This past Tuesday, Real Salt Lake lost 2-1 to Costa Rican powerhouse Saprissa in a CONCACAF Champions League match. However, because of their 2-0 win at home the week before, they took the two-leg series 3-2 on aggregate. As a result, they qualified for the CCL final against Monterrey of Mexico. For those unfamiliar with Champions League and club soccer in general, professional soccer teams just don't compete in one league like all American sports do. They not only play in their domestic league, but they simultaneously compete in domestic knockout tournaments as well as international competitions like Champions League (which includes the best teams from the region). For European teams, winning domestic leagues is nice, but winning the UEFA Champions League is the ultimate goal because it means you are the best team on your continent (which for all you geography majors is indeed bigger than a country).
Even though it is less prestigious than the UEFA version, the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America, Caribbean) has their own Champions League. The competition has been ongoing in one form or another since 1962 and in that time only two American teams - DC United in 1998 and LA in 2000 - have ever won. By virtue of their win over Saprissa, Real Salt Lake now has the opportunity to be the third American team to win the competition.
Leaving it at just that would be a huge disservice to RSL though. The fact is that while the CCL has been around since 1962, all the former tournaments included 8 or fewer teams and were played under knockout rules. It wasn't until 2008 that CONCACAF adopted a group stage and expanded to 24 teams. Under this format 2 US teams are guaranteed spots in the Final 16, while 2 additional teams have to earn their way in through a play-in game (Seattle earned their birth by winning a home and home series against Isidro Metapan of El Salvador). In the first two years of play, MLS teams advanced no further than the 1st round of the knockout phase...in fact, 3 of the 4 teams that had play-in games lost (and lost to inferior competition from Trinidad & Tobago and Panama). Of the five teams to make it to the group stage, only two made it out of their group -in all American MLS teams had a pedestrian 9-9-12 record in the group stage. To make things worse, in 2008-09 Puerto Rico, a USL team actually made it to the Semi's.
The profile and reputation of MLS continues to grow every year, but it has yet to reach the level where we can compete with the region's best. It always annoys me when EuroSnobs put down MLS and compare it to lower level English leagues, but the fact is that they can. MLS has not shown that it can compete with European leagues, let alone the Mexican League. Now I have no doubt that in a vacuum we can compete with Mexican teams - the problem I see right now is one of logistics. The MLS season runs March-October while the Mexican league runs August-May meaning that when pitted against each other, the teams are never both at their best. This may seem like an excuse, but I think it is a viable one when it comes to friendlies.
Now Champions League is a little different in that the group stage actually runs from July-October meaning that MLS has no excuse when it comes to their form. They are mid-season and should have no problem advancing - and yet we don't have the best success of getting out of the group stage. I think this is a result of small rosters and a general lack of respect for the competition itself. Simply put, MLS teams care about winning MLS Cup and not some international competition that its fans don't understand.
In the 2010-2011 competition, both Columbus and Salt Lake advanced out of the group stage (Seattle was woeful in finishing 0-5-1) and by virtue of playing each other in the knockout phase, one was assured of making it to the Semi's. That game was played in February, right before training camp started. To say that MLS was lucky would be fair - after all, the Mexican teams would be mid-season and in form. We probably would not have gotten pass them. Salt Lake beat Columbus and then took down the Purple Dragons of Saprissa. They may not have won at Saprissa Stadium, but they got the result they needed. They showed poise that other MLS teams have been unable to sustain in the past.
Now they have a shot at gaining MLS some respect. Beating powerhouse Monterrey, a club that is undefeated in CCL, would be a HUGE win for MLS. Their is this stigma that American teams can't win in Mexico. It starts at the National Team level (where the US is 0-22-1 lifetime) and goes all down the ranks. If RSL can get a result it might just be the tipping point. Future teams might not be afraid of Mexico...they finally might be willing to stand up and take down the bully.
I will be openly rooting for Salt Lake. They are not my team but for one competition I will support them for the good of the league. Simply put, if RSL wins, MLS wins. Dave Clark at SounderatHeart recently asked if we were RSL fans for one night. I think the answer is an overwhelming Yes unless you are a Colorado Rapids supporter. I originally thought I would ask my cousin Jason at View From the Couch if he was in agreement, but I realized that it would be a silly exercise. There is no way he would root for Fake Salt Lake (as he and many other Rapids' supporters call them), the same way that there is no way I would root for Portland if they were in the CCL Final. In that situation, having an MLS team win CCL would be a bad thing - I mean, do you really want Portland as the face of MLS??? Uggh. Makes me want to vomit.
Ok, I quickly got off topic there. Bottom line is this: I have no problem with RSL so I am supporting them in the CCL Final. If they can pull off the win, it would be a huge accomplishment and one that really should be hailed. Beating Monterrey won't be easy though - they have a major obstacle in their way.
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