Before he danced on a dais at Rio Tinto Stadium, Dane Richards was celebrating in his New Jersey apartment after watching the Columbus Crew defeat D.C. United 1-0 on the final day of the regular season.
"I remember watching the D.C.-Columbus game and I was so nervous because D.C. hit the post," the Jamaican midfielder said. "When Columbus scored I was rejoicing like we won the MLS Cup."
That victory not only ended United's season, but it breathed new life into the Red Bulls, which three days earlier were trounced 5-2 by the Chicago Fire in their final regular-season game.
"It was just a second chance and we all realized it was one," Dave van den Bergh said. "We took it and took full advantage of it and for a lot of these guys this is the first final that they're in. It's just a great atmosphere in the locker room and around the team. We just figured it takes 11 guys working very hard to get a result. That's what we do."
The Red Bulls might have been the final team to make the MLS Cup Playoffs, but they are one of two still standing heading into Sunday's MLS Cup 2008.
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SIGHTS & SOUNDS
"We didn't have the right momentum going into the playoffs from the 5-2 loss, but you know you just have to get there and put everyone together and point the ship in the right direction," Kevin Goldthwaite said. "We've done that and we've done it well."
Goldthwaite said Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio deserves the credit for the stunning about-face.
Osorio expressed his disappointment with the result to the team, made drastic changes to his lineup. He benched prized South American signings Jorge Rojas, Gabriel Cichero and Juan Pietravallo and started two midfielders with little playoff experience in Luke Sassano and Sinisa Ubiparipovic and a veteran up front in John Wolyniec who hadn't scored a goal during the regular season.
"A lot of teams talk about momentum and playing well going into the playoffs, but sometimes learning a good lesson is a good opportunity to improve your team," said Wolyniec, who has one goal and set up two others in the playoffs. "We got shellacked but we learned our lesson from that."
By backing into the playoffs and with the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo their foe in the Western Conference Semifinal Series, the Red Bulls had no pressure. After all, few outside of their locker room gave New York a chance, especially after a 1-1 draw in the opening leg at Giants Stadium.
But the Red Bulls stunned Major League Soccer with a 3-0 victory at Robertson Stadium and followed that with a 1-0 win against Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference Championship on Saturday.
The team that was third worst in the league with 48 goals against during the regular season and had just one victory away from Giants Stadium has conceded just one in the playoffs and has posted back-to-back road shutouts.
"It's a fresh start, mentally as well as on a piece of paper," goalkeeper Danny Cepero said. "Everybody is equal in the playoffs, in this league any team, as I think we showed, can beat any other team on any given night. I think it was just that mental freshness, I guess you can call it, that allowed us to make a run here."
And now the Red Bulls are in their first-ever MLS Cup Final and, after 12 years of playoff futility, have an opportunity to win the first major trophy in club history. That seemed doubtful three weeks ago.
"After that game against Chicago it seemed very unlikely," Mike Magee said. "The feeling right now is, I seriously can't even explain it. I didn't even play the last two games and I don't even care. This is absolutely incredible, the best moment of my six years here."
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