RADIO
The 2015 Major League Soccer (MLS) season draws closer to crowning its winner as the conference semifinals are now in the books, leaving us with the final four contenders – two from each conference. The conference finals will be played in the same format as the semifinals with two games deciding the conference winner, and ultimately delivering an opportunity for a shot at the coveted title.
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The first leg of the Conference Finals will be played out on Sunday November 22nd followed by the second leg, on November 29th. The winners will then move on to the MLS final on December 6th. The four remaining teams aren't the most glamorous or even the highest spenders making them, in some regard, already winners having found their path to the final through sheer team work and unity.
If the semifinals are any indication as to how the conference finals will play out, it will be very close to call. With this season's four best sides in the league left to fight for the ultimate honor, we take a look at the finals a little closer.
Eastern Conference: New York Red Bulls vs Columbus Crew
At the beginning of the season not many would have correctly predicted that these two sides would be in the Eastern Conference final and the path to the finals for these two couldn't really be more of a contrast.
Following first-round byes, their first play-off games saw New York take out DC United with identical 1-0 scores both home and away. Although the score line may not reflect it, New York was always the better side in both encounters and never really looked troubled. Columbus, on the other hand, knocked out Montreal Impact 4-3 in extra time, on aggregate, having lost the first leg 2-1.
The Red Bulls is the form team coming into the finals and are the only side to win both legs of the semis, and with clean-sheets to boot. Having dominated the regular season with shut-outs, it looks like they carried that form with them into the play-offs. They should easily be the pre-match favorites in this tie, but Columbus will relish the underdog tag. It suited them in the semifinals against Montreal and they wouldn't mind another virtuoso performance against Red Bulls with the odds against them.
Western Conference: FC Dallas vs Portland Timbers
This is another case of two teams that found success through hard work and grit. Knocking off the more glamorous teams like L.A. Galaxy or even the Seattle Sounders came easy for these two sides. The presence of these two teams proves, once again, that consistent and tight-knit teams are more likely to be successful.
FC Dallas had a more dramatic path to their appearance in the finals having come back from a deficit to win against Seattle Sounders at home on penalties. They may have dominated the conference in the regular season, but the semifinals would have been a reminder that the playoffs are a different proposition. Portland, on the other hand, dug a hole with a first leg home draw against Vancouver White Caps but came back to win 2-0 in the second leg to advance.
Dallas’ emphasis on youth helped them get the results they needed and they should be banking on the same formula in the finals once again whilst Portland continue to enthral with their turnaround performances and being able to find the right mix of possession and counter attacking offense. It is easy to see that Dallas has an edge, but the form book (and every other book) will be thrown out much before the curtain draws on the conference finals.
At this stage, before a ball is kicked in the finals, New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas look to be the favorites, on paper at least. However, football is not played on paper and what matters more is how they tackle pressure and the magnitude of the occasion on the given day. We have already seen the bigger teams fall by the wayside and these two sides will be wary of taking Columbus Crew and Portland Timbers lightly.
