Davis: CONCACAF success for MLS
After all, these are matches that MLS teams seem set up to lose. That's not an excuse - just the reality in a MLS schedule that generally flows counter to the international soccer calendar.
No team anywhere is truly prepared for a big match three weeks into training - especially when the guys on the other side are dribbling, passing and shooting in midseason form.
That's why Major League Soccer and its clubs won't be blamed if they had a little more pep in their step, a wee bit more glide in their cleated stride as they awoke Friday morning.
MLS teams account for half the semifinal field in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, the first time that's happened since the format went to a home-and-away series in 2002.
Yes, MLS teams had some CONCACAF Champions Cup success in the late 1990s. But that achievement was propped up by an accommodating format -- most of the matches were played in the United States. And, by and large, the games came midsummer -- right in the heart of the MLS season, right in the heart of everyone else's offseason.
More revealing is the way MLS sides struggled on the road in the competition during the last few years.
In the bigger picture, Thursday's prosperity seriously improves Major Soccer League's chances of putting a team in next year's FIFA Club World Cup. In terms of gathering global acclaim, that's not exactly like signing David Beckham -- but it's pretty darn huge. You could say it would be like a tasty dessert after a big Beckham steak dinner.
D.C. United was never in danger in their quarterfinal triumph over CD Olimpia of Honduras. Even when surrendering the first-half lead Thursday in the nation's capital, Tom Soehn's men never had to mash the accelerator to stay comfortably ahead of the Hondurans in aggregate scoring, easing efficiently into the tourney semifinals.
Things were a little more stressful for Dominic Kinnear's Houston side. In a sense the Dynamo victory against Costa Rican outfit Puntarenas FC -- in an oddly effective outpost, the Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station, Texas -- was more impressive than United's win. Rallying in the home leg after a 1-0 road setback made the cool night more memorable still.
While United's money men - Christian Gomez and new Brazilian striker Luciano Emilio in particular - drove D.C.'s effort, a couple of Dynamo centerpieces were something less than remarkable. And yet Houston found two goals, which is exactly what the MLS champs needed to squeeze into the tournament semifinals alongside United.
Neither team will relish its subsequent assignment: to find a way past two Mexican teams in dandy form. United faces Chivas with a place in the final at stake. Houston faces Pachuca for a finals berth. Both Mexican clubs are currently in first place (Chivas is tied for the top spot) in their divisions in Mexico.
But before Soehn, Kinnear and their troops start fretting about semifinals, injuries and balancing another tough series against the need for slow-and-steady MLS regular season prep, they can certainly take a day or two to enjoy their achievement.
No one would have dogged Soehn if his head coaching debut had turned out differently. Yes, the United core looks very similar to what Peter Nowak fielded last year.
Still, a coach gets a pass if his first test is smack in the middle of preseason tuneup time, against a decent Honduran side, while working new names into his own lineup.
And with all that, D.C. United's attack generally looked smooth as fresh Midwestern snow out there. (That defense, on the other hand, needs to run out to its nearest Wal-Mart and pick up a couple of boxes of "get better.")
Of course, United had something of an edge in one way: Soehn's side is all but custom-built for this tournament.
While so many MLS teams continue to scour the European nether regions for talent, United continues to reap the benefit of good scouting and frugal acquisitions in Central and South America. Gomez, Emilio, Jaime Moreno and Facundo Erpen were clearly comfortable playing against the Hondurans.
Emilio contributed two goals on Thursday, although neither was more meaningful than the sneaky backheel he scored a week earlier in Tegucigalpa. That one came just before halftime, proving his club an super-sized helping of confidence, not to mention a critical 2-1 lead.
Emilio may not score another goal that important until this summer's SuperLiga.
Emilio spent three years with Olimpia, of course. So he had every reason to feel confident in the series. And then there's Gomez, who got a head start on a repeat MLS MVP bid. He ran the two-leg show with grace and a midseason verve, as if it were a swell June evening at RFK.
(FYI: With Emilio and Gomez already looking more in synch than Brangelina, anybody else get this funny feeling that D.C. has the makings of something special this year? Again, that all hinges on some defensive improvement, which certainly seems in reach.)
As for commanding performances from the men who matter, Houston didn't exactly get the same. Dwayne De Rosario, a runner-up for MLS MVP in 2006, will have better matches - probably a season's worth. He wasn't much of a factor against Costa Rica's Puntarenas on Thursday. And fellow midfielder Brian Mullan will need better outings in upcoming dates against Pachuca.
Perhaps he was undone by a field that was suspiciously narrow. Either way, Mullan did hit a couple of nice balls from the right - including one that led to Paul Dalglish's important opening goal. But he couldn't get off service on several other enticing opportunities, and a pretty ordinary night was rescued only by a yeoman share of running and tackling along the wing.
They'll both have time to iron out the wrinkles before facing Pachuca on March 14 in Robertson Stadium.
Perhaps most impressive was the calm and composure Kinnear's team demonstrated. His club was able to stay "on message" amid some lenient refereeing. Any member of Houston's back four certainly could have decided to initiate a little payback after Brad Davis got crunched in an early, studs-up challenge, or after a number of other menacing Costa Rican challenges. But the Dynamo men kept their cool time and again and got the last word because of it.
MLS clubs have a history of futility against Costa Rican sides. Just last year, Saprissa dispatched the Los Angeles Galaxy, although we know now that version was more Galaxy-lite, as evidenced by its puny performances in the early regular season campaign.
Still, taking down a Costa Rican side is meaningful, especially given the Tico nation's success in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Now it's on to the bigger challenge of standing tall against experienced Mexican sides. The last time D.C. faced a Mexican team away from home in this competition, the Black-and-Red found itself black-and-blue, wobbling on the wrong end of a 5-0 whuppin' from Pumas.
Repeat? Who knows? But for now, two MLS teams and all their domestic sibling clubs can feel OK about their improving place in CONCACAF club world.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
