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Galaxy and LAFC vying to host MLS Cup now that Inter Miami has been ousted

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Galaxy and LAFC vying to host MLS Cup now that Inter Miami has been ousted

Forty-two million dollars can buy a lot of things, but apparently it can’t buy an MLS championship, because for the second time in as many seasons Inter Miami came up short in trying to spend its way to a league title.

This time it was Atlanta United, the lowest seed in the 18-team playoff field, a team that has played the last five months with an interim coach and one with a payroll less than half the size of Miami’s, who delivered the fatal blow, beating Lionel Messi’s team Saturday in the deciding game of a best-of-three, first-round playoff series.

That has wrecked the plans of MLS — which has all but rechristened itself Messi Soccer League — and its broadcast partners at Apple, who both were deeply invested in drawing a massive global audience for a league championship game with Messi at its center.

Cinderella, however, ruined the coronation by proving mentality is still more valuable than money, grit can still beat greed and the magic of pixie dust should never be underestimated.

“Grinding, man. Grinding. Believing. Resilient,” Atlanta’s ageless goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who stopped nine shots in the 3-2 win, said of his team’s performance. “There’s some fairy dust in our locker room.”

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Guzan and his teammates weren’t the only ones celebrating because Miami’s loss opened a wide path for the MLS Cup to return to Southern California for the second time in three years. LAFC and the Galaxy are the highest remaining seeds in the playoff tournament, meaning if both win their Western Conference semifinals in two weeks, the title game will definitely be played here no matter who wins the conference final.

There’s also an upside to the upset for MLS.

The league’s overarching philosophy since its founding has been parity, a goal its byzantine salary rules were designed to support. And Miami’s loss — to a team whose salary is 35% of its payroll — means the best-paid team won’t win the MLS Cup for the seventh straight year and the 12th time in 13 seasons.

According to figures compiled by the Spotrac website, the last time the league’s highest-salaried team was also its best-performing one was in 2017, when Toronto won the only treble in MLS history with a payroll of $22.5 million. In the last six seasons, just one MLS champion — Columbus in 2020 — has ranked in the top three in spending. In a sport where cash often determines champions, that’s something MLS should be cheering.

Messi might be a World Cup champion — in addition to winning 10 La Liga titles, four Champions League crowns, three FIFA Club World Cups, two Ligue 1 titles, two Copa Américas and an Olympic gold medal — but he’s never lifted the MLS Cup.

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This, too, is something the league should tout.

The best player in history comes to MLS, scores 21 goals and gets 18 assists in 25 regular-season games over a season and a half, but his team gets bounced in quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup and the round of 16 in the Leagues Cup. It didn’t even make the playoffs last year.

Messi and Barcelona buddies Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets have done much to raise the league’s profile and turn Inter Miami into a global brand. Now that spotlight can be used to highlight the strength and competitiveness of the league overall.

Even with the loss, it hasn’t been a totally lost season for Inter Miami since the team broke the league’s single-season points record and won the Supporters’ Shield, which goes to the team with the best record heading into the playoffs. That’s a trophy many players consider more important than MLS Cup since it recognizes excellence over a full reason rather than just the final six weeks.

Yet coach Tata Martino, who won an MLS Cup with Atlanta in 2018, isn’t interested in consolation prizes.

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“It’s not a success when you lose in the quarterfinal round,” he told reporters after Saturday’s loss. “If one considers the expectations we had for these playoffs, we’ve come up very short.”

He was even more direct in an interview with the Athletic last August.

“When you win the MLS Cup, you earn that star above the badge,” he said. “The day that I’m given a star for winning the Supporters’ Shield, it’ll be worth it.”

Martino is now the third of three MLS coach-of-the-year candidates to lose in the first round of the playoffs. You know who hasn’t been eliminated? The actual best coaches of the year — the Galaxy’s Greg Vanney and LAFC’s Steve Cherundolo.

Vanney guided a Galaxy team that won just eight games last year to a record-tying season, one in which it matched modern-era franchise bests for wins (19) and goals (69). If it hadn’t conceded a score on the final touch of the regular season, the team would have won its first conference title since 2011 as well.

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Cherundolo, whose rebuilt roster finished atop the conference table, is the only coach to take his team to two cup finals in 2024, winning the U.S. Cup and losing to Columbus in the Leagues Cup. By reaching the MLS Cup final, which LAFC won two years ago, Cherundolo will become the first person to take his team to the league title game three times in as many years since 2007.

Now both coaches are within reach of their second titles. If LAFC, which has the fifth-highest payroll in the league, can beat Seattle on Nov. 23, and the Galaxy, whose payroll ranks seventh, gets by Minnesota United the next day, the neighbors will meet in the Western Conference final.

The winner of that game will earn the right to play host to the league championship game — a game in which neither money nor Messi will influence.

That’s something worth cheering, for MLS, its fans and its corporate partners.

You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

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Marta already has an illustrious legacy, but this year with the Pride was one of her best ever

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Marta already has an illustrious legacy, but this year with the Pride was one of her best ever

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last week, Marta was mad.

Usually, when she’s on the field with her nose toward goal, the three-time Olympic silver medalist visualizes repeating what she’s done many times over her lengthy career. She allows the joy to flow through her, down to her left foot and into the ball.

But she got a little heated with the opposition during last weekend’s NWSL semifinal between her Orlando Pride and the Kansas City Current.

“I tried to be nice most of the time during the game,” Marta said Thursday, to a rapt audience of reporters around her table at the NWSL championship media day.

There was a player on the Current who she exchanged words nicely with, according to the Brazilian. But the player, Marta declined to name names, was being “a little bit diva”.

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“And I said, ‘Wow, all right. You made me mad. I’m going to go one-on-one against you’,” Marta said.

Marta picked up the ball in the center circle after forward Barbra Banda poked it away from Current defender Kayla Sharples. Marta faked out both Sharples and center back Alana Cook as they tried to challenge her, juked past goalkeeper Almuth Schult and got the shot off before outside back Hailie Mace could do anything, scoring the Pride’s crucial third goal in the 82nd minute of an eventual 3-2 win.

It was another reminder, as if it was needed, that Marta is truly one of the greatest to ever play.

She celebrated with mixed emotion, anger and joy battling for dominance. But for Marta, it felt the same as so many other goal celebrations before. At media day, she nearly reached for her phone to pull up a photo of her celebrating a goal with Brazil to compare with what proved to be the game-winning goal that sent her to her first NWSL final.

“Honestly, what I see is maybe we should try and make her mad. She turns on a whole other level,” Pride teammate Morgan Gautrat said with a laugh.

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Other Pride players talked about watching the goal on repeat, from different angles, but no one expressed surprise. They see it regularly.

“Nothing’s changed,” Marta said. “I have passion for this game, and that’s why I still play.”

Much like the potential of finally earning an Olympic gold medal back in the summer with Brazil at age 38, Marta doesn’t need an NWSL championship trophy to cement her legacy as a force in American women’s professional soccer. She has already won a title and a shield here in 2010 with FC Gold Pride during the previous professional league era of the WPS. And the Pride already captured a trophy this year, winning the NWSL Shield for most regular season points.

She reiterated Thursday that she’s planning to play for another two years, though she’s a free agent heading into the NWSL offseason. But when she does finally hang up her boots, Marta has one of the best chances of an international player making it into the National Soccer Hall of Fame based on a club career.


Marta warms up during training ahead of the NWSL championship. (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

This season is special, though. Marta said it’s the best she’s ever had at the club level, even compared to her days in Sweden with one of the strongest sides in Europe at that time, Umeå IK.

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“If I achieve this big goal with this amazing team, good,” Marta said. “If not, this season was so special from the beginning to now, like not even close to the best dream I can imagine.”

When asked during the last press conference before the final where this NWSL championship ranks amid her illustrious career, Marta emphatically held up a finger: number one.

“I think because of the way we did during the season from the beginning to now, it is something very special that I have never had before in any other club that I’ve played for,” she said. “It’s hard to win the games in the first place (in NWSL), like almost all the games.”

Marta joined the Pride in 2017, a year after their inaugural season as an expansion team. The team had some big-name talent, from Alex Morgan to Ali Krieger. They had good results in Marta’s debut year and made the playoffs. However, the Pride never finished higher than seventh for the following five seasons (not including 2020, when no regular season was played due to the pandemic). In 2023, they achieved seventh place again, missing the playoffs by a two-goal difference in the standings on the last day.

“(Marta) remembers the hard times. She remembers when we were the laughingstock of the league,” head coach Seb Hines said Friday. “Now, she’s enjoying it. Now, everything’s coming together. We’ve got a great culture. We’ve got great players here. We’ve got structure within the top to the bottom now, and so she probably just reminds herself of, like, what it was like before, and just enjoying every single moment of what it’s like now.”

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As much as the external focus is on Marta this week, especially after that semifinal goal, she’s not feeling that external pressure at all. She’s not thrown off by the high demand for her from the media, or sitting down for a couple of video features during a championship week. She’s never experienced the madness of an NWSL championship as a finalist, but she’s been to plenty of World Cups and Olympics. She’s also not focused on herself as an individual.

“It’s not this player, (or) this player, it’s the team,” she said. “We do it together. This is exactly how it’s supposed to be. It’s not about the one or two players, it’s about the project. It’s about the work that everybody put in. If the trophy comes to us, amazing. If not, we’re going to keep working hard.”


Marta celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Current. (Mike Watters / Imagn Images)

From the outside, it is easy to assume that the team would love to win a championship title for Marta. And while that’s not inaccurate, said Pride general manager Haley Carter, it’s also not the only internal narrative driving them. From her front-row seat, Carter said Marta embodies the team culture every day and that this is a group of players that truly loves each other.

“This is actually what makes her great,” Carter said on media day. “This is what gives her legendary status: everything is about the team. It’s not about, ‘I’ve never won a NWSL title. I’ve never won the league’. It’s not about that. It’s about getting the team in the space to be successful. That’s her priority.”

Marta has been crucial on the field for the Pride as well. So much of her success this year, including her nine goals and an assist during the regular season, as well as her two playoff goals so far, comes not just from her return to form, but a slightly more advanced position on the field. She’s been closer to goal, and adding Banda to the mix only helped.

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When you look at her touches over the past three seasons, this year the Pride are essentially getting 12 percent more of Marta in the final third.

It has worked, to say the least.

There are still the intangibles, too. And for a player with Marta’s stature and legacy, those are impossible to overlook.

“She’s given so much to this club. She’s given absolutely everything. She hasn’t been at another team in this league, and so it’s part of her. She knows what it means to play for this team. She knows what it means to play for this badge,” Hines said Friday at his pregame press conference. “Take away all the individuality of the dribbling and shooting and stuff, her fundamentals of football when you see someone with stature doing it, there’s no questions for anyone else to do it, young, old, whatever.”

Tonight against the Washington Spirit at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Orlando’s captain will lead her team one final time in 2024. She’ll almost certainly be facing a hostile crowd, including locals who haven’t forgotten last week’s goal or Marta shushing them in the Pride’s 2-1 win over the Current there before the Olympic break.

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But there will be at least one person in the stands who has never seen her play before in America: her mother.

Marta told The Athletic Thursday that she had finally managed to help arrange a visa for her mom to attend a match in the United States and that a family member had managed to take two weeks off to travel with her and help her get around. For Marta, it was the perfect time for her mother to finally see her play a professional game in the States. Sure, they had to run around Thursday morning buying her mom more cold-weather gear so she was prepared for the chill of Kansas City in November, but it was all worth it.

“She told me this year, ‘If I don’t come to America, and then I pass away, I’m gonna pass away so sad’.” Marta couldn’t help mimicking her own incredulous face at the heightened levels of maternal guilt. “And I said, ‘Mom! Why do you have to be like that?’.”

All this week, Marta’s been nothing but smiles and jokes, soaking in a game that is the culmination of her eight years in Orlando. But despite the clear joy emanating from the Brazilian, maybe tonight she’ll get a little mad too, and provide one more moment of magic this season.

Jeff Rueter contributed to this story.

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(Top photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)

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Jason Kelce chugs beers during eventful visit to Appalachian State tailgate

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Jason Kelce chugs beers during eventful visit to Appalachian State tailgate

Former NFL star Jason Kelce got a first-hand look at the Appalachian State Mountaineers football team on Saturday.

Kelce made the trip to Boone, North Carolina for the Mountaineers’ matchup with James Madison. App State was ultimately able to pull off the 34-20 victory. Now, if the Mountaineers are able to pick up their sixth win of the season next week, App State would become bowl eligible.

But before Saturday’s Appalachian State-James Madison game, Kelce made his way to the tailgate area. At one point during his stop, Kelce was seen chugging beers. The retired Philadelphia Eagles center and seven-time Pro Bowler even took a few minutes to participate in karaoke. 

ESPN Monday Night Football broadcaster Jason Kelce on the set before game between Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field.  (Eric Hartline-Imagn Images)

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Kelce also posed for pictures with some fans before he entered Kidd Brewer Stadium.

JASON KELCE TO HOST NEW LATE-NIGHT SHOW ON ESPN

Kelce, who signed with ESPN in May and makes routine appearances on “Monday Night Countdown,” also addressed the crowd and made a brief appearance on the ESPN+ broadcast.

In April, Jason and his brother Travis received their college diplomas from the University of Cinncinati. Travis celebrated the moment in true Kelce style.

After shaking hands with the university’s president, Dr. Neville Pinto, onstage, Travis chugged a can of beer as the Beastie Boys’ hit song “Fight for Your Right” played in the arena. Travis would often recite the lyrics to the song following the Kansas City Chiefs’ games and during the team’s Super Bowl celebrations.

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While Travis and Jason previously graduated from Cincinnati, they both missed out on their actual commencement ceremonies, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Travis and the Chiefs play the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte on Sunday. Bank of America Stadium, the Panthers’ home stadium, is located roughly 100 miles from Appalachian State’s Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Jason Kelce on television set

Nov 18, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; ESPN personality and former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce on set before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans at AT&T Stadium. (Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Image)

Earlier this week, a dispute over an autograph resulted in Kelce having a less than pleasant exchange with a fan.

After filming an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Thursday night, a man directed a profanity-laced tirade at Kelce over the former Eagles lineman’s decision not to sign autographs for a group of people behind a fence. The incident, first reported by TMZ Sports, was captured on video.

Jason Kelce on the football field

Jason Kelce says being a father is one of the highlights of his life. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Through the shouting, a calm Kelce attempted to explain his reasoning as he was about to get into a vehicle. “I have a habit of not signing for people that follow where I’m going,” Kelce said. 

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The incident with the fan on Thursday comes just weeks after Kelce smashed someone’s phone after the unidentified person shouted a homophobic slur about Travis Kelce while Jason was walking near the Nittany Lions’ home stadium.

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Prep basketball roundup: Ontario Christian girls knock off defending state champion Etiwanda

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Prep basketball roundup: Ontario Christian girls knock off defending state champion Etiwanda

It’s not every day that Dawn Staley, coach of South Carolina, the No. 1-ranked women’s basketball team, walks into a Southern California gym. Staley, in town ahead of Sunday’s game between South Carolina and UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, dropped by Harvard-Westlake on Saturday night to see Etiwanda take on Ontario Christian in a matchup of The Times’ No. 1 and No. 2 girls teams.

Of course, Staley has interest in Ontario Christian sophomore All-American Kaleena Smith and freshman standouts Sydney Douglas and Tatianna Griffin. And there’s also players on Etiwanda, the two-time defending state champions.

Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian launches a shot in front of Etiwanda’s Aliyahna Morris.

(Craig Weston)

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Ontario Christian (3-0) made an early-season statement as the team of the future with a 74-66 victory over the Eagles (2-1) to win the Harvard-Westlake tournament. Douglas scored 23 points, Smith had 20 points and Griffin added 12 points. Grace Knox led Etiwanda with 30 points and Aliyahna Morris had 16. Ontario Christian’s pressure defense combined with balanced scoring left Etiwanda behind by as many as 16 points.

It was a Smith step-back three in the second quarter that had Staley turning to one of her assistants in the bleachers with a big grin.

“I love her,” Smith said. “She’s come to my games.”

Ontario Christian first-year coach Aundre Cummings said, “It means a bunch because she has been such an advocate for the women’s game. To see a legend like her support this is a blessing.”

Boys basketball

Chatsworth 60, Etiwanda 54: The Chancellors (4-0) continue to impress as the No. 1 team from the City Section. Alijah Arenas finished with 29 points.

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Brentwood 94, Westlake 74: AJ Okoh contributed 26 points and was named tournament MVP at Simi Valley. Shane Frazier added 24 points and Shalen Sheppard 16.

Mira Costa 74, Tesoro 55: The Mustangs won the Ocean View tournament. Eneasi Piuleini had 23 points and earned tourney MVP honors.

St. John Bosco 81, Francis Parker 40: The No. 1-ranked Braves opened with an easy home victory. Brandon McCoy scored 25 points and Elze Harrington added 20 points. Christian Collins had 16 rebounds.

Harvard-Westlake 65, Westchester 39: The Wolverines (3-0) completed their first week unbeaten. Nik Khamenia had 15 points.

San Juan Hills 62, Trabuco Hills 48: Mason Hodges scored 25 points and earned MVP honors at the Santa Ana tournament.

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Birmingham 48, Oakwood 41: Mandell Anthony had 22 points in the Patriots’ season opener.

Heritage Christian 81, Legacy 49: Tae Simmons had 36 points and 19 rebounds and Dillan Shaw added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Heritage Christian.

Simi Valley 59, Crescenta Valley 57: Joaquin Aleman had 26 points for Simi Valley.

Dominguez 61, Valley Christian 60: Sophomore Rueben Brown had 20 points for Dominguez.

Los Osos 81, Crenshaw 50: Jalen Washington led Crenshaw with 21 points.

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Redondo Union 76, Rancho Cucamonga 69: Chace Holley contributed 22 points and Chris Sanders 20 points for Redondo Union. Aaron Glass had 27 points for Rancho Cucamonga.

Chaminade 56, Liberty 55: Jonas Thurman scored 17 points for 3-0 Chaminade.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 85, Saugus 55: Lino Mark had 27 points and NaVorro Bowman added 18 points for the 3-0 Knights.

Viewpoint 63, Arleta 42: Wesley Waddles had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Viewpoint (3-0).

JSerra 80, San Tan 59: Jarne Eyenga had 18 points for JSerra (1-2).

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La Habra 76, Anaheim Canyon 63: Acen Jimenez completed an impressive first week with a 32-point performance for La Habra. Brandon Benjamin scored 27 points for Canyon.

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