MLS Commissioner Has Eyes on Young Star Power

These are two wannabe super clubs, and if you’re going to be a super club, you gotta have that moment – that iconic moment when you win an MLS Cup, the captain is holding up the cup, the confetti is falling, the music’s playing.

Together, Schmid and Schmetzer had many highlights with the Sounders in MLS: Four U.S. Open Cup titles (2009-11, 2014), a Supporters’ Shield (best record in MLS, 2012) and seven consecutive trips to the playoffs. Whatever you do, don’t jinx this.

“This is my shining moment instead, so let’s go”.

Either Toronto FC or Seattle Sounders, both hailed as model franchises when they entered the league, will finally deliver on the success predicted for them when Major League Soccer crowns a new champion on Saturday. He was coaching local youth teams and working in construction in 2002 before he received a fateful call from Adrian Hanauer, new owner of the then-USL Sounders. The prize that dangles in front of Toronto FC and the Sounders is the same – fulfillment. Can you imagine? This year of all years, and off the back of Portland doing it last year, and this come-from-behind mentality. Two big clubs boasting two big fanbases will fight it out for the biggest prize in North American football.

If TFC fans thought the weather was bad in the thrilling eastern final, wait until Saturday.

The Reds did just that, doubling down on MLS’s big name designated player game by swiftly bringing in not one, but two replacements. Environment Canada is predicting it could be between -1 and -5 C at game time, and there could be snow, too.

“We’ll have a game plan in place for those two”, Schmetzer told reporters this week.

Good thing scarves are part of almost every fan’s attire. The fans could taste the glory, the players anticipated the celebrations, but it was not to be for 2016.

The Sounders have been the best team in MLS over the past several months, but they haven’t faced a team during that run that has scored goals for fun the way TFC has over the course of the playoffs.

Dempsey finished the regular season second on the team in scoring with eight goals, behind homegrown 2016 Rookie of the Year Jordan Morris’ 12, but Dempsey will not play in the final due to an irregular heartbeat that’s kept him out since August.

“The fact that MLS has been stronger and increasingly popular, that’s allowed us to lift the game up from the bottom and to be able to withstand some instability below us”. That same day USA national team captain and midfielder Michael Bradley joined the club in a transfer from AS Roma. “I certainly enjoyed every second of ’05 and ’07”. Television figures are far from booming and the recent rise of the Chinese Super League provides a rival option for European or South American players seeking a new challenge.

TFC fans are anxious about the offensive prowess of Nicolás Lodeiro, a Uruguayan midfielder. Either way, I think Seattle’s duo can cope with Toronto’s trio, but it will be a tough one.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment expanded BMO Field in the offseason, a move that now looks prescient.

Altidore gets the top billing for Toronto for good reason; the United States worldwide practically carried the Reds through the conference final series with the Montreal Impact, scoring two goals and providing an assist while also contributing stellar passing and hold-up play from his center-forward position.

There are three substitutions per game. Still, the long break before the game comes as something of a mixed blessing. He’ll be tackling and kicking his way through 90 minutes, and Lodeiro in particular will need to watch his back. “Wherever he’s played, he gets along just fine”. In addition, aggressive Sounders midfielder Osvaldo Alonso amazingly escaped a red card when he scythed down Benny Feilhaber while already on a yellow.

How far do these guys run?