Superliga will have its first All-MLS final Tuesday night as the New England Revolution take on reigning MLS champs the Houston Dynamo in Foxborough's Gillete Stadium. At stake, a million dollar prize and a major regional title. Perhaps more important, this final represents another milestone in MLS' growth as a major regional power.

Superliga, the eight-team tournament that pits four MLS teams against four FMF (Mexican first division) sides, has been a hit almost everywhere at the gate as well as on television for the league.

Unfortunately, the one place where Superliga has failed to draw crowds is Gillette, which has witnessed a steady decline as the tournament has moved on.

The key to the MLS sides' success? Houston coach Dominic Kinnear joked today in a pre-game press conference that is was because both coaches are Scottish.

"Does that matter?" said Kinnear, before noting that both teams in the final use the same type of approach, which is to place good players within a team system. For Kinnear, that's helped MLS teams close the gap with their Mexican rivals who were shut out of the Superliga finals after a pair of semifinal defeats.
           
"I would say people have seen that the level between the Mexican clubs and MLS teams is similar," said Kinnear "The depth in FMF is greater, but you see now with the teams playing in competitions that the gap is closing.
           
"I think you saw that post-game in the semifinals," said Kinnear, referring to the ugly scenes that accompanied both of last week's games. "They see the gap closing and they don't like that."
          
Because of those post-game scuffles, the Revolution will be without Jay Heaps, who was ejected after the end of their 1-0 win last week against Atlante. The Revs are already short in the back as Michael Parkhurst is with the Olympic team. Houston are missing Stuart Holden and Patrick Ianni to Beijing, neither of whom featured in the Dynamo's 2-0 semifinal win over Pachuca.
          
New England comes into the game on a roll: Their last loss was in late June, a fluke 2-1 decision on the turf at Rice-Eccles against Real Salt Lake. The Revs have only lost four games this season and since June have gone 8-1-3.
         
And, the Revs have beaten Houston twice already this season and are understandably eager to spoil 'em again while adding a second prestige title to their larder. The Dynamo have edged the Revs two years straight in the MLS Cup finals and until the Revs hoisted the Open Cup trophy last season, despite being one of the league's best teams over the past four seasons, they had failed to win anything.
         
"We always think what's happened in the past doesn't count," said Revs coach Steve Nicol today in a pre-game press conference. "We've beaten [Houston] already, but that means nothing. It's who gets the job done on the night.  The past is exactly that, the past."

The Dynamo endured a shaky start to the season but have run up four straight wins coming into Tuesday night's final, with their lone blemish in the last two months being a 1-0 loss to Chivas Guadalajara in the group stages of the Superliga. They convincingly beat the Crew Saturday, and are currently one of the league's hottest teams.

"Both [MLS Cup finals] could have gone either way," said Brian Ching. "And we feel a little fortunate some times. We know they are a good team, and we respect them as much as they respect us. Over the past four or five years, these have been the two best franchises in the league, so to meet again in a final is pretty special. We'd still like to hold the edge on those finals, but they're a good team."
         
It is worth noting that the game is being played in the shadow of labor unrest: The MLS Player's Union has strongly criticized the league for what it terms as violations of the CBA with respect to tournament bonuses. Prior to the game, both teams decided to split the bonus money from the game equally between the teams: just $50,000, not the "$1 million" that MLS has been touting as the prize for taking the Superliga crown.
          
After the debacle against Atlante, Revs defender Chris Albright was quoted as saying, "This whole tournament has not been handled properly.

"The reality is that we're not being compensated to be dealing with this, To have last night go like it did, it's just a microcosm of the whole situation."

But Nicol said that bonuses or not, both teams would play the way they always do.

"Just look at the characters of the team and the way they go about business. If there's was nothing on the line, they'd still go out and give 100%. It's nice to get a bonus, but the teams are both pros and at the end of the day it's the joy of winning."
 

Reliable sources told me this morning that MLS has turned down a "multi-million" dollar offer from English Premier League club Charlton Athletic for the New England Revolution midfielder. Dempsey, who has made no secret of his desire to leave MLS, will be out of contract with the league in 2007.

Published reports in England and the USA that West Ham United had approached the player's representatives or the league are incorrect. At least one other team has expressed interest in the player: Turkey's Fenerbahce has spoken to team personnel with the New England Revolution.

...and we sense this is going to be a long 30 minutes. Donovan, McBride and Dempsey are woorking hard up top but Simone Perrotta is finding a lot of space on that left side now.

Arena, for once, is also right to be frustrated at the fine hand trap the Italians just pulled off in the box on Dempsey's last foray.

We’ve had a heck of a first half here, folks and we’ll bring you up to speed before we kick off the second half and take you through the rest of the game.

This is inarguably a far more positive approach for the USA than we saw the other night against the Czechs. The USA looks driven, focused, and even leaping over each other at times to get the ball. And one thing that has been incredible: This is the first truly pro-USA crowd we’ve seen at a World Cup. Ever. This crowd is behind the team, loud and proactive and knows the game. It’s a real breath of fresh air.

Clint Dempsey is the revelation of the game; his screwy passes through the box have confounded the Italians, and the consistent pressure out of the back from Gooch and Mastroeni have kept the USA in the driver’s seat.

Now, we had a rather questionable red on Mastroeni to end the first half; will this take some of the wind out of the USA’s sails? Hard to tell – both he and Gooch were really cleaning the messes up back there, allowing Carlos Bocanegra to roam forward efficiently. Personally, at the half, I mighty swap out Pope, who has been beat several times down the guts for Chris Albright to add a little more size and fresh legs.