How many times do you have a chance for two gala celebrations the same week?

This is the delightful circumstance in which the Seattle Sounders found themselves Saturday night in Kansas City following a tough and exciting 2-1 triumph over the host Wizards.  This was the identical score by which the team’s initial celebratory triumph was achieved Tuesday night in Seattle.

On Tuesday evening the Sounders came from behind on two Sanna Nyassi goals to defeat the visiting Columbus Crew in the finals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Tournament.  Gambian star midfielder Nyassi had notched his first MLS goal in a 3-2 win over Toronto last Saturday.

It had taken two years for Nyassi to notch his first MLS goal last week.  Now he is on a virtual tear with the two scores against Columbus Tuesday followed by his team’s first goal Saturday after the teams went into halftime scoreless.

The fates were smiling on the Sounders for Nyassi to be available for action Saturday.  He had earlier been called into action by the Gambia National Team.  Eager to help his team in Seattle’s successful defense of the U.S. Open Cup title it won last season, he missed a an important preparation camp the Gambia team held in Belgium.  

Since Nyassi had missed significant preparation it was concluded that his chances would be small of engaging in action.  He therein decided to travel with the Sounders to Kansas City for a match that offered a chance of clinching the Sounders’ second playoff bid in a row.  

Nyassi’s goal came in the 66th minute.  It resulted after Nate Jaqua, who had entered the action one minute earlier, played him into the box.  The scenario was another case of the soccer second opportunity rule.  Be alert and you may get a second chance if your first attempt fails to succeed.   

This is what occurred with Nyassi.  His first shot was stopped by Wizard goalkeeper Jimmy Nielson with a spectacular diving effort.  In the process the ball rebounded back to Nyassi, who was not about to miss a second successive chance and drilled the ball into the net.

Sounders Coach Sigi Schmid netted immediate results with a Jaqua assist on the first goal.  Another substitute, Uruguayan Alvaro Fernandez, who entered the match in the 78th minute, produced what turned out to be the game’s decider.   Fernandez rolled a left-footed shot under Nielson for his second goal in MLS play after entering play in the 75th minute.

Kansas City gave its partisan faithful numbering 11,522 an opportunity to cheer in the closing stages of play.  After Jeff Parke was ticketed for a foul in the box on Teal Bunbury, Davy Arnaud stepped up to take the penalty kick.

Kasey Keller guessed correctly and dove to his right.  Arnaud slammed home a beauty, however, driving the ball into the far corner of the net to bring the score to 2-1, after which the Sounders were able to milk the clock for the remainder of regulation play and stoppage time.

While the Sounders extended their record to 13-9-6 and 45 points with the victory, KC has now lost three in a row and stands at 9-12-6 with 33 points.  The home team, realizing that a victory was badly needed to stay in the playoff hunt, started fast and put plenty of pressure on the visitors in the first half.

On the evening Kansas City held a commanding 18-8 advantage in shots.  The teams were equal with on goal shots at 3-3.  Both sides were called for 16 fouls.

Sounders FC became the third team in MLS history to qualify for the playoffs in its first two seasons, achieving the same feat as Chicago and Miami in 1998 and 1999 respectively.  Seattle continues to be the hottest team in MLS play with victories in its last four league encounters and a glossy 9-1-2 mark over 12 matches.  It has surpassed the team’s 2009 win total.

Schmid had at a much earlier point in the season set 45 points as the milestone that he believed would put his team in the playoffs.  

“We want to do more than just qualify for the playoffs,” Schmid said afterwards.  “We qualified last year.”

Sounders General Manager Adrian Hanauer was thinking in the same vein, saying, “Hopefully we do more damage than we did last year.”

The Sounders return to the Xbox Pitch of Qwest Field for two matches.  The first is a friendly with powerful CD Chivas de Guadalajara Tuesday night.  On Friday evening Seattle faces Chivas USA in MLS play.

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Harrison, NJ—Playing possibly their worst home game of the season, the New York Red Bulls tied the defending MLS Champions Real Salt Lake to a scoreless draw.

In a match where a win would have extended their Eastern Conference lead to four points, the Red Bulls had to settle for a two point lead over second place Columbus Crew.

An audience of 20,829 witnessed the home team physically bullied by the MLS version of the "Bad Boys." The duo of Andy Williams and Alvaro Saborio established their thuggish tendencies as they pushed and bumped the Red Bulls players around.

To the Red Bulls credit, they weren't intimidated. Despite taking more shots and corner kicks than Real, the Red Bulls failed to find the net as they only mustered two shots on goal against the defending champs. Today was a game where the Red Bulls clearly missed Dane Richards who was away on international duty for Jamaica.

In a game where the Red Bulls needed their designated players to produce goals, the trio of Juan Pablo Angel, Thierry Henry, and Rafa Marquez combined for one shot on goal. Second in the league in scoring, Juan Pablo possibly had his worst performance of the season. Despite his effort to attack the ball, Juan Pablo was simply half a step behind the entire game. In layman terms, his game was simply off.

While Thierry Henry marveled the audience with his brilliant ball handling skills, he wasn't able to breakdown Real's defense so he could aggressively attack. After sitting out last week to injury, Rafa Marquez may have returned too soon as he was manhandled by Real's forward, Alvaro Saborio, throughout the game.

Despite the poor performance of the Red Bulls trio, other players played a marvelous game. Rookie of the Year candidate, Tim Ream, constantly disrupted any fast break Real Salt Lake would make with his marvelous defense. Second overall pick of the MLS Super Draft, Tony Tchani continues to demonstrate his potential as he's blossoming offensively.

Playing his third game following his trade from the Colorado Rapids, Mehdi Ballouchy continues to razzle-dazzle Red Bull fans with his passes and smart play. Playing in place of Bouna Coundoul, goalkeeper Greg Sutton was fortunate that the ball hit the post twice instead of finding the net.

With today's tie against Real, the Red Bulls have eliminated their chances of claiming the MLS Supporter's Shield. With their two more games in the regular season,  they still have an outside shot of having the second best record in MLS. However, both Real Salt Lake and Dallas FC have to lose their remaining games while the Red Bulls win theirs.

On a day where the home team failed to produce a win, Red Bulls fans can be grateful the team has reversed their fortunes as they currently remain in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 14-8-6 record.

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for Latino Sports. Please feel free to send him your questions and comments to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Turn back the clock to April 17 at the Xbox Pitch of Qwest Field. The Seattle Sounders, seeking an important home win to help set seasonal momentum, received a disappointment when a Brad Evans' goal was disallowed for offsides in a scoreless tie with the Kansas City Wizards.  

Never mind what Mike Fucito was thinking. He had the opportunity to score a game winner. The Harvard University second year player who had been the Ivy League’s leading scorer his senior season had been inserted by Coach Sigi Schmid late in the action and gained a grand opportunity late in the injury time period.

The same Brad Evans whose earlier goal had been disallowed tossed in a pass to Fucito, who then produced one of the magic moments in the Sounders’ two season history.  Fucito drilled the game’s only score into the net in the 92nd minute.

The celebration was launched as Evans and then other teammates congratulated Fucito on the first goal of his MLS career. It was especially memorable in that only a tiny handful of players ever notched game winners in overtime for their first ever goals in MLS play.

Kansas City battled to the end and almost tied the match at virtually the final whistle.  It took a diving stop by alert goalkeeper Kasey Keller to preserve the win. Keller explained afterwards what had occurred.

“We thought that the game was over,” the veteran goalkeeper noted.

So now the Sounders are pitted Saturday against the same Kansas City team in the rematch of the earlier nail biter, this time at the Wizards’ home stadium of Community/America Ballpark with action set to begin at 5:30 p.m. PT.  

Fucito may receive an opportunity to supply the kind of fireworks he generated in the earlier April match in Seattle. After brilliant CONCACAF play with a goal in the Sounders’ 3-2 loss at Monterrey, and two tallies in the 2-0 home win over Marathon, an ankle injury in the latter contest temporarily sidelined the Massachusetts player.

After Seattle’s final workout prior to leaving for Kansas City, Schmid said regarding Fucito, “He’ll actually travel with us. He’ll be on the 18 (player roster).”

Fucito was on fire prior to his temporary injury derailment. Sanna Nyassi is on a current scoring hot steak, as evidenced by his game deciding goal in the MLS 3-2 win over Toronto last Saturday, and delivering both netters Tuesday night in the 2-0 triumph over Columbus in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup finale.

The victory, achieved before the home fans, enabled the Sounders to become the only team in MLS history to repeat as U.S. Open Cup champs.

After describing Seattle’s U.S. Open Cup triumph as a “wonderful night,” Schmid returned to the business of the Kansas City match:

“(UCLA basketball coaching great John) Wooden always said for every up game you are going to have a down game. Sometimes that has happened but I think we have shown good character. We have had to play a lot of games. I can’t remember the last time we didn’t have a game in the middle of the week. So it’s going to be unusual when that happens, if that ever happens.

“We know what’s at stake this weekend. Our team is prepared for that. It’s a desperate situation for Kansas City because they need the points. We know that with a win or a tie we secure a playoff spot. I think our team will be prepared. It might take us a few minutes to get into the game but we will be ready.”

As for the challenge of playing at Kansas City, Schmid commented:

“It’s a tough field to play on. I think that’s the main thing with Kansas City. It’s not so much their desperateness. The surface is tremendous. It’s a good grass surface. But the field is so small. You end up either in front of your goal or in front of their goal because the field is only like 104 yards long.

“In fact, when I paced off the 18-yard box last year, it was only 17 yards long and 17 yards wide from the post. So they actually made that shorter to make the field look a little bigger. . . .Not only are they a good team and a good team offensively, not only are they a hungry, desperate team, but it also is being played on a field that lends itself to being a bang-bang brawl type of game.”

Some good news has been received regarding Nyassi. The midfielder had been called up by the Gambia National Team. Nyassi postponed leaving Seattle to play in the historic U.S. Open Cup match. Since he missed the camp that the Gambia National Team held in Belgium, Schmid explained that the chances of Nyassi playing “were not great.”

As a result, Nyassi has remained with the Sounders and will be in action Saturday night.  This brings joy to the hearts of Sounders faithful in view of Nyassi’s recent superb play.

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On October 7, 2010, a new connection from midfielder to striker was born on the virgin grounds of PPL Park in the city of Chester, Pennsylvania.

The name: The Buddlebeck Connection.

The Buddlebeck Connection is a combination of Edson Buddle and David Beckham. The 37th minute set piece off a corner in front of the River End and the Sons of Ben told the story on a cool autumn night on the East Coast, where Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy defeated Peter Nowak's Philadelphia Union 1-0 before a crowd of 18,779.

The goal was Buddle's 16th of the season and the assist was Beckham's first of the year.

Aside from applying much needed pressure on Real Salt Lake in the ongoing race for the Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield, Los Angeles (17-6-5, 56 points) can credit their backline for putting on one of their better outings this year.

“It was a good win for us,” Arena said. “We didn’t play particularly well, but the short week and having to travel cross-country, having played Sunday night made for a tough week.

"[It was] one of those games where we certainly know on the road if we get a goal, we're going to try to get off the field 1-0 and we got that accomplished.

“At this point of the season, points are important for us. It was a big win on the road. We’re in good position with two games to go. We’d certainly like to finish on top of the west and win the Supporters' Shield. We have control of those things at this time.”

Donovan Ricketts, who earned his 11th shutout of the season while making key saves in the 73rd and 75th minutes, gets my man of the match.

You know, if this match were held at Victoria Street (and it isn't because MLS utilizes a home-and-home schedule in tune with the rest of the world's leagues), the Big Cat from Montego Bay would be handing the home fans some well deserved chicken from Pollo Campero.

Landon Donovan didn't have that consistent of a game tonight. It was more of a stroll for him, as he opted to let the rest of the team dictate the pace of the match. He did have a chance with a one-on-one opportunity and shifted gears in the latter stages of the second half.

The group of players on the pitch in the white strip that stepped up was Ricketts and the back line. Yep, you guessed it: it was that combo of Sean Franklin, A.J. De La Garza, Todd Dunivant, and Omar Gonzalez that had its share of bad raps and good ones.

This time, they carried Los Angeles on their shoulders on a night where the midfield played mediocre, and the forwards still couldn't finish, aside from the 37th minute strike.

“It was a very good defensive effort,” Arena remarked. “We didn’t produce a whole lot going forward but, again, we did enough to get the goal and keep them on their heels a bit at times. [It was] one of those games where we were going to take the three points on the road like that.”

I'm still waiting for Galaxy manager to give the 4-5-1 the ol' Bradley try because with Sebastien Le Toux having his chances on goal, the Galaxy would have taken some second half possession away from the Union with the 4-5-1. Put Buddle as your striker, Donovan and Beckham in the middle. I will be a bit shocked if Arena stays the course heading into what will be a couple of challenging matches at the Home Depot Center to close the regular season.

Hopefully Fred is all right after suffering a huge gash in the first half of action. I still have respect for this player, who was a key ingredient in the success of the Melbourne Victory a few years back in the A-League. Quite an unfortunate incident, a gruesome one. Hopefully he will be fine.

With the Union in their rear view mirror, Los Angeles has a nine-day layoff before their match with the Colorado Rapids, an opponent that will more than likely punch their ticket to the playoffs. As a matter of fact, when you add the finale on Oct. 24 against FC Dallas, you now have two big home ties that will serve as a preview to the postseason action.

So now, ladies and gentlemen, this is what it all boils down to. The winner of the Supporters' Shield takes care of its opposition on a consistent basis, be it mediocre or Anschutz contender.

I can tell you this much: there will be a lot of Angelinos with Red Bull cans in their hands this Saturday...

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Greetings, everyone. This is the very first Play-By-Play (and Other Miscellany) that will be posted using Bleacher Report's very own Live Blog feature. My name is Jo-Ryan Salazar, the Los Angeles Galaxy's Featured Columnist. In the past, I used to compile this in one fell swoop, but starting today, I plan to make this a live play-by-play. I hope you enjoy this live blog, and I thank you for following the Galaxy and Major League Soccer on Bleacher Report.

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Saturday afternoon in an important match against Toronto FC at the Xbox Pitch of Qwest Field, Gambian midfielder Sanna Nyassi scored the first goal of his MLS career in helping lead his Seattle Sounders teammates to a 3-2 victory.

After the match Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said tongue-in-cheek, “After congratulating Sanna I told him we don’t want to wait two years for another goal.”

The two years involved the time that it took the 21-year-old to achieve his first goal.  With the scene moving forward to the same Qwest Field venue Tuesday night Nyassi was primed for more goals in the Sounders’ defense of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup they won last year.

The talk all week in Seattle was that the championship match would set a tournament record and it did as 31,311 turned out to robustly root the home team to victory.  The  previous attendance record in the 97 years of the tournament was 21,583 for the 1929 game in Brooklyn.

Nyassi scored both goals in a tough, intensely contested defensive struggle won by the Sounders 2-1 against the same Columbus Crew team that they dispatched impressively 4-0 September 18 on the Crew’s home pitch.   

Schmid, who had coached at Columbus prior to assuming the Sounders’ reins when the franchise began last season, had said that the Crew is a proud team and would be determined to show it is much better than the overwhelming, earlier defeat against Sounders FC.

“They want to prove that they are a better team and they are,” Schmid said.

The Crew commenced play looking focused and ready for business.  Columbus left an early calling card for the Sounders with a goal in the 24th minute by Kevin Burns.  Frankie Hejduk got behind the Seattle back line.  He sent a cross to Steven Lenhart, who dropped a pass to Burns in the middle of the box.  Burns' left-footed shot beat a diving Kasey Keller inside the far post.

Nyassi then moved into action in concert with fellow midfielder Nate Sturgis to knot the count.  Sturgis delivered one of the best crosses of the season August 28 to enable Fredy Montero to garner the winning score in a 2-1 home victory over Chicago.  Tuesday he was more than up to the challenge of repeating that feat.  

With strong defenses bolstered by two of the top goalkeepers in MLS in Kasey Keller for the Sounders and William Hesmer for the Crew, at halftime with the score even at 1-1 it appeared that one more goal might be enough to snare the U.S. Open Cup Trophy.  This turned out to be the case.

In the 66th minute Nyassi drilled home the title decider.  It came with an assist from, of all sources, the crossbar.  The interesting as well as exciting play came after teammate Steve Zakuani headed a shot off the crossbar.  

With Zakuani’s shot moving toward him, Crew goalkeeper Hesmer reacted by leaping into the air as the ball surged above him and hit the crossbar.  Nyassi took advantage of one of the cardinal rules of soccer of being near the goal at the right time with the opposing goalkeeper having committed himself.  

With Hesmer unable to react, Nyassi was opportunistic as the ball sprang toward him.  He  drilled the shot that prompted champagne bottles to open a short time later in the Sounders’ celebratory dressing room.

Sounders FC’s triumph resulted in the first back-to-back U.S. Open Cup triumph in 27 years.  The New York Pancyprian Freedoms won back-to-back titles in 1982-83.  The Sounders defeated D.C. United in the 2009 final.  The team stands on the cusp of a return to the postseason playoffs with 42 points.  

This is a game where the hot hand rules, and successful teams take advantage of this with players rotating whomever is on a scoring surge.  This season when the Sounders offense came alive, the surge began with Fredy Montero and Steve Zakuani.  Recently Swiss National Team and Dutch League designated player Blaise Nkufo has been on fire with five goals in the team’s key victories against Columbus (where he scored a hat trick) Chicago, and Toronto.  

For the moment that hot hand now belongs to Nyassi.  He scored the third and ultimately  deciding goal in the 3-2 win over Toronto Saturday, then continued his run with the two tallies that brought his team the U.S. Open Cup Trophy on Tuesday.

The determined Ohio team nearly tied the match in the closing minutes.  A Robbie Rogers eight-yard drive hit the underside of the crossbar.

When the final whistle blew the celebration began.  The crowd roared when Schmid took the mike and saluted Seattle fans as “the greatest” in soccer.  It saluted a delighted Kasey Keller, shouting the 40-year-old team captain’s name repeatedly.  Meanwhile Sounders players took turns hoisting the trophy proudly.

It was a night to remember in the Emerald City.

Seattle is undefeated at 9-0-1 in 10 Open Cup-related matches. Sounders FC is 11-1-3 in its last 15 domestic (MLS and Open Cup) matches and is unbeaten in its last nine (7-0-2) at home in MLS and Open Cup play.

Sounders FC return to league play Saturday with a road engagement against the Kansas City Wizards.  Action will begin at 5:30 PT.

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There are two areas that the Los Angeles Galaxy's Bruce Arena feels will accelerate the club's progress to becoming the finished product.

Those two areas? Speed and passing.

Two of the key fundamentals behind sound ball control were the lesson of the day during Monday's training session at the Home Depot Center.

The week also saw defender Gregg Berhalter return to the pitch after being sidelined due to a neck injury and viral infection.

When asked about the upcoming match against the Philadelphia Union, Bruce Arena noted the challenges of playing in a venue like PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania:

"It will be tough," Arena said. "It's probably not a well-planned schedule in that sense. You play a match on Sunday night and travel cross country for a Thursday game, but it is what it is and the light at the end of the tunnel is that we have eight days, nine days off until out next game.

"I wouldn't say [Philadelphia] are a lesser team. I think that's a lesson to be learned from the league this year. I think Colorado can tell you that. I think Salt Lake can probably tell you from [their 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution on October 2], where they faced a really tough team.

"This game's going to be a real battle for 90 minutes and there's gonna be nothing easy about it. We gotta recover properly and get 11 guys on the field Thursday there that are ready to fight and scrap.

"I think at the time of year, any time you win a game, it's something you should experience in a positive way, and I think we have. The nice part of the game [on Sunday against Chivas USA] is that we dealt with a lot of adversity. We had to deal with a lot of poor decisions by the officials and we had to fight and scrap to get the three points, and we did that, so that's a positive.

"We all had in mind last week that these were two games that were going to come fast, and we wanted to sort of prepare for both," said team captain Landon Donovan on Monday. "The first one is now out of the way, and today we're in for a little treatment and we travel tomorrow, so it's gonna come fast.

"There's two parts: you physically have to get yourself back quickly, and with travel, it makes it difficult. Then, after especially an emotional and exciting game against Chivas it's how you get yourself going. But fortunately, we're playing in Philly, which has a great stadium, great fan base from what we hear, so I think we'll be up for it from that standpoint.

"It's not going to be easy with the big flight to Philadelphia," said Galaxy striker Edson Buddle, who leads the league in goals with 15. "It's gonna be a quick turnaround with the game on Thursday."

Buddle was wary of the Galaxy's ability to drop games against mediocre opposition, as seen with their dry stretch in July and August.

"We can't let our guards down," Buddle added. "We know that in this league, it's close. Every game is close, it's gonna be competitive and we have to compete early in the game to try and go out on the road [with a win].

"I think we realize now with how close [Real] Salt Lake are," Donovan said in regards to the Supporters' Shield race, "that we have to keep going. There's only three games left. We know Salt Lake have a difficult schedule. We got three very good games coming up [in Philadelphia, Colorado and Dallas], but if we can continue to build an advantage in the [MLS Overall and MLS Western Conference] standings, that's what we're hoping for and ideally, it wouldn't have to come down to the last weekend. Ideally, we can have it wrapped up so that we can rest and get ready for the playoffs."

Donovan could not hide his relief to be going out for one last jaunt outside Victoria Street for the regular season.

"Everybody feels good about what happened [on Sunday] and it's good to be on the road again. We've been home for a month now, so it's kind of exciting to get on the road, hang out with the guys in the airport and on the plane and have fun. It's good to be in a new environment and play an exciting game.

"I'm excited. It's always fun to play in a new place, a new facility, but it's exciting for us because the league is growing. And it's getting better and better. Everyone has said that [PPL Park] is great. The stadium in New York [Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey] was fantastic, and hopefully it's another good night for us."

Buddle looks forward to a enthused home crowd on Thursday night.

"It's gonna be cooler to see what those fans [in Philadelphia] are like," Buddle said, "introducing a new team, and being a part of that is great."

Kickoff between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Philadelphia Union is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT/8:00 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

INS & OUTS

Yohance to the Warriors, Yohance to the Warriors...

Galaxy defender Yohance Marshall will be unavailable for Thursday night's match against the Union, since he was called into the Trinidad and Tobago national team for a couple of international friendlies.

The Soca Warriors will be facing the Warriors of Bermuda on October 6 and the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica on October 10. Marshall has yet to play a full international match at the senior level, and T&T's match with Bermuda on Wednesday could mark his debut.

Marshall has a chance to become the second Galaxy player to earn his first cap this season.

Omar Gonzalez earned his first cap debuting against Brazil on August 10.

The other international players for the Galaxy have been given the green light to remain with the club this week.

Youth Academy Update

The LA Galaxy Youth Academy Under-14 teams earned victories last Saturday and will look to continue their winning form this weekend. The 3-0 A squad take on Deportivo Morelos, while the 2-1-1 B squad face Cosmos Academy West.

Goals from the Dhillon brothers of Justin and Sean, Eric Gonzalez, and John McBean paced the Galaxy U-16 to their 4-0 shutout win over Real Salt Lake Arizona, while goals from Eric Verso and Juan Gutierrez gave the U-18 a 2-2 draw with RSL Arizona.

After the U-16 and U-18 face off against the De Anza Force, they will face the Santa Cruz Breakers Academy on October 10. Kickoff at Cabrillo College for the U-18 is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. PT while kickoff for the U-16 is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. PT.

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The name on the back of the New York Red Bulls’ starting goalkeeper’s jersey reads “Coundoul,” but it may as well be Jekyll or Hyde.

Bouna Coundoul is a player with multiple playing personas, and you never really know which side of him will show up.

Known for his catchphrase “It’s Bouna time,” Coundoul was named MLS Player of the Week for Week 27 for his heroic efforts in a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards.

The Wizards were desperate for points in their pursuit of the playoffs, and they attacked with large numbers. Coundoul kept them at bay though, making a career-high 12 saves. The shutout was his 10th of the season, a new franchise record.

His performance was so impressive that it prompted head coach Hans Backe to start his post-game press conference with the statement, “Bouna Coundoul saved us.”

Literally.

The win clinched a playoff berth and moved the Red Bulls into first place in the Eastern Conference. He’s also put together a strong season. In addition to his shutouts—which he ranks fourth in the league in—he posts a record of 13-7-5, a 1.04 goals against average, and 100 saves, good for second in the league.

He has also earned several call-ups to the Senegalese National Team.

He’s extremely athletic and can leap out to snag shots that look impossible to stop. He has a penchant for the heroic, making flashy saves at big moments of the game.

On the flip side, however, he makes more egregious errors in net than English National Team goalie Robert Green.

Coundoul seems to either get lost or have his head in the clouds during games. He can find himself too far out of position or misjudge a ball in the air, and he too can knock the ball into his own net.

He’s perplexing to watch. Soccer columnist Ives Galarcep stated, “When he’s on he can be as good as anyone in the league. He can still have his hiccups. He can have his brain cramps where he makes plays that can give a coach or a fan a heart attack.”

Those plays can come even when he is on. In the game against Kansas City, minutes before halftime, Coundoul came off his line, in a seemingly random fashion, and was almost beat. Galarcep commented, “Coundoul has one of his trademark brain cramps, comes out for no real reason and almost gets caught outside the area. Somewhere, Erik Soler [New York’s General Manager] is writing down, ‘Still need a new goalkeeper in 2011.’”

Thus is the riddle that is Coundoul.

Do you go with him, knowing that he can make unbelievable saves but also unbelievable gaffes?

Or do you bring in a more consistent presence in the back who may not make the incredible stops like Coundoul?

Will 2011 see a new man in between the posts for the Red Bulls, or will there be more Bouna Time?

For better or worse, the Red Bulls will be looking to win the 2010 MLS Cup with Coundoul manning the net.

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Seattle Sounders FC achieved noteworthy significance in its first year of MLS existence in 2009 by achieving the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Trophy.

One year later as the 2010 campaign moves toward its close and the playoffs, with the Sounders very much in the hunt for a wild card spot, it is time to defend that treasured trophy.

Earlier in the run to the finals Coach Sigi Schmid said with relish, “It would be nice to be able to raise that trophy aloft before our home fans.”

Tuesday that opportunity will become reality.  At 7 p.m. PT before another capacity crowd at the Xbox Pitch of Qwest Field the Sounders face the Eastern Conference’s first place team in the U.S. Open Cup finale.

While the Sounders are motivated toward defending a prestigious cup won last season and the thrill of winning it a second time in succession before their home fans, Columbus is seeking payback for Seattle’s recent visit.  That occasion marked the Sounders scoring won of the premier wins and inflicting one of the biggest losses on Columbus in that storied franchise’s history.

Another element of drama is that Sigi Schmid coached at Columbus prior to taking the Seattle job when the team launched its MLS franchise last year.

He knows the people in the Columbus organization well, and has said frequently, “You hate to lose to your friends because when you do you hear about it more often.”

August 18 was a night that the Sounders and their faithful treasure and Columbus Crew and patrons would like to forget.  Behind a dazzling three-goal performance by Blaise Nkufo, Seattle scored a 4-0 triumph.  

In Schmid’s Monday press conference he focused on the issue of that first meeting as well as Columbus’ pride.

“I think it does register,” Schmid said regarding the August 18 game.  “It certainly gives us some confidence but, like I said before, they are a good team. They are a proud team... They are a team that’s going to want to come and say, ‘Hey, look, that’s not a reflection of our abilities.’ And it isn’t because they are too good of a team.”

A milestone event such as a U.S. Open Cup final carries enduring memories.  Schmid recalled his 2002 MSL and U.S. Open Cup experiences when he was coaching the L.A. Galaxy.  

“We have played for a trophy in front of New England Revolution’s home fans when we played (for the) MLS Cup in 2002,” Schmid said.  “Foxborough was sold-out (with) 60,000-plus (fans) and that was a tough game because you had 60,000 Revolution fans and no fans or a very small pocket of fans for L.A.

“So I know what that feels like (to be the road team),but I’ve never really had the opportunity to win the championship at home and if we did it at home it was in front of a small crowd.

“I think when we won it against New England, when we won it that year, the Open Cup, we played at (California State) Fullerton and there were maybe about 7,000 that were there. But definitely this is going to be a very unique and a very special feeling.”

The victory carries the prospect of advancing to Champions League competition in 2011.  This is a possibility that Schmid savors.  He believes that a victory over Columbus Tuesday will propel his team into those ranks.  

“That’s the way it worked last year,” Schmid said.  “To have the Open Cup champion qualify gives meaning to the tournament. If you don’t have a qualification attached to it, it takes a little more away from the tournament and I think it’s at a time where we have got to add some prestige to the tournament and having qualification adds some prestige.”

A question that has been hanging in the air is the status of Terry Boss, backup goalkeeper to Captain Kasey Keller.  Boss had been called to perform for the Puerto Rico National Team.  Schmid sounded a note of optimism on Boss’ return for Tuesday’s match.

“I spoke to his coach yesterday,” Schmid informed.  “They have a game tonight (Monday) and they are going to allow him to fly out tomorrow morning. So barring any problems either in the game tonight or airplane or connection problems, we expect him to be here.”

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Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, fresh off a 2-1 victory over Chivas USA, are in the tightest of races ahead of the MLS Cup Playoffs: the dash for the Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield.

With a record of 16-6-5 (53 points), the Galaxy lead Real Salt Lake by two points in the overall standings as well as the MLS Western Conference. They take on a Philadelphia Union side that is 7-13-7 (28 points) and have been eliminated from postseason contention.

“We’re moving forward, starting to get some of our players back, but that’s obviously part of the plan in the last month of the season,” Arena said on Sunday. “We’re 27 weeks in and it hasn’t been perfect, but we’ve been in first place for 27 weeks. It’s not going to be easy the next three games.”

When asked regarding the importance of Sunday's victory over the Goats, team captain Landon Donovan stressed the pressure it put on them.

“We had real pressure on us," Donovan said after the match. "[Real] Salt Lake won [2-1 against New England], so we were in second [place]. Winning the Supporters Shield is really important to us. This was a big game for us. It is always going to be difficult against Chivas, whether they have 20 points or they have 50 points. It is always a hard game. We are still happy we won.”

Donovan leads MLS in assists this season with 14.

Even with Philadelphia on the outside looking in, Edson Buddle was aware of the team's major weaknesses of dropping important contests against mediocre sides.

“We have taken some losses from teams that are not so high in the standings," Buddle said on Sunday. "We know in this league, you can lose to the teams that are struggling to get points and fighting for jobs, so [the match against Chivas] was a game we knew we had to win and we weren’t going to take lightly.”

With his league-leading 15th goal of the season, Buddle became the first player in MLS history to score 40 or more goals for two different teams. He had 42 goals in 106 career regular season games with the Columbus Crew and now has 40 goals in 84 regular season games with the Galaxy.

As one of the most diverse scoring threats in the league, 14 different players have scored at least once for Los Angeles.

The return of defender Omar Gonzalez to the lineup will be important to the  Galaxy's chances of sweeping the expansion side Union at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. Watch for another tenacious performance from the G's backline on Thursday.

“The times when they did get behind us in the first half," defender Todd Dunivant said on Sunday regarding their victory over Chivas, "it was midfielders running through and our coordination with Juninho and the guys running through wasn’t quite good enough but A.J. and Omar were fantastic.

"Alan Gordon is a big target up top and they did a good job of managing him, and in then Braun in the second half, but A.J. held his own. We broke up plays and didn’t give up many chances and that’s what it’s all about.”

A solid effort from the back line will take pressure off of goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who has a 0.85 goals against average, 71 saves made, a 76.3 percent save percentage and a 16-6-4 record.

As for the Phildelphia Union, they are led by Sebastien Le Toux, one of the leading goalscorers and providers in Major League Soccer. Le Toux has 13 goals and 10 assists to his name.

Le Toux also has a number of options he can feed the ball to, namely Danny Mwanga, who has scored seven goals this season Fred, and Jack McInerney (the latter two with three goals scored this year).

Other facilitators to watch in Peter Nowak's attack for the Union include Alejandro Moreno and Roger Torres, both with five assists to their credit. Mwanga and Justin Mapp are also dangerous as set-up men, contributing to the cause with four assists this season.

On defense, the backline—led by Jordan Harvey, Danny Califf and Michael Orozco—will be faced with a monumental task of stopping the likes of Buddle, Donovan and Beckham. Not the easiest of challenges, but if the likes of the Chicago Fire, San Jose Earthquakes and Kansas City Wizards proves testament to it, the possibility of overcoming them hang in the balance.

Goalkeeper Chris Seitz has been hanging tough in spite of a challenging inaugural year for the Union, with a 1.75 GAA, 64 saves, a 59.8 percent save percentage and a 5-11-6 record.


Prediction:

This is a match that may see Landon Donovan rested for the important matches against the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas. However the Supporters Shield implications are too important to overlook, and therefore, expect the Galaxy to come out ready for this one.


Los Angeles Galaxy 2, Philadelphia Union 1

Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT and will be televised by ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

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