First XI: Honor roll

Who can make a coherent list when there's so much going on in MLS? Not First XI, which is why this week, having attempted to let all the action from this past weekend sink in, we simply let fly with 11 people who deserve props for getting themselves and their teams into the Conference Championship:

11. Dane Richards is fast. He scored one and set up another because, quite simply, Houston could not keep pace. I've been watching Richards closely the last two seasons and he's one of those players who seems to be all about confidence. Right now, he's flying, literally and figuratively. Real Salt Lake need to figure out the best way to deal with Richards and spend a lot of time this week preparing for it. If it's up to Chris Wingert alone, that may be too much to ask. Bet on RSL to come up with a "team defense" plan to combat Richards' speed. But they'd better be careful, because there's a guy named Juan Pablo on the field.

10. Yura Movsisyan is a beast. While he did not get a goal in Game 2 of the RSL-Chivas USA series, Yura's presence was felt for the full 90 minutes. Every time he got the ball near the box, you could almost sense panic in the legs of Shavar Thomas and Jim Curtin. Movsisyan was relentless trying to get to the goal, active off the ball and a complete menace out there. Let's not forget this kid is only 21 years old. The future is bright indeed.

9. John Thorrington is underrated. It took me a while, but I'm now a big believer in Thorrington, who is mobile and feisty. When you watch the Fire, Thorrington is a non-stop runner who shows up in all kinds of places on the field. His feet aren't perfect, but the effort is always there. It's easy for me to see why he's earned his spot on the field. Great teams need players like this.

8. Will Johnson has been a great addition. Johnson is the one the Fire let get away. The 21-year old Canadian citizen who grew up just outside of Chicago has scored some nice goals for RSL, but more importantly gives them meaningful two-way running. Look for Johnson to be one of the league's better, more exciting, attacking players in years to come.

7. Sigi Schmid did it the right way. It's not the first time I've written this, but kudos to Sigi Schmid and to the Columbus Crew front office for letting Schmid build a team the right way. While the quick fix is enticing, the league seems to have moved past the era when championship teams could be built in one offseason. It took the Crew three years to make the playoffs under Schmid, but their Shield-winning side looks like it's ready to compete for titles year in and year out. Moreover, the Crew are the definition of "team" and proof that one or two big-name players does not a team make in the sport of soccer.

6. Juan Carlos Osorio has the magic touch. That's two monumental playoff upsets in two years for Osorio, and when you think back to D.C. United's 1-0 loss to Columbus on the final day of the season, when the woodwork would not cooperate with four D.C. shots ... and the Red Bulls secured the final playoff spot, you get the feeling there's some magic at work.

5. Danny Cepero is living the dream. Cepero joins Paul "Pants" Grafer as the only Metro/Red Bull 'keeper to ever author a victory in a playoff series. The way Cepero was thrust into duty was dramatic, but not nearly as dramatic as his performance on Sunday in Houston. He was in the right place at the right time, over and over again, and his point-blank kick save midway through the second half, when it looked as if Houston would make it a 2-1 game, was incredible. Stories like Cepero's is why we all love sports.

4. Denis Hamlett, worth the wait. All those years as an assistant in Chicago have paid off for the Fire coach, who saw his team put in a commanding performance last Thursday at Toyota Park. Hamlett deserves everything he's gotten, and there's not a person alive who's devoted more hours to the Chicago Fire than their first-year head coach. Now Hamlett will try to lead the Fire to an MLS Cup title on the 10th anniversary of their one and only championship.

3. John Wolyniec was a horrendous omission from last week's First XI. As soon as I saw Woly score last Sunday and do his Michael Jackson "Thriller" dance, I realized I goofed last week when I put up my list of players who deserve to play in an MLS Cup Final. I wish I could say it was because I didn't give the Red Bulls a chance, but the opposite is true. I had a hunch this was the year the tables would turn for a team that hasn't gotten a bounce to go its way in the playoffs in a long, long time. Wolyniec, in his fourth tour of duty with the club since they drafted him in 1999, is certainly a guy who deserves to play in a cup final after working so hard for so many years.

2. Jason Kreis has his team playing hard. In the end, Chivas USA might have regrets about not winning on their home field after they leveled their series with RSL, but what I saw from Salt Lake in this series was a team that was not going to be denied. Kreis must have had the right words for his squad coming out of the dressing room because in the second half, even as Chivas tried to push the game, RSL came away winning nearly every duel for the ball. Also, in Game 1, RSL didn't score until the 90th minute, but played a passionate, attacking game and deserved to win. The Red Bulls cannot take a breath this week if the same RSL squad shows up.

1. Juan Pablo Angel is all that. Here's a guy who's carried this team (a heavy load to bear at times) since the day he arrived in MLS last season and you just get the feeling that he can carry them all the way. How do you mark him out of a match when it seems all Angel needs is one little chance per 90 minutes to score a goal? The passion of RSL vs. the big play ability of Angel makes the RSL-Red Bulls game one that cannot be missed.