The Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo. Together again.
Landon Donovan scored the lone goal in last year’s MLS Cup final to lead to L.A. to a 1-0 win over Houston at the Home Depot Centre, the home of the Galaxy.
Fast forward one year and these two sides will meet again in Major League Soccer’s championship game, again at the Home Depot Center.
What will the rematch bring? Here are a few things to consider ahead of Saturday’s match:
Beckham’s last stand
In case you hadn’t heard, Saturday marks David Beckham’s last match in MLS.
The English star recently announced that he would be leaving the Galaxy after Saturday, but wouldn’t say anything about his future plans– the only hints we received were that he’s not planning to retire and he won’t sign with another MLS club.
So this is Beckham’s chance to end his six-year tenure in the league in the best possible way, by winning one last championship before the hometown fans. Hollywood doesn’t write scripts much better than this.
“I know I’m quite an emotional person,” Beckham said at a news conference this week.
“I’m just really excited about the game, to be in a third MLS Cup final, especially the second one that’s being played in our own stadium. It’s going to be special. …I’m happy the team are in the position we are, and the reason we’ve done well this season is because we’re a complete team. We’ve got character.”
Canadian content
Saturday’s final has a bit of Canadian content thanks to Houston defender Andre Hainault.
The 26-year-old native of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., is coming off a pretty decent 2012 MLS season that saw him score against D.C. United in the first leg of the Eastern Conference final.
The past 12 months have been an up and down year for Hainault, who was a member of the Houston team that lost to L.A. in last year’s MLS Cup. He also played in that infamous 8-1 loss to Honduras back in October that knocked Canada out of World Cup contention.
In last year’s final, Houston was without veteran Brad Davis, and the memory of that loss still stings.
“Last year we were missing a couple of guys. This year we do feel confident in our team,” Hainault told the Toronto Sun. “We’re two teams that are doing well right now. We’ve both improved and have both developed.
“I think if we put our stamp on the game and play our game we’ll be successful. That’s what has brought us to this point.”
What about Donovan?
So we know this will be Beckham’s last game in MLS? But what about Landon Donovan?
Widely regarded as one of the best American players in history, Donovan has recently said that he was feeling burned out and needed to step away from soccer, but didn’t explain if he meant retirement or just a short break.
“I’m going to take as much time as I need and decide if and when I’m ready to come back,” he told the LA Times earlier this week. “I can’t put a time frame on that. If it takes two weeks and I’m ready to go again or two months or a year or two years.
It’s left a lot of people wondering if this will be Donovan’s last game for the Galaxy, his last in MLS or his last period.
Donovan was asked the question again during a Friday press conference, but deflected.
“We can talk about that at a different time,” he said.
Pack of facts
— The Galaxy’s Bruce Arena could become the first coach to win two MLS Cups with two teams, having previously won with D.C. United (1996 and 1997) and Los Angeles (2011).
— The last team to repeat as league champions was Houston (in 2006 and 2007). The only other team to pull it off was D.C. United, under Bruce Arena.
— The Home Depot Center will host the MLS Cup for a record fifth time, having previously staged the event in 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2011.
— A win by L.A. would tie them with D.C. United for the most MLS championships (4). A win by Houston would tie them for second place with L.A. (3).
— The Galaxy are competing in the MLS Cup for a record eighth time. This is the Dynamo’s fourth trip to the final in their seven-year history.
— Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan has won four MLS Cups during his career, one short of the record held jointly by Jeff Agoos and Brian Mullan.
— Only once have the same two teams met in the final for two consecutive years: Houston beat New England in 2006 and 2007.