In what has been a rollercoaster season that will remarkably end in the MLS Cup Final at The Home Depot Center on Sunday afternoon, there has been one constant for the New York Red Bulls -- Dave van den Bergh.
The club lost promising forward Jozy Altidore to Villarreal of La Liga, designated player Claudio Reyna to retirement and Juan Pablo Angel battled nagging injuries for most of the first half of the season.
Through it all, though, the Dutch midfielder was quietly the team's best player.
"He has been magnificent for us," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said.
Van den Bergh opened his second season with the Red Bulls by scoring the fastest goal in club history when he struck 47 seconds into the season opener against Columbus at Giants Stadium.
And his latest goal, the game-winner against Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference Championship, is the most important in the Red Bulls' 13-year history.
"He's just got a great sense of when there's going to be a chance," John Wolyniec said. "For a flank player he just has an incredible instinct of where the ball is going to end up. When it's there and he's there he does a great job of finishing it."
Van den Bergh also started the play that helped send the Red Bulls into the MLS Cup Final with a ball up the left side to Wolyniec. RSL defender Jamison Olave missed a slide tackle, allowing Wolyniec to run free inside the 18-yard box.
He crossed along the six, where Juan Pablo Angel missed a sliding attempt as Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando got a touch on the ball. Van den Bergh completed his 60-yard run by tapping the ball in at the far post.
Van den Bergh also scored the first goal in Rio Tinto Stadium history, a 31st-minute strike in a 1-1 draw on Oct. 9. That was his first game back after missing two games after sports hernia surgery.
"I knew Dave was going to score," Dane Richards said. "Every game he's played against Real Salt Lake he's scored this season. He just capitalized on a nice goal."
While he is enjoying his greatest scoring run since joining the league in 2006 when he was signed by the Kansas City Wizards from Dutch Eredivisie side FC Utrecht, van den Bergh's greatest contribution this season is from the constant dangerous crosses he sends in from the left side.
After scoring three goals for the Wizards in 2006, van den Bergh was traded to the Red Bulls for a 2007 third-round supplemental draft pick and has been in the Red Bulls starting lineup ever since.
"Maybe they gave up on him too early," Columbus coach Sigi Schmid said of Kansas City. "But he's fit in New York's system very well. He's played a number of different positions for them. ... He's one of the better players that he doesn't need to cut the ball inside to get a good cross in. He's able to get his foot around the ball and still curl the ball in into dangerous positions." Schmid said van den Bergh also does some of the unheralded things that don't appear on a stat sheet to help New York win.
"He does a lot of dirty work as well for New York," he said. "He does a lot of defending on that side of the field. He pops up in different places. He doesn't restrict himself just to the wing."
After backing into the playoffs, Van den Bergh and the Red Bulls are improbable MLS Cup finalists. Is this a team of destiny? That remains to be seen on Sunday, but van den Bergh said there is certainly something magical happening.
"March Madness has Cinderellas right? I'll tell you what, MLS Cup has one, too," van den Bergh said. "The last team to quality, but we're right there."
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