Ask around: Who thinks FC Dallas are going to beat the LA Galaxy on Sunday?
Pretty much no one.
In fairness, LA have had an impressive season thus far. By eliminating the Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference Semifinal, they stopped one of the hottest teams in the league dead in their tracks.
They won the Supporters’ Shield on the back of a defense that allowed the second-fewest goals in the league, and an offense that scored the second most. They have world-class players in Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan and David Beckham, and the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in Donovan Ricketts.
But when head coach Schellas Hyndman was asked who he thought the best team in the league was, “the Galaxy” didn’t roll off his tongue.
"Somebody asked me six weeks ago who is the best team in the league and
it was before we played [in the first round of the playoffs],” Hyndman
told ExtraTime Radioon Monday. “I said the best team I’ve seen is Salt Lake. Player to player, speed and an unbelievable mentality at home.”
Pure gold bulletin board fodder, right?
Maybe not.
Hyndman had a point. After all, RSL did win MLS Cup in 2009, not the Galaxy. And it was Real Salt Lake that bested LA in both goals-scored and goals-allowed in 2010.
And look what happened to them! FC Dallas came about as close as you can get to cruising against a team as good as RSL in their Western Conference Semifinal series.
Can they repeat that performance against LA?
Looking at a positional head-to-head for FCD and LA, it’s tough to argue that the Galaxy aren’t better on paper. But Hyndman’s team compiled that already famous MLS record 19-game unbeaten streak this season. That’s no accident. Simply put, his team knows how to get results. In a one-off game, that’s all that matters.
The playoffs are crazy. Anything can happen. That’s why we love them; that’s why we hate them.
So give Frisco a chance. There’s still a game to be played.
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