The 2011 Majors are nearing a third champion.
The Seattle Sounders won their third consecutive US Open Cup, claiming the first of the year. Not long after the LA Galaxy captured the Supporters’ Shield as the Major League Soccer regular season champion.
On Sunday the Galaxy kept their bid for a double, possibly a treble, alive by reaching the Final of the MLS Cup playoffs. Their opponent for the third Major of the year will be the Houston Dynamo.
The Galaxy and the Sounders are both still also alive for the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League title, having advanced to the Quarterfinals, which will resume in the early spring. The Canadian champion Toronto FC, yet to reach MLS Cup playoffs, are also still alive for their own version of a double, moving on from the CCL group stage over FC Dallas.
The 2012 Majors...
CCL Qualifiers
The four US entrants for the next edition of the CCL are set. As Open Cup and Supporters’ Shield winners, both the Sounders and Galaxy will return to the event once again. The Dynamo are technically the fourth team to join the fray as one of the two MLS Cup finalists, which advance to the regional championship. With LA having already qualified, that spot was already determined midweek as it fell to Real Salt Lake, third-place finishers in the regular season courtesy of runners-up Seattle also having advanced. RSL would have been guaranteed a spot regardless of its playoff outcome Sunday.
It is only the second time in the last eight years in which the Supporters' Shield winner has reached the MLS Cup Final. It happened five times in the first eight years of the league's existence. In contrast, the US Open Cup champion reached the MLS Cup Final three of the last eight years, the same tally as the first eight years.
US Open Cup
Though rumors/reports are saying that the format may change with more, if not all, MLS teams participating in the tournament next year, here is a look at the top six from the 2011 MLS season that would be pre-qualified for the 2012 tournament if the same qualification process is followed as has been the case since 2007.
1 – LA Galaxy, 2 – Seattle Sounders, 3 – Real Salt Lake, 4 – FC Dallas, 5 – Sporting KC, 6 – Colorado Rapids
It would mark the first appearance since 2007 for Colorado, the only club among the six that did not participate in the tournament this year.
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