Which MLS Cup final are you most excited to see on Dec. 1?
We're down to the final four in MLS.
And so we can begin to look ahead to the potential MLS Cup matchups on Dec. 1. Which one do you think would make for the best final?
LA Galaxy at D.C. United
These teams featured in the very first MLS Cup final in 1996, an epic encounter that was decided by an Eddie Pope golden goal. Both clubs would go on to be the best MLS had to offer in those early years, meeting again for the cup in 1999, when current D.C. coach Ben Olsen scored for United's third league title.
But more than history, everyone would surely latch onto one storyline: LA manager Bruce Arena matching wits against Olsen, his former player at the University of Virginia and D.C. United.
Seattle Sounders at D.C. United
The bad blood dates back to the 2009 US Open Cup final, which D.C. United hosted and lost to Seattle in the first of three straight US Open Cup triumphs.
The Sounders felt they should have won the bid to host the final and made their feelings public. GM Adrian Hanauer and D.C. president Kevin Payne got into a spat in the media, which resulted in D.C. United launching a website that still stands today: WeWinTrophies.com.
Houston Dynamo at LA Galaxy
It has happened before in MLS in 2006 and 2007: back-to-back MLS Cup finals that feature the same teams. In those years it was the Houston Dynamo facing the New England Revolution and winning both cups.
A rematch of MLS Cup 2011 would give the Dynamo the chance to make up for last year's narrow 1-0 loss, a match they played without injured star captain Brad Davis. With Designated Player Oscar Boniek García and the return of Ricardo Clark, you'd figure the Dynamo would like their chances better this time around.
Houston Dynamo at Seattle Sounders
They've met in the postseason once before (2009), but it was a defensive struggle with the deciding goal scored by Houston's Brian Ching in the sixth minute of extra time at Robertson Stadium.
It would probably be tight this time around as well: The Sounders are the stingiest team in the West (33 goals against), while Houston allowed the second-fewest in the East (41 allowed).
