at least just a little bit -- the Revolution unanimously think it's nonsense.
"The whole rivalry thing -- people are going to talk about the last Cup final -- but, you know, that's a long time ago," Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said on a media conference call Tuesday. "There's a lot of changes in both clubs. And really, if we all get caught up in this rivalry and wanting revenge and all that kind of rubbish, it'll detract from the teams.
"So, we certainly just want to win the game. Whoever we're playing against, we'd want to win it just as much."
Only five players from each squad that contested MLS Cup 2002 remain with their teams three years later. For the Revolution, Joe Franchino, Daniel Hernandez, Jay Heaps, Steve Ralston and Taylor Twellman are back for the club's second shot at a title. For the Galaxy, Chris Albright, Kevin Hartman, Cobi Jones, Tyrone Marshall and Pete Vagenas are back to try to give the Green and Gold their second crown.
The 2002 game is a bit more motivation for Revolution players like Twellman who remember the painful loss, but on Tuesday's call, the Budweiser Golden Boot winner chose to focus more on how this year's Revolution team will defeat this year's Galaxy team.
"Obviously, their team has changed a lot, and so has ours, but you know, it's still L.A. against New England, and I think it's kind of exciting for us to be playing against them," Twellman said. "You know, we're just more concerned with what we're doing as a team and what we've been doing well, and hopefully it continues this weekend.
"It was three years ago, so a lot's changed. Obviously, it's just two very good teams that are playing on a roll right now," he added. "I don't know if I'd necessarily agree with the roles being reversed. I don't think they're necessarily an underdog and we're necessarily a favorite."
While the Revolution downplayed their status as the team to beat in a supposedly epic rematch, the Galaxy, perhaps to put themselves in the mindset that they have a target on their own backs, tended toward playing up the revenge aspect.
"I think New England has two advantages, or two things they're going to weigh heavily on," Galaxy striker Landon Donovan said. "One is that they were consistently, if not the best team, the second-best team throughout the year, and they're playing very confidently. Secondly, I know a lot of those guys were on the field in New England when they lost to L.A. a couple of years back. So, I know they're going to take motivation in that."
The compliments flowed freely from one team to the other Tuesday, with Nicol citing the Galaxy's pure talent -- and their ability to finally get everyone on the same page -- as the driving force behind their late-season run toward the Cup final in spite of a fourth-place finish. Donovan, who won two MLS Cup Finals with the San Jose Earthquakes, referred to the Revolution as "the best team that [he] will have faced in a final."
"New England's been, clearly, the best team in the East all year and were with San Jose the entire way. They haven't relinquished anything throughout the playoffs," Donovan said. "I think they've been very good defensively. Obviously their attacking players speak for themselves. If there was a matchup that people wanted to see, I think this would be the matchup, and I think it's going to be a great game this weekend."
And while Galaxy midfielder Cobi Jones, who will play in his fifth MLS Cup Sunday, said the Revolution appear on paper to be the favorite, Galaxy head coach Steve Sampson invoked -- albeit indirectly -- the old saying that they don't play games on paper.
"It's like everyone is talking about who is the favorite and who isn't," Sampson said. "It doesn't count when the game starts. It's just talk for the press."
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
