2011 MLS Cup Final Postgame Misery Recapped

Los Angeles, CA – Last night America’s Balding Eagle demonstrated he still possesses the ability to come up with the crucial goals in the big games. His well-composed 72nd minute strike fired the Galaxy to their third MLS Cup win. After the match, along with the seemingly hundreds of journos, bloggers and other media types in attendance, I made my way down to Bruce Arena’s underground lair for the post-game presser.

As anyone who has attended the Galaxy’s post-game proceedings can attest to (TSE do ya hear me?), these things can be utterly miserable even at the best of times. Last night’s edition was certainly no exception.

With flashbulbs popping and digital tape recorders humming, the misery commenced as Houston Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear and midfielder Brian Ching were lead in and seated before us. In the bright glare of the klieg lights, they had the air of POWs who were about to read forced denouncements of the American involvement in North Vietnam.

When asked if he had anything to say about the match, Kinnear, declined and said he’d prefer just to answer questions. It was hard not to feel for these guys. Their eyes both gleamed with tears and a bittersweet understanding of the fact that they’d come so close but yet just weren’t quite up to it.

“We didn’t play as well as we wanted to,” said Kinnear when questioned. “The mood wasn’t happy at halftime. I just told the guys … it’s 0-0, we have a chance. We should play a little bit better. I think we played a little bit better in the second half than the first, but when we got in those good areas our delivery was off to not put them under pressure.”

Ching meanwhile, had even fewer positive things to say about his side’s performance. He instead opted for grace in defeat and heaped praise on the Gals and ABE (America’s Balding Eagle) in particular.

“They played well. They’ve been playing well all season,” said the midfielder. “They were playing at home. They came out and played the way they’ve been playing all season. Hats off to them. They handled the pressure well. And, Landon, just look at his goals per playoff games – it’s pretty special.”

Watching these guys reminded me of last year when LA had been eliminated in the playoffs by Dallas and everyone in the Galaxy locker room had that same misty gleam of defeat in their eyes. It’s something to behold and hard not to be affected by it. You can still read my UF recap of that night here.

At last mercy was shown to the vanquished and Internet beheadings were withheld as Ching and Kinnear shuffled out to make way for a fairly jubilant Bruce Arena.

Arena’s acerbic New York brand of self-deprecation can be rather charming at times and tonight was no exception.”I’ve had beer and champagne dumped on me,” admitted the coach up front.  While praising his side’s performance overall, Arena also admitted that, “We certainly didn’t do well in and around the penalty area. I think there were a few more goals there for us.”

After a few minutes of Arena, David Beckham and Landon Donovan appeared and then the real misery began. Judging by the grass stains on their uniforms, they’d come directly from the pitch. ABE, despite netting another crucial goal in a big match, was securely cloaked in his veil of miserable snarkiness.

“The actual goal doesn’t mean a whole lot to me,” he told us in that unique tone he possesses that allows him to instantaneously drain all the joy from any situation. “I, for the last month have been, like the rest of these guys have been so determined to win. I didn’t care who scored. I just wanted the ball go in. I mean that full heartedly. Winning feels so good. The goals come and go, but the moment is what I will remember.”

Okay Landon, whatever. . .

Thankfully David Beckham is never one to shy away from the glare of the spotlight and despite sounding like the Geico gecko when he talks, the veteran midfielder almost singlehandedly saved the whole thing from being a total drag.

After confirming the rumor that he’d been forced to play carrying a hamstring injury, Lord Beckingham admitted that “During the match I think I had a little bit of discomfort, but I just had a bit of champagne and a bit of beer and I can’t really feel it anymore.”

Beckham also went on to give ABE the praise he deserved but seems to wither in the face of.

“It was great that Landon was the MVP tonight. He deserved to score that goal. It wouldn’t have mattered who scored it, but he scored it and it won us the match. We’re lucky to have a player like him; we’re lucky to have to players we got on our team because every one of them were exceptional this year. It wasn’t about our starting 11 tonight. It was about every one of our players because everyone contributes. It’s been a good effort by everyone by this club.”

Watching him bat his eyelashes and grin with a studied false modesty that would have brought a tear to the eye of one Sir Paul McCartney, I got a little wistful myself. You can say what you will about the guy. He may talk like the Geico gecko and be past his prime but at the end of the day, what he’s done for Major League Soccer is immeasurable. I for one will kinda miss him when he’s gone.