After surviving to a tough playoff journey, in which eight teams from the MLS measure their strength and from which resulted the surprising elimination of the current champion of the league Houston Dynamo, the pair of big contenders to confront in the final for the US football championship title had been define. The first team that managed to reach the final of the tournament is Columbus Crew, which obtained its ticket with the victory against Chicago Fire. The encounter in which the defenders Chad Marshall and Eddie Gaven were responsible, with the vital help of the Argentinean Guillermo â€El Mellizo†Schelotto, of scoring the two goals that gave them the triumph before an only goal from Chicago. This great success from the Red Bulls, besides give them the chance to go to the final for the first time ever, also made them worthy of the trophy for the MLS Eastern Conference Champion. Around their history, Columbus Crew has been able to participate in the East Conference 5 times, from which they previously (2004) won one. In this exciting match The Crew, member of the MLS since its beginnings, managed to keep the control during most of the game with the assistance of the fast and audacious moves from Schelotto, that avoided the mark from Chicago Fire’ star Cuauhtmoc Blanco. At certain point of the game the captain Cuauhtmoc did a brave move that sent the ball to Brian McBride’s feet and this one immediately open the scoreboard in favor of Chicago. Columbus that played as local, started to push strongly his rivals and didn’t felt worry about the situation that lasted until the second half, when following a free kick from â€El Mellizoâ€, Chad Marshall headed the sphere straight to the Reds’ net. With 54 minutes the Schelotto’s presence felt once more, but this time assisting Eddie Gwen, who brought the second goal to The Crew. From then on Columbus staid strong and with a winning attitude that give them confidence. Thanks to this new victory the coach Sigi Schmid, one of the most talented trainers in USA, will received from the US Major League the award of the 2008 Coach of the Year, honor well deserved for his work during the season, fact that ennobles the team as well. On the other site, the New York Red Bulls directed by Juan Carlos Osorio have managed to place themselves in the final after defeating Real Salt Lake 1-0. This conquest puts the Red Bulls in the battle for the title after thirteen years since their last participation in one. Admirable achievement from the team based in New Jersey that has lived on during this hard time. It is doubtless a triumph for coach Osorio, who saw his dream of competing in the final come true, thanks to the Dutch Dave Van den Bergh, who was responsible of the single score of the clash and turning New York Red Bulls Champions of the Western Conference. This event in which the New Yorkers played as visitors, watched Real Salt Lake seek repeatedly the chance to acquire at least a tied. But although the control they had on the ball, RBNY found the way to take advantage in the middle of the risky plays and scored on the 28’ the goal that gave them the opportunity to beat the bad patch from prior seasons. The RSL almost accomplished the tied during the rest of the first part of the game, in a failed move from Yura Movsisyan that let run off the ball thrown by Javi Morales. On second half, Real Salt Lake kept trying and trying to change the scores, but weren’t able to do it. The Red Bulls made the most of the circumstances with a strong counterattack that their adversaries couldn’t confront and to that point, all left to do for Osorio’s team was to not distract and wait until the end of the event to celebrate the results of their goal.
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