#ThanksLD: Los Angeles Galaxy Win MLS Cup As Landon Donovan Bids Farewell (VIDEO)
Dec 7, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Galaxy forward Robbie Keane (7) holds the MLS Cup championship trophy after the 2014 MLS Cup final against the New England Revolution at Stubhub Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
3. The MLS Multiplex Discovers…the Great Irish Keanespiracy!
This may definitely be Robbie Keane’s year of years. He earns a personal double by winning league MVP honors and MLS Cup MVP honors, to go with his third MLS Cup. Marcelo Sarvas, who is due for a raise and a sign for the long haul, was able to feed the ball that allowed Keane to finish a long run in true MVP fashion in minute No. 111. Cue the cartwheels.
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Keane attributes his success this season to his tenacity, work ethic, leadership and resiliency. Those are traits that come from within, and are the hallmark of a great athlete.
“I’ve been doing this for 15 years,” Keane said. “You miss chances. You score chances. I only missed one chance. It wasn’t that bad.
“It wasn’t the greatest game to be honest with you. It was tough, New England played really well. I have to give them a lot of credit. We went 120 minutes and in the end it’s whichever team pulls out stronger. I think we certainly came out stronger in extra time. We’re thankful that we got the goal. It was a great pass from Marcelo [Sarvas].”
Dec 7, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New England Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen (left) greets Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan (right) after the 2014 MLS Cup final at Stubhub Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
4. The MLS Multiplex Discovers…Jermaine WHO? And, Nguyenter is Not Coming…Yet!
One of the biggest coups of the day was containing the combination of Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen, arguably the cogs that helped the big, nasty New England Revolution soccer machine steamroll past Columbus and pull out all the stops on New York in Thierry Henry’s Last Stand.
“It’s tough obviously to lose your go-to playmaker for every game and we tried to get him back in there but he just didn’t have enough. He was cramping,” said Heaps of Nguyen running out of gas. “He did a lot of work and I thought he was really pulling the strings after they scored and then after we scored I thought we had a lot of good chances and to be honest with you I really thought that was a penalty.”
“There is probably no way of getting around the fact that Lee is probably the best player on the team, the best one going forward,” said goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. “He bring a lot to us, he scored so many goals this year so it is a big loss for us but with that being said it is about the entire team and we have guys that can step in and help the team. If you look at it we did well in the overtime periods I think we had a great chance in the first one, Jaime [Penedo] makes a great save and they get the one chance in the second part of the overtime and they score so credit to the guys. It is not easy going 120 minutes – they worked their tails off.”
Jones knows a good team when he sees one, and the Galaxy more than kept up with him.
“I think we have a young team and it was a tough season,” said Jones. “It had a lot of ups and downs and today to stay here and play against a team like the Galaxy, where we lost the last game against them 5-1, we say it is a big respect for their team. We showed a good battle and the Galaxy had to fight with 2-3 minutes still left in the game. In my eyes, the Galaxy are the best team in the league and they get a lot of support from the fans.”