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The games have ended and the finals are set. It will be Real Salt Lake facing Monterrey for the championships of the CONCACAF Champions League final. So much like a double rainbow what does this all mean?
For RSL it gives them the chance to continue rising from the ashes and establish themselves as a dominate force not just in American soccer but in the region. They want respect and the wind fall that comes from such results.
For everybody else the old timers of US Soccer, Major League Soccer and anyone clamoring for respect of American Soccer. It would give them their cake and they can eat it too.
Twitter users who enjoy soccer were all active on Tuesday making comments about the 3-2 series win by RSL. MLSSOCCER.com has been very thorough in covering the events and don't forget the many other publications and blogs that gave credit where credit was due. This means a lot to a United States fan of soccer.
So what will it do?
Nothing much unless ReAL can win it. The Mexican league still view them selves as the best in this region and only see's the USA as a way to make money playing up here.
Are they hearing footsteps?
You better believe it. They have lost good talent to the MLS recently, young talent. They are finding stiffer competition when playing MLS teams at home and they have found out that with the right mix they could yield the region championships to an American team, those are loud footsteps and they do not want to hear it. Especially since this is competition is considerably tougher then what it was in the past.
Do they think they are still years better? You bet, but only a fool would think that the two will never be on the same level. There's just too many people, too much money and way cooler jerseys in the U.S. to avoid it.
I'm reminded of College Football and how the big schools see themselves compared to a Boise State, a Utah, BYU, TCU etc. The thought is always, "We have too much money, too many 5 star recruit and awesome stadiums to ever lose." When they do, a system is put in place to prevent better results. Then when they crack that the comments run something like, "You can't bet us" and they do. The next excuse is "You couldn't do it every time" or "you play a weak schedule" blah blah blah blah.
Fortunately soccer has a tournament.
That won't be happening anytime soon in the professional soccer world. Real Salt Lake can take what they earn and show everyone that they are that good. The MLS can say, "see we've been working hard and now we have results.'" Any team in the league could of done this but it just so happened it was Real Salt Lake. RSL fans may understand this elitist against us idea very well because of what BYU and Utah had to go through in football. Salt Lake won their group, they beat down Columbus and took it too Saprissa and now Monterrey, which is no cupcake. We get to see if Major League Soccer has upped their game.
So what will Primera División de México say if Salt Lake takes down their 2009 champion? Lets hope silence, because then you know they hear the footsteps.
