis came up with a much needed stop on the deadly Del Rosario to tie the shootout at 3 a side. Twellman then put the Revs ahead while Reis gained another block on Brian Ching. With Khano Smith getting blocked by Onstad, Ricardo Clark was able to tie it again at 3-3 sending the clubs to sudden death shots. First up was the Revs’ Jeff Larentowicz who put his shot past the diving Onstad. Next up was Dynamo’s Wade Barrett, who caught Reis going the wrong way. Revs Chris Tierney and Dynamo’s Kamara both scored their attempts with the teams then tied 5-5. When Rev’s Chris Albright netted his chance it was left on Dynamo’s Corey Ashe who put a strong touch on the ball but not enough to sneak past the diving Reis who made a superb block. The New England Revolution finally came up big against their nemesis Dynamo and collected the $1 million purse!
Final Box Score: 3-2 (2-2 through regulation and overtime, 6-5 Revolution in the shootout). Statistics obtained from www.superliga2008.com and sports.yahoo.com.
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Thanks Charley for taking photos at the finals!
On August 11, 2008 Joshua said
