ESPN Network:
ESPN.com
ESPN Deportes
Fantasy Games
|
|
|
| Friday, October 19, 2001 21:06 EST |
Dayak, San Jose have made huge turnarounds
[Associated Press]
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- San Jose's Troy Dayak wasn't thinking
about the months he spent recovering from neck surgery when he saw
a chance to advance his team to the championship game.
He was thinking about a slow-motion scene from a soccer movie.
Troy Dayak hopes to cap his comeback with an MLS title. |
"It was like in "Victory" when Pele scored a goal," said
Dayak, whose header in overtime won the semifinal series against
Miami. "Time stood still when the ball was in the air. I didn't
care if the keeper was going to come out and bash my teeth down my
throat ... I just knew I had to get to that ball."
Dayak -- whose nickname is "the beast" -- won't let injury slow
him Sunday when the Earthquakes face the Los Angeles Galaxy in the
MLS Cup at Columbus Crew Stadium.
Dayak's all-out attitude earned him a start in this year's
All-Star game, but it wasn't long ago when doctors told him to give
up soccer after a collision during practice crushed two discs in
his neck.
"It took a full year of recovery and three months in a neck
brace holding my chin up toward the ceiling," said Dayak, who
returned to soccer this year after a two-year absence.
Dayak's comeback is as remarkable as the turnaround San Jose has
made under new coach Frank Yallop, who also acquired Defender of
the Year Jeff Agoos and teen sensation Landon Donovan.
After finishing last in the league in 2000, San Jose nearly won
the Western Division with a 13-7-6 mark for 45 points. Los Angeles
won the West with a 14-7-5 record for 47 points, but San Jose won
the season series 2-0.
The two clubs were supposed to meet two more times, but those
games were canceled after the attacks of Sept. 11.
"Both teams were really looking forward to playing those last
two games and going for the West Conference title," Yallop said.
"It will be a wonderful match because there is a bit of unfinished
business."
The Galaxy, who advanced to their third MLS Cup, not only have
to prove they really are the best in the West. They have to prove
they can win the big game.
"To be considered in Los Angeles, to get your due, you need to
get the ultimate goal," said Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid. "If you
are only second they ignore you."
The Galaxy, after losing the Cup in 1996 and 1999, are trying to
avoid becoming the MLS' equivalent of the Buffalo Bills.
"We've been in this position before and haven't finished
well," said forward Cobi Jones. "Everyone doubted us and said we
can't win the big games, but we've shown we have character and the
ability to do it."
With a win Sunday, the Galaxy have a chance to win every
competition they participated in this year.
"We've now put ourselves in a position where we've won one
trophy in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and we're in two finals with
the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup," Schmid said.
Los Angeles won the CONCACAF Champions Cup in January and plays the New England Revolution in the U.S. Open Cup final on Oct. 27.
The Galaxy think this year's victories have given them
confidence that they can win the big game.
"It (the CONCACAF Champions Cup) proved to ourselves more than
anything else, that we can step up in big games," said defender
Danny Califf. "We've proven it this year, and sometimes it takes
us overtime to do it but we get it done."
Califf said the Galaxy's defense is ready for Donovan, who
scored twice in his only game this season against Los
Angeles.
"He's a nice kid, but we're enemies when we go out there on the
field," Califf said. "He's just another guy I have to kick."
Schmid expects Sunday's match against San Jose to be played fast
and with a "good level of intensity."
"San Jose is a very good attacking team, and pressures and
keeps the tempo of the game high," he said. "We're a team that
can deal with that and play along the same lines."
|
|
|
|
|
|
