K.C. aims to upset defending champs in Western final

Soccer Betting Lines

11/09/2007 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When Kansas City travels to Houston for the Major League Soccer Western Conference final Saturday, it won't be the typical matchup of rivals.

The Wizards finished fifth in the Eastern Conference table, and because of the new playoff format, moved into the Western bracket because they had more points than all but the top three clubs in the West.

As a result, the teams don't have that fierce playoff rivalry like say, the New England Revolution and Chicago Fire did heading into the Eastern final, won by the Revs 1-0 on Thursday.

Regardless, it figures to be a tough battle between two similar teams in front of about 30,000 fans at Robertson Stadium Saturday. The Wizards are the obvious underdogs as the last seed in the playoffs heading to the defending MLS champions' home field, but neither team looks at it that way.

"I think it is a good situation to be in because nobody expects you to win," Kansas City coach Curt Onalfo said. "I have told these guys that I think we have a team that can win a championship."

"According to everybody out there, we are just fortunate to be in this position so with this good fortune we are just going to do our best to make it a good game and send all those 30,000 people home not very happy," Wizards captain Jimmy Conrad said.

"We are expecting Kansas City to play their best game, defensively and attacking wise," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. "Because if we don't go in with the utmost respect and not an ounce of fear as we play them, we are doing a disservice to them and to ourselves. We have to prepare for this as if it is a final, because it really is. If we win this game we go on, if not our season is over. We have to expect that their players, individually and collectively, are going to play their best game, and we have to approach it that way because if we don't and they end up doing that, then we are in for a lot of trouble."

The Wizards have tremendous speed up top with Eddie Johnson and Scott Sealy, which will present a much different challenge for the Dynamo defense than the what it faced in the Dallas series.

"Johnson and Sealy have pretty incredible speed so it is quite different than what we faced in Dallas," Houston captain Wade Barrett said. "They had (Carlos) Ruiz and (Kenny) Cooper up top which, neither one of those players is one that looks to get behind the defense as often. Against those guys our central defenders are able to stay high but we have to be a little bit more careful now that they have the threat to get behind our defense (against the Wizards)."

"You have midfielders who have played in championship games like Kerry Zavagnin and Sacha Victorine and also Davy Arnaud is a very good player," Kinnear said of Kansas City. "And you look up front and a lot of the goal scoring production comes from Eddie Johnson and Scott Sealy and they enjoy playing together. The one thing that stands out is their pace, which can be scary at times."

The Dynamo defense, which allowed an all-time league low .77 goals-against- average while also setting a record with a 727 minute shutout streak this season, will need to continue that form to shut down the Wizards.

"I think they press the ball very, very well," Onalfo said. "I think their backline moves very well together. They have two very good central defenders (in Barrett and Eddie Robinson) and they are just intimidating because they are very, very aggressive. I just think they have overall good team shape and that's what good teams do."

The Wizards also face a much different team than they did in the semis, when they upset the West's top seed, Chivas USA.

"What jumped out at me at first is their willingness to go wide," Conrad said of the Wizards. "I think Chivas likes to do a lot of attacking through the middle. I think with Houston and (forward) Brian Ching, I think they do a good job of getting the ball wide and getting crosses into the box and getting guys in good spots to finish them off. That is going to probably be the most different wrinkle from Chivas to Houston. With that being said, I think (Houston midfielder) Dwayne De Rosario is a big X factor. He really makes a difference in the game and I don't think anybody on Chivas really has that kind of ability to really change a game with one play."

De Rosario and Ching are known for their big game performances, with Ching scoring the tying goal in extra time of the MLS Cup last year while also scoring the game-winning shot in the penalty kick shootout to take home MLS Cup MVP honors last season. In the return leg of the Dallas series, De Rosario set Ching up on the goal that tied it before Ching scored the series clincher in extra time.

One thing going for Kansas City is its new-found confidence in its defense, after three straight clean sheets, dating back to their regular season finale.

"It really starts with the game we played in Dallas (in the regular season finale), a must win game to get into the playoffs," Conrad said. "I think the guys realized what it takes to win a game of that magnitude. We had 11 guys back behind the ball doing the dirty work and we got two goals going the other way. We saw that when we have that kind of commitment we can have a lot of success. That was a good 90 minutes for us to lead into the playoffs and I thought we kind of carried that mentality against Chivas. We can argue that we dodged a few bullets as well but to be successful and be champions you have to dodge a few bullets along the way."

All other things being equal, which they probably aren't, the Dynamo hope they get the performance out of their home crowd that they did against Dallas, when they used a dominating performance on the field in the home leg to win the total-goals series 4-2 after trailing 2-0 with 45 minutes to play in regulation.

"The 30,000-plus that we had Friday night (in the return leg) for the game against Dallas was the most incredible atmosphere that I have witnessed in a MLS game," Kinnear said. "I do thank our fans for giving us, what we feel is, a really good home field advantage.

"We do know going into this game on Saturday that we need to be on the top of our game to advance," he added.

If Houston wins, as expected, it will set up a rematch of last year's MLS Cup final with New England, scheduled to take place Nov. 18 in Washington, D.C. at RFK Stadium.

"We know it is going to be an enormous challenge," Onalfo said. "Our guys are up for the challenge. We are very well prepared and we go in there confidently. We have a gameplan that we believe is going to be successful. It is just a matter of us going in and executing it."