A series of small battles will likely decide the MLS Cup final Saturday night between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders and which loyal legion of fans will watch their team hoist the Philip F. Anschutz trophy for the first time.
The disruptive work of captains Michael Bradley of Toronto and Osvaldo Alsonso, along with Cristian Roldan, of Seattle in front of their backlines will be key. As will the battle of the fullbacks with Justin Morrow and Steven Beitashour for Toronto and Joevin Jones and Tyrone Mears for the Sounders.
Can Seattle's robust centre-back pairing of Chad Marshall and Ramon Torres corral Toronto's $12-million US strike force of Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco? Will Seattle playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro and the speedy Jordan Morris slice through the Toronto defence, as Montreal did five times in the two-legged Eastern Conference final?
Who will dominate set pieces? Toronto used them to dispatch the Impact last time out. But the Sounders are one of the better set-piece teams themselves on offence.
Will Seattle's 4-2-3-1 find gaps in Toronto's preferred 3-5-2 formation of late?
Will home field play a part?
Home-field advantage may play its part, although Seattle has proved it can win anywhere of late.
The Sounders were 4-9-4 away from the noisy confines of CenturyLink Field during the regular season although seven of those away losses came before the mid-season coaching change that saw Brian Schmetzer take over from Sigi Schmid.
Seattle is 1-1-0 on the road in the playoffs. Toronto is 3-0-0 at home in the post-season.
And perhaps most importantly, which team will handle the chilly lakefront conditions for the 8 p.m. ET kickoff at BMO Field? Seattle players looked like they had landed on Pluto when they ran out for their first practice in Toronto on Thursday. Toronto players seemed less shocked by the cold, but were still showing very little skin at training.
The frosty night will likely do little to improve the entertainment value of the league's showcase game, although underground heating and a gifted grounds crew that babies the grass like its name was Kardashian have done wonders. Still, goals are expected given the two teams' nine playoff games have produced a combined 33 goals.
It is a hard final to call, with both teams on a roll — albeit arriving at the championship game on different paths.
Seattle had to dig deep to redefine itself after a poor start.
Toronto, a side that has spent the last two years refining its roster and remaking club culture, made more subtle changes after filling holes with Beitashour, goalkeeper Clint Irwin, defender Drew Moor, and midfielder Will Johnson in the off-season and adding offensive options in Armando Cooper and Tosaint Ricketts mid-season.
FC complicated its playoff run
Toronto started the year the hard way, with eight straight road games due to stadium renovations. Greg Vanney's team then failed to make the most of the home-dominated second half of the season, complicating its playoff run somewhat.
There were five points separating the sides during the regular season with Toronto (14-9-11) second in the East and Seattle (14-14-6) fourth in the West.
But the Sounders' season was essentially split in two. Seattle was ninth in the West with a 6-12-2 record on July 26 when Schmid, the team's only head coach, stepped down.
Seattle has gone 12-3-4 since under former assistant Schmetzer, whose interim tag was removed Nov. 2.
The addition of Lodeiro from Argentina's club Boca Juniors in late July played a big part in the turnaround. As did the August return of Torres after almost a year on the sidelines due to a knee injury.
Still, Seattle has had to do without star striker Clint Dempsey since late August due to an irregular heartbeat.
Toronto is also on a roll, having lost just three times since mid-July (12-3-5). Along the way, with the help of Montreal in a pulsating Canadian playoff rumble, it has arguably re-energized men's soccer in Canada.
The teams tied 1-1 in their lone meeting this season, at BMO Field on July 2. The game wasn't much of a marker, given it was Toronto's fifth in 15 days and Vanney fielded a makeshift lineup that featured perhaps just four starters due to injuries and the crowded schedule.
Seattle leads franchise series
A slumping Seattle came into the game having lost five of its last six.
Morris' tying goal in the 61st minute, only the Sounders' 14th in their first 16 games, ended a 248-minute Seattle scoring drought dating back a month.
Seattle leads the overall series between the two with a 7-2-2 record, outscoring Toronto 18-10. The Sounders are 3-1-1 all-time at BMO Field.
Seattle got some bad news Friday when reserve forward Oalex Anderson was carried off after suffering an injury in practice.
Two Sounders staff members carried the 21-year-old Saint Vincent and the Grenadines international off the BMO Field pitch after an apparent leg or knee injury.
A Sounders spokesman said Anderson would be "fully diagnosed" Monday in Seattle.
Anderson appeared in 15 games during the regular season, making two starts and seeing 334 minutes of action without scoring. He has not played in the post-season.
Seattle Sounders Oalex Anderson is carried off the field after being injured during a training session in Toronto on Friday. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)
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