Quality Cup Final, five goals, a good referee all in all a splendid
match. .
The oldest team tournament in US
sports is the US Open Cup, currently named after Lamar Hunt; a long time benefactor
to football in the US
and particularly the MLS.
Two MLS teams had both needed
extra time to beat US League 1 opposition in the semis. This tournament is akin to the FA Cup in England, a competition for all levels of
football in the US. The only odd rule is no more than five senior
internationals per team that gave Steve Morrow and Stevie Nicol a couple of
selection headaches. Pizza Hut park in Frisco, Texas
was the venue; a home game for FC Dallas, was sparse at the kickoff but filled
up as the game unfolded. Plenty at stake
for both teams, FC Dallas needed a boost with somewhat of a late season slump
and New England need to prove to themselves
that they could win a Cup competition; runners up in the last two MLS Cup
Finals. The evening was bright and warm
and the drummers; so much an MLS feature in most of the stadia; were warmed
up. The crowd was low, probably due to
the mid week game time and lack of fanfare about the game. A Cup Final should be a weekend affair and
much more attention given to it.
With a definite Latin flavour to
his side Steve Morrow had some tough choices to make; a less than fully
integrated Denilson and substitute Ricardinho were omitted from the team in
favour of other Internationals. Sala
starts in goal behind a back four of Moor, Goodson, Serioux and Wagenfuhr; a
solid enough back line but can be mistake prone; McCarty; always improving;
Ricchetti and Toja; the playmaker occupied the middle with Alvarez; a great
left foot; and Oduro; plenty of pace; forward on the flanks and Ruiz the focal
point of the attack.
New England played their usual 3
5 2 in front of Reis; Heaps, Parkhurst; developing into a US MNT player and
Riley formed a back three; Thompson and Smith; a good young Bermudan operated
on the flanks with Dorman and Larentowicz in the centre, Ralston; more used to
being a wide player, played further forward; Twellman and Noonan; one of the
MLS’s best forward partnerships; led the line.
.
The game started well with Dallas making the early
running, forceful wide play and the young Colombian pulling the strings in the
midfield. New England looked to absorb the
pressure and counter with quick counters, they were the away side and expected
to be heard pushed in the opening portion of the game.
Oduro combines with McCarty and a
good deep cross is delivered without anyone on the end of it.
Goodson fluffs an easy clearance
and allows Twellman in behind the defence; the New England
forward rushes a touch and doesn’t take advantage of the early gift.
Wagenfuhr looks good going
forward and puts in a lovely ball as Dallas look
to use the flanks to get behind New England
and open them up and when Oduro and Alvarez switch flanks the home team really
works up a head of steam. A free kick is
only half cleared by Reis, the second ball in from Ricchetti is just too high
for an unmarked Oduro at the back stick; Gordon heads wide from a long Serioux
throw in. New England start to exert a
bit of pressure in midfield; Smith gets in a good cross from wide and wins a
corner; then from some Dallas pressure New England break out and come forward
quickly; Ralston goes deep on the right and whips a ball into he box; Serioux;
obviously without a shout from Sala; tires to clear the ball wrong footed and it
skips up over the big ‘keeper to Noonan at the back stick, unmarked the forward
has time to juggle with then tap the ball into an empty net. Dallas
were playing better football, had more of the ball and go behind from some
really sloppy defending.
Dallas keep up their attacking
football, Ruiz is out muscled by Parkhurst in trying to stab home a through
ball; McCarty plays in Oduro but Reis is quick off his line; Alvarez splits the
defence with a great pass but Ruiz just can’t connect from eight yards out;
another good Alvarez cross only results in a corner kick; Noonan can’t find
Twellman on a quick counter which typifies the New England play; a Wagenfuhr
run on the left pulls the defender wide and Alvarez cuts in from the flanks to
take advantage of the space, he unleashes a beautiful strike with the outside
of his left boot, the ball curls past the flying Reis to smack home off the
inside of the far post; a serious piece of quality from Dallas to draw
level.
The tempo of the game increase,
both side are looking for the next goal although Dallas still retain more
possession, New England are playing themselves into the game with stout
defending and lightning quick counter attacks.
Oduro’s pace isn’t quote enough
to capitalize on Riley’s defensive mistake as Reis is very quick to come out
and claim the loose ball; Alvarez finds himself one on one with Reis and the
big keeper does well to save with his legs; Twellman finds space on the edge of
the are but his snapshot is held by Sala; a New England attack is thwarted by
Goodson as he heads behind for a corner, Ralston takes the kick; from the right;
Ruiz and Noonan jump together as Sala stays on his line, the ball comes off the
Dallas player and Twellman is at his predatory best with a back post shot that
finds the net; Serioux hadn’t marked the New England forward very well. Yet another goal practically handed to New
England by shoddy Dallas
defending.
Ricchetti was injured so Yi came
on at the half, he went into the back four as Serioux came forward to occupy
Ricchetti’s midfield place; no changes were made by New England.
Morrow talked about possession
and attacking whilst Mariner spoke about dropping deeper and playing hard
against the Dallas
front three.
Alvarez, McCarty and Toja combine
from the whistle but the move is cleared by New England; Ruiz heads wide when
given a great opportunity from Moor’s ball in; up at the other end Twellman
shoots narrowly wide after getting open in the area; Oduro puts in a good ball
from the left but Ruiz can’t find the net at the back post.
The game is finely balanced with
tactical shifts and tussle going on all over the pitch, Dallas still have more
possession but the danger of New England on the break keep them honest.
Twellman can only find Sala after
a good Smith cross; Serioux makes a great run down the right channel and looks disappointed
to only get a corner after his claims for a penalty are waved away; it’s two
against one as New England breaks from the Dallas corner, Wagenfuhr is back
against Twellman and Noonan; the ball goes from left to right and Twellman is
pushed wide, he retains the ball and keep his head up; he doesn’t play the ball
in the air but rolls a great near post cross on the floor; Noonan back heels
into the path of Thompson who buries New England’s third from close range. Dallas gives
away a third with more mental weakness at the back, although the New England counter attack was particularly swift.
Dallas keep up their momentum
with more attacking play; New England are more cautious and sit back more to
protect their lead; but the first attack of note after the goal is from the
visitors; Sala claims a Smith cross; Dallas gets a free kick within range of
the goal; it comes back off the wall and Serioux is the quickest to react, his
effort allows him to deliver a good cross from the right, Goodson heads the
ball back into the box from the back post and the substitute Thompson; brought
on for the injured Yi just before the kick was taken; gets a goal with his
smoothly executed first touch.
Alvarez sees his cross collected
by Reis; Twellman is almost in on goal after a slip by Serioux; Alvarez puts in
a ball which McCarty does well to get on, it’s half cleared and Wagenfuhr goes
just over with a well directed shot from range; Cooper comes on for Wagenfuhr
and Cristman replaces Thompson; Ruiz is almost in on an Alvarez cross but
Ralston does enough to put him off; Odoru’s goal is called back for an offside
and right at the death a McCarty free kick is headed over by Cooper.
New England
gets the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the first time.
They played well and took
advantage of some sloppy defending by Dallas
in an open and entertaining game.
Dallas will rue their sloppy defending, it
probably cost them the match. We did see
a candidate for goal of the season; the first half strike by Alvarez was sheer
class.
The referee had a good game, he
let things flow made few mistakes and took into account the added fire of a Cup
Final. He didn’t pay any attention to
the bawling and ranting coming from the New England
manager either.
