Chicago Fire

Recap

The Fire had an extremely strong season, finishing the race for the Supporters Shield behind only Columbus and Houston. They did not play consistently down the stretch, and it has yet to be seen whether the McBride-Barrett trade has been worth it. Overall, they get a B+ for 2008.

Offense

The Fire had a very hot start, but cooled off to finish tied for fifth in the league in goals with Colorado. Blanco played very well to open the season, but he seemed disinterested down the stretch. Rolfe emerged late after a poor start, and he remains one of the biggest enigmas in MLS. For the O, the Fire get a B.

Defense

The Fire’s defense, like their offense, had a fantastic year and finished second in the league in goals allowed. It certainly helped that Jon Busch was unbeatable, finishing with a league high 78.2 save percentage. They had a great core and a very dominant season, so they get a A- for their 2008 defense.

Needs

In 2009, the Fire will need to play with more motivation. Blanco needs to play like a real leader and give 100% every game like Schelotto did in 2008. McBride and Rolfe need to overcome nagging injuries and the defense needs to remain formidable. It’s early for predictions, but they will likely make the playoffs in 2009.

Bendito sea "San Cuauhtémoc"!

Cuauhtémoc Blanco anotó un gol de penal y participó en el otro gol de Santos que derrotó la noche del sábado por 2-1 al San Luis y avanzó de esta manera a las semifinales del Apertura mexicano. El marcador global fue de 5-2.

Blanco, el mismo que los hinchas del fútbol aún no deciden si odiar por completo o amar incondicionalmente y que llegó al Santos mexicano en calidad de préstamo desde el Chicago Fire de la Major League Soccer para jugar la liguilla, empató el encuentro a los 82 y tan sólo cuatro minutos después, fue pieza clave en la gestación del segundo gol de su equipo, convertido por el volante argentino Emmanuel Ludueña y que en definitiva le dio el triunfo y el paso a las semifinales al Santos.

El San Luis había abierto el marcador a través de un tiro libre servido por "El Viejo" Patiño.

Santos, de acuerdo a lo que entendemos, se enfrentará al ganador de la serie que disputan Toluca y Tecos mañana Domingo.

Q: Cuánto crees que influyó la llegada de Cuahtémoc Blanco en el funcionamiento del Santos?

Que los jugadores no tienen técnica, que no dan más de cinco pases seguidos, que los partidos son aburridos, que se abusa del pelotazo, que las canchas son de fútbol americano, que los hinchas no tienen pasión. Un sinnúmero de críticas y argumentos. Todo, claro, nos llevan a lo mismo: La MLS es una liga mala.

Pero, es tan así? Cuántos de los críticos saben del desarrollo de esta liga en los últimos años? Cuántos de verdad se han sentado a ver un partido completo? Cuántos de estos han visto jugar a un muy buen equipo como el Columbus Crew esta temporada? O al mismo Chicago Fire.

Cuál es la diferencia entre un Cobreloa vs.Unión Española, Cúcuta vs. Junior de Barranquilla, Aucas vs. Barcelona o Toluca vs. San Luis y un partido New York Red Bulls vs. New England Revolution? De verdad son tan distintos? Y si lo son, por que son mejores los de ese lado del mundo?

Sólo porque nos sentimos dueños del fútbol o porque nuestro nivel es tan alto que da como para que nos riámos de los norteamericanos?

Es cierto que el fútbol de Estados Unidos es menos técnico que el latinoamericano, pero es también cierto que es más rápido y frontal. Los jugadores nuestros buscan el pase preciso, los Americanos prefieren la verticalidad. Los nuestros más pulcros, los Americanos más físicos. Los nuestros no creen mucho en el juego aéreo, los Americanos pasan largos minutos tratando de encontrar cabezas.

Distintos. Ni mejor ni peor. Distintos. Nuestro fútbol y el que se practica en la MLS son diametralmente opuestos. Y cuando se trata de elegir uno u otro, son factores, muchas veces sin ningun tipo de fundamento, los que marcan la diferencia. Que los gringos esto y que los gringos esto otro. Y una vez más; que las canchas, que los hinchas.

Y que pasó con el fútbol Mexicano? O ya todos se olvidan de lo que nos provocaba esa liga hace 15 años? Cuántos escépticos que se rieron de los esfuerzos que los Mexicanos hicieron por mejorar su competencia están ahora, mendigando un contrato con cualquier equipo azteca! Entrenadores, jugadores, representantes, "entendidos".

No creo que la MLS esté a la altura de las grandes ligas del mundo. En lo absoluto. Pero se está moviendo y el hecho que me tenga a mí, incrédulo por naturaleza y amante del buen fútbol, pendiente de sus pasos, algo ha de significar.

One of the two feel-good teams of the year has fulfilled its dream of going to the MLS Cup final. The Columbus Crew defeated the Chicago Fire, 2-1, on Thursday.

The match looked to be a tough matchup and it didn't disappoint. Within the first twenty-five minutes, there had already been tackles and yellow cards shown. Fifteen seconds into the match,Marshall tackled Cuauhtemoc Blanco along the right touchline without a foul being called. Bakary Soumare from the Fire was issued a yellow card in the 22nd minute for tackling Gaven.

It wasn't until the 29th minute that any club scored. Brian McBride powered home one of his famous headers to give the Fire a 1-0 lead. Justin Mapp had floated in a cross toward McBride who easily converted the goal. This was McBride's first match against his former club with an opposing MLS club. Instead of a heart-warming home reunion, banners read "Wanted. McBride. Treason." and chants of "Traitor" could be heard. Any time he was part of the action, McBride was booed.

For the rest of the first half, the Crew could not find a goal. It wasn't until the beginning of the second half that the Crew drew level. A free kick from Schelatto lead to a header goal from Marshall who beat McBride to get the ball. The score was now 1-1.

The match was now in the Crew's favor as they played with a renewed vigor. In the 55th minute, the Crew pulled ahead with another header goal courtesy of Gaven. The Fire attempted to get a goal back, but the Crew held on long enough to win the match 2-1, and advance to the MLS Cup final.

After going 11-2-2 at home during the regular season, the Crew won both playoff games, giving them eight in a row at home, outscoring the visitors 18-3 with five shutouts. Each time the Fire and Crew met during the regular season, the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Both clubs had their own award winners. Chicago had Jon Busch who won MLS Goalkeeper of the Year while Columbus had Marshall who won MLS Defender of the Year.

The next semifinal match between the New York Red Bulls and the other feel-good club, Real Salt Lake, will take place on Saturday. The winner of the match will meet the Columbus Crew in the final.

The first round of the MLS playoffs is in the books and many of my first round predictions were right on the money. I'll recap the first round of the playoffs and break down the next as the four remaining MLS clubs march towards the 2008 MLS Cup.

Columbus Crew v. Kansas City Wizards

Here's what I predicted: Look for a very one-sided series here. Columbus will not lose either leg.

Here's what actually happened: Kansas City managed a 1-1 draw at home, but Columbus topped them by a score of 2-0 in the second leg. The Crew didn't lose either game as I predicted and won the series by a 3-1 aggregate score.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto returned from injury in this series and helped lead Columbus to a big win of the Wizards. The Argentinian star keeps adding to his MVP credentials and with a good showing in the next round, could very well wrap up the award.

Chicago Fire v. New England Revolution

Here's what I predicted: Chicago will take this series, drawing at New England and winning big in front of the home fans.

Here's what actually happened: Chicago and New England played to a nil-nil draw in Foxboro. The Fire then returned home to Bridgeview and beat the Revolution 3-0 in primetime on Thursday night.

Chris Rolfe led the way for the Fire with a goal and an assist on Thursday as Chicago dominated every facet of the game. Their win sets up a clash of Eastern Conference heavyweights in the conference finals.

Chivas USA v. Real Salt Lake

Here's what I predicted: Chivas should be able to win this series without too much trouble from Salt Lake.

Here's what actually happened: Boy, was I wrong on this one. Chivas lost in Salt Lake and drew 2-2 in Los Angeles. Apparently the momentum that Salt Lake had after their dramatic result in the regular season finale against Colorado carried over into their playoff series with Chivas.

While Chivas was the squad with talented US international youngsters Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan, Salt Lake surprised them thanks to some inspired play from Dema Kovalenko.

Houston Dynamo v. New York Red Bulls

Here's what I predicted: Houston should dominate the home leg, New York will struggle to score in both legs. Houston advances.

Here's what actually happened: New York pulled off the upset of the season, that's what happened. After winning exactly one game on the road all season, New York thrashed the defending MLS champs 3-0 in Houston to advance to the Western Conference Final. New York did struggle to score in the first leg, but so did Houston. The series ended 4-1 in favor of the Red Bulls.

Juan Pablo Angel scored a goal in each leg of the first round, and Dane Richards and John Wolyniec added goals to finish off Houston in the second round.

For Houston, a season that started slowly ends in disappointment. Although the Dynamo didn't look like the defending champs for the early part of the season, they had appeared to round into form before the start of the playoffs.

New York will be thrilled with the result as they barely squeaked into the playoffs in the first place. Had DC beaten Columbus in their season finale, New York would be on the outside looking in. Now they're playing for a berth in the MLS Cup Final.

Eastern Conference Final: Chicago at Columbus

Season series: Chicago won the season series 1-0-2

Playoff series overview: Columbus may be in serious trouble here despite posting the best record in MLS during the regular season.

Trouble, thy name is Brian McBride.

The Crew only faced McBride once during the three-game regular season series, and he torched them for two goals back in October. He's got a huge height advantage over the Columbus back line and Chicago's wingers will attempt to exploit that by pouring in the crosses. Blanco, Segares, and company are excellent passers and Columbus will need a great game out of their defense to advance to the MLS Cup Final.

The Crew should also have their hands full trying to put shots past Chicago's Jon Busch, the 2008 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. Busch tied for the league lead with 10 shutouts this season and also posted a respectable 1.10 goals against average.

Columbus goalkeeper William Hesmer will be anxious to pit himself against his counterpart. Hesmer also posted ten shutouts, but likely lost the Goalkeeper of the Year Award to Busch based on a slightly higher goal against average.

This series should be a very exciting one to watch from an offensive perspective as well. It pits Columbus' talented and creative Guillermo Barros Schelotto against Chicago's equally talented and creative Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Blanco continues to make his mark as one of the best players in MLS history while Schelotto has been impressive in his own right in two short seasons with Columbus.

Prediction: Chicago wins a tight one 3-2 thanks to their trio of McBride, Blanco, and Chris Rolfe.

Western Conference Final: New York at Salt Lake

Season series: New York won the season series 1-0-1

Playoff series overview: This is a series showcasing two teams riding a considerable amount of momentum. Which team will be able to sustain that? Will Real Salt Lake finally come back down to earth after their exciting entrance to the playoffs? Will Juan Pablo Angel be able to maintain his impressive playoff form in his first ever MLS playoff appearance? Will the drug suspensions finally catch up with New York?

On paper, New York has the edge. But then again, on paper, neither one of these teams should have advanced this far. Because of this you can expect to see two teams with nothing to lose giving an all-out effort to reach the final.

Prediction: At this point in the playoffs, I don't think we can expect the upset bug to strike twice in a row. New York wins this one in extra time, 2-1.

It took four years but the Chicago Fire finally knocked the New England Revolution out of the MLS playoffs.

The Fire comfortable defeated a weakened Revolution 3-0 on Thursday to advance to the conference finals against either the Columbus Crew or the Kansas City Wizards, who will play the second leg of their conference semifinal series on Saturday. The first leg finished in a 1-1 draw.

The Fire scored two goals on either side of half-time to put this game out of reach of New England.

The Fire were able to break through in the second minute of injury time when Chris Rolfe knocked home the opener after Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis spilled a shot from Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Reis' mistake showed why he was not voted goalkeeper of the year by MLS.

Then four minutes into the second half Chicago doubled their lead when a Justin Mapp free kick was met by Wilman Conde who header found the lower left corner of the net sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

Gonzalo Segares put the finishing touches on an impressive Fire win by knocking home a cross from Rolfe in the 74th minute to give Chicago its 3-0 margin of victory.

The Fire, who out shot the Revolution 14-8 in the game, were by far the better team over the two legs and I expect them to play the Columbus Crew in the conference final.

It took four years but the Chicago Fire finally knocked the New England Revolution out of the MLS playoffs.

The New England Revolution and Chicago Fire drew 0-0 in the first leg of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Thursday night at Foxboro Stadium. Chicago now are firm favorites to advance to the Eastern Conference finals with the return leg taking place November 6th in Chicago ( Buy NE at Chicago Tickets).

The Revolution have knocked Chicago out of postseason each of the last three years, including twice in the conference championship, but this is Revolution team that is decimated by injury and suspension. Last night the Revolution were playing without injured captain Steve Ralston (broken leg) and forward Taylor Twellman (concussion-like symptoms), while midfielder Khano Smith was suspended two matches by the league for what it called “an egregious challenge” on Kansas City Wizards forward Herculez Gomez last weekend.

“It’s the playoffs, I hope guys step up,” said NE goalkeeper Matt Reis. “We got to play our best otherwise it’s going to be an early exit. Like I said, (Revolution coach Steve Nicol) brought us in, we have a game plan going, and we followed it and we really did good job out there.”

Chicago Fire coach Denis Hamlett was happy with the tie:

“We are glad to be going home and use the home field to our advantage. That is why we fought so hard during the year to finish in second place. We need to get back home and take care of business. We knew that they were going to put a competitive team on the field. They are still the defending Eastern Conference champions. We knew that this was going to be a hard game. We didn’t come in here thinking that with missing all these guys that it was going to be an easy game, because if we did that, we would have basically just set ourselves up for failure.”

Five yellow cards were distributed in this one. Midfielders Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Logan Pause and defender Bakary Soumare were carded for Chicago, while forward Kenny Mansally and midfielder Mauricio Castro were also issued yellow cards.

MLS Fan Sites Reports

• Chicagoland Soccer News
• Windy City Soccer
• New England Soccer News

Well,

• (46:13) T&T is attacking already. Luckily for the US, they were offsides.
• (48:22) Holy shit we are getting homecooked. Altidore is called offsides, but the replay tells a different tale. How many times will this happen? Hopefully, that’ll be the last one.
• (55:08) Yorke plays a nice corner in, and the US clears it out. Scotland (again) gets the ball back and takes a shot on goal but (again) he’s wide.
• (57:45) Altidore is taken down. No call.
• (60:11) I am really liking what I am seeing from Orozco. He looks very calm, cool and collected out there. He easily stopped Scotland from getting a shot off.
• (62:40) Goooooooooooaaaaaaaallllllll… But not for the “good guys”. T&T 1 - US 0
• (63:00) Carlos Edwards played a beautiful ball to the far post. Latapy scores on a goal I can’t even really describe. But I’ll try. Guzan deflects the ball, it takes a sketchy bounce and hits off the post… Then… yes… then it hits Guzan’s back and rolls into the net. Wow.
• (64:37) T&T almost scores again… Wow, the wheels are falling off.
• (66:00) Adu throws up a hail mary. It’s a little early for that, isn’t it Freddy?
• (66:01) Stern John is coming on for T&T. MLS fans everywhere rejoice.
• (71:34) Davies has been subbed in for Adu. Geez, Bob. If I was trying to score a goal to tie this thing, I think I would have left Freddy in…
• (75:14) Davies has scored in his first 4 minutes. Talk about fresh legs. T&T 1 - US 1
• (76:00) Charlie got the goal, but it really belonged to Altidore. I am still confused about how he didn’t lose the ball. To make a long story short, Altidore slammed into a couple of defenders and miraculously kept the ball. The keeper was forced out, and Altidore just laid it past him to the side for Davies to blast into an open net.
• (78:44) Orozco is my man of the match so far. He stymied T&T again. That Edwards is Dangerous. Note the Capital D.
• (79:57) Altidore has gone from hero to goat in a matter of five minutes. He’s called for a penalty in the box. Dwight Yorke (predictably) converts the penalty. T&T 2 - US 1
• (80:00) The crowd has gone from feeling dejected to insane with euphoria. Earning a draw here would be nice, but would we get out alive?  Oh and by the way, Altidore has also been booked.
• (81:13) The US is on the attack. Pearce looks like maybe he should switch with Edu. That guy can flat out run.
• (84:55) Davies and Altidore almost combine again for a goal, but the shot is wide.
• (85:10) Szetela is (finally) coming on. Altidore is out. He’s dead tired, and he’s got a card.
• (86:07) We’ve injured another player. Well, either that or he’s just lying down because its 98 degrees and he’s tired and he and his team would like a short breather before running out the clock. You be the judge.
• (89:00) Chris Rolfe will come on now too. Suddenly Bradley is like a t-ball coach. “Hey kids, everybody gets to play!!!”
• (Extra Time) We’ll have another 180 seconds apparently. Let’s hope for something magic, truly athletic or lucky. Well, let’s just hope for lucky I guess.
• (180 Seconds Later) Well, nothing magic or lucky happened. Not much athletic happened the whole game for the US. Overall, you have to be impressed with Davies. He played well (but not enough). Jozy is electric, that’s undisputed. But he’s also prone to making big errors. Both his assets and detriments were on display tonight. I actually thought Adu should have stayed in. He was playing better than Beasley and Kljestan. Torres was unremarkable, and don’t even get me started on Edu. I did like what I saw out of Califf and Orozco. Pearce needs polishing, but he could be a big contributor come 2010. Hejduk just doesn’t need to play so much. Frankie is a grinder, and I love him, but it’s time for Bradley to start thinking about the future. 2010. What I’m saying is: Wynne needs minutes.

Overall, we played OK. This was basically our B Team, and they showed some heart coming back from 0-1 on the road in a tough venue. T&T flat out played a better game. Now, the US did lose two huge opportunities to bad offsides calls. But, no excuses. A loss, yes. A learning experience?

I hope.

FINAL SCORE T&T 2 - US 1

We are red and white (Whoooah)

We are red and white (Whoooah)

We are red and white, we’re the f***** dynamite!

The hype and excitement in Toyota Park before the match had even kicked off was incredible. Despite a crushing loss to FC Dallas last weekend, Chicago Fire supporters were in good voice as they waited for Blanco to lead out the Fire for one of their last home games of the season.

I had only been to the home of the Chicago Fire on two occasions prior to Thursday night, and on neither occasion was there an atmosphere like there was when the Fire hosted the LA Galaxy in what was a vital match for both sides.

The Galaxy, buoyed by their 5-2 romp past DC United over the weekend, were looking to continue their push for a playoff spot with just four regular season games remaining. Meanwhile, the Chicago Fire were hoping to end their recent slump and solidify their playoff spot.

The section behind the goal at the south side of the stadium is notorious for making a lot of noise during Fire games, but I was unaware of how tremendous of an atmosphere they created until I had experienced it firsthand. There wasn’t a quiet moment the entire match and by half-time I was already beginning to lose my voice. I participated in as many chants as possible, even the ones in Spanish.

VAMOS! La maquina roja...Esta noche…Tenemos que ganar...

For the Spanish illiterate, this chant translates to ‘We GO! It plots it red… This night… We have to win’… or something to that effect (after three years of learning Spanish I still struggle to understand it sometimes!).

The fans were still in good voice as the match got underway following a delayed kick-off.

With Chicago Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch standing between the posts at my end of the field, chants directed at the number one goalkeeper were inevitable.

Four more years, four more years, four more years…we want Busch, we want Busch, we want Busch!

The Fire started the match strongly and it wasn’t long before they grabbed the game’s opening goal. John Thorrington held the ball up for Chris Rolfe, who beat a couple of defenders before firing the ball into the lower left hand corner of the goal to give the Fire a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.

Fans across the stadium, especially in my section, went ballistic as soon as Rolfe’s shot hit the back of the net. After seeing our team be thrashed by FC Dallas last weekend, we were desperate to see the Fire redeem themselves tonight.

Our hopes took a major blow a few minutes before half-time, however, when Eddie Lewis got in front of his defender to flick Chris Klein’s cross inside the far post to level the scores at 1-1. Despite seeing the Fire’s lead cancelled out, nothing could dampen the atmosphere.

The second half began with the Fire searching for a goal and ten minutes after the restart Fire supporters went into ecstasy once again. Cuauhtemoc Blanco capitalized on a mix-up between Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Wicks and defender Troy Roberts, slotting the ball into an empty net from thirty yards out to give the Fire the lead for the second time in the match.

Clap, clap-clap, clap, clap-clap, clap-clap, clap…We love you Fi-re we do, we love you Fi-re, we do, we love you Fi-re, we do, Oh Fire we love you!

Every supporter in the stadium went ballistic after Blanco had given the Fire the lead, but little did they know, it was about to get even better. Two minutes later Gonzalo Segares’ through ball sent Chris Rolfe clear on goal and the Chicago Fire striker made no mistake, netting his second goal of the game.

With a two goal advantage and momentum on their side, everyone appeared confident the Fire would hold on for the win. Various chants echoed from my section, including one I couldn’t help but smile at.

Late last night while we were all in bed Miss O’Leary left a lantern in the shed…When the cow tipped it over she winked her eye and said “It will be a hot time in the old town tonight” FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

Whoever said American soccer fans lacked passion? And the notion that MLS fans are not creative is complete nonsense in my opinion.

At random intervals during the match the entire fan section behind the goal would point to the east side of the stadium and yell, “East side, east side, east side, east side, east side,” until they had attained the east side of the stadium’s attention. The chant then went like this:

WHO’S THE BEST? -- FIRE!

WHOOO? -- FIRE!

WHOOO? -- FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!

The final whistle was met with loud cheers from all 20,156 people in the stadium, except for the Galaxy and David Beckham supporters, of course. Following the match and on the drive home I found myself reflecting on what had been a truly memorable experience. It’s not every night I get to go watch one of my favorite sports teams in action.

The experience also reminded me of how far US soccer has come in recent years. The passion and enthusiasm throughout Toyota Park was as good as any other professional sporting event I’ve ever been to, if not even better.

Watching the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on numerous outings was always an enjoyable occasion, but the atmosphere doesn’t compare with what I experienced in Toyota Park. Sitting near half court at the United Center watching the Chicago Bulls was also special, but it too didn’t compare with sitting, more like standing behind the goal at Toyota Park.  

The Fire v. Galaxy match was an incredible experience and I felt inspired to share my experience with others. Seeing David Beckham wasn’t half as good as seeing the Fire stroll to a 3-1 win, but it was still special to see a player who once held a special place in my heart for his contributions for Manchester United.

I can hardly wait for the next time I have the opportunity to go watch the Chicago Fire or any MLS game for that matter. There is no feeling that can compare with knowing that you are, in a sense, a very small part of the progression of soccer in the United States.

So until the next Chicago Fire game rolls around, I will be doing whatever I can to continue to encourage the development of soccer in the United States.

The MLS has a not-so-subtle way of telling you who the best players they employ are. If you're a FOX Sports Net or Gol TV devotee, you'll tend to hear the term "designated player" thrown around every now and then, most likely in reference to some highly coveted foreign import coming over from a European league. The other, even less subtle way of telling you, is by doing a little research into what players fetch in terms of salary.

Most MLS athletes not set aside for "designated player" classification make around $12-17,000 a year. David Beckham's guaranteed salary for 2008, on the other hand, is 6.5 million dollars. While spending most of his time in La-La-land cavorting with Tom Cruise at parties and helping his wife choose outfits on Rodeo Drive, he's managed to score 5 goals and pass for 10 assists in 24 games since arriving in the summer of 2007. $1.3 million dollars a goal aside, Beckham's grand contribution to American soccer is measured more so in the amount of revenue he creates for the league, with his bubbly persona and his famous friends, the man is more of a celebrity than a footballer, more Stallone than Pelé in "Victory".

Beckham makes more than twice as much money as his nearest competition, Mexican striker Cuauhtémoc Blanco. The Chicago Fire forward came to the league at around the same time that Beckham did, with only the Latino community buzzing over his incorporation to the league (as well as most Chicago Fire fans in general). In theory, Los Angeles was making the safer bet. David Beckham was coming off a resurgent final season at Real Madrid, the world's most decorated soccer team, where he helped the club triumphantly win La Liga in the final weeks of the season and was being wooed by Real execs to delay his move to the USA. Blanco, on the other hand, had come off a disappointing championship series with his team, CF América, against eventual champs Pachuca, limping his way through his final season at the club, showing signs of slowing down after playing and starting in all 19 games before eventually coming up short.

A year since then, Blanco has netted 8 goals and passed for 13 assists in 33 games, been nominated for the MLS MVP award, scored the goal of the season for 2007, and - playing on the same team as Beckham for the first time ever - scored in the MLS All-Star Game and took home the Man of the Match award for that contest. Alexi Lalas, former US National Team defender - and the man responsible for bringing Beckham to LA - was fired in mid-August as the team floundered in fifth place of its conference (and in red finances), while Blanco's Chicago Fire was just two points from first place in their conference.

In today's MLS, both of them are able to coexist in a league most Americans at best don't care about or at worst don't know about, with Beckham serving as the unofficial "Ambassador of Soccer" to the casual fan who is more likely to recognize him as "that guy in the magazines" than as a footballer; and Blanco quietly serving as the main football attraction in the country, flicks and tricks aside, showcasing skills and speed uncommon for even the spriest 35 year old surrounded by 25 year old players.

And meanwhile, the MLS can debate internally how swarms of paparazzi taking pictures of Posh Spice daily will help the league, while Blanco helps it one quality performance at a time.