SEATTLE – LA Galaxy midfielder Juninho was hardly the odds-on favorite to play hero in Sunday's Western Conference Championship second leg.
Sure, the 25-year-old Brazilian appeared in every league and playoff game for the Galaxy, leading the team in minutes played, but he had not scored in more than a year.
Timing is everything, however, and after 43 scoreless MLS regular season and postseason matches spanning the last 14 months, Juninho found the perfect moment to fire home the decisive away goal that sent LA to yet another MLS Cup final after a 2-1 loss that left the series aggregate tied 2-2.
"Right time!," Juninho joked after the game, still clutching the Western Conference Championship trophy tightly. "I was expecting this goal for a long time. My last goal was last year in September. Always against Seattle, I am so lucky. I've been scoring a lot of goals against them, and today was no different. I just remember the ball was balanced in front of me, and I kicked it so hard, and – goal. I am very emotional and very happy to score this goal against a big team like Seattle. Today was my day. I'm proud to help my teammates and score that big goal."
Of his 15 regular- and post-season goals for the Galaxy, Sunday's winner was Juninho's fourth against the Sounders, and it was surely his biggest.
The game's defining moment came in the 54th minute, when
Landon Donovan
's out-swinging corner found its way to Juninho at the edge of the Seattle box, and he struck a low shot that skipped in off the post. LA had been trailing 2-1 on aggregate, but Juninho's strike tied the aggregate-goals scoreline and gave the Galaxy the away-goals tiebreaker that eventually sent them to their ninth MLS Cup.
For the player whose delivery set up the goal, the Brazilian's strike came as no surprise and was the mark of what makes this LA side so formidable.
"We're a team full of champions and winners, and that's what separates us," Donovan told reporters. "We're very proud of that fact. Some days it's the guys you expect, and some days it's the guys you don't, and that's what champions do. We've been waiting all year for Juni to get one of those strikes on target in a good spot, and he hit a great shot and a great goal."
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After allowing two first-half goals, Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez said Juninho's goal helped the team regain its defensive confidence.
"In the locker room, everyone's saying we just need a goal," Gonzalez revealed after the game. "That's all we need is one goal, and they're not going to score again. Sure enough, Juni, the guy who hasn't scored a goal all year, finally puts one in the back of the net. What great timing, because we've seen in years past how well he can hit a ball. It's taken up to this point for him to score the goal, and we couldn't be happier for him."
