SEATTLE — The timeworn adage about big players scoring big goals in big games has never been far from the imposing glare cast by the spotlight of Clint Dempsey’s career. He did it in the English Premier League, in European continental competition, in all manner of tournaments for the U.S. Men’s National Team.
More to the point, he’s done it for Sounders FC. And perhaps no goal Dempsey has ever scored in the Rave Green can match the absolute firecracker he lit at CenturyLink Field on Sunday night.
Thanks to Dempsey’s ethereal free kick from just outside the box in the 86th minute, the Sounders nipped FC Dallas 2-1 to take a vital one-goal edge into the second leg of the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinals. The series comes down to aggregate goals scored, and away goals serve as the tiebreaker. So when FC Dallas took a 1-0 lead on an inch-perfect counter polished by Fabian Castillo in the 18th minute, the entire stadium felt the impact.
But Seattle was made of sterner stuff.
A second-half team through and through, the Sounders equalized on a brilliant run-and-finish from a rampant Andreas Ivanschitz in the 67th, and Dempsey fit his free kick into the upper right corner less than three minutes before the 90th to send Seattle into the second leg in Frisco, Texas on Nov 8 with a vital edge. Now, FC Dallas has to win the return leg, or it’s curtains for the Supporters’ Shield winners.
With Sunday’s game knotted at 1-1, Dempsey and Ivanschitz stood over a resting ball about two yards outside the box shaded slightly to FC Dallas goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez’s left. Ivanschitz had been putting his crosses on the head of a pin all night, and he’d already scored, but the two engaged in fateful repartee with injury time looming like a shadow.
Ivanschitz posed the question.
“What are you thinking,” he asked Dempsey. “How to do you feel?”
Dempsey was about to answer in front of nearly 40,000 fans in no uncertain terms. But first, he addressed Ivanschitz.
“I told him that I feel good, that I want to take it, that I think it’s on to go near post,” Dempsey recalled. “And he let me have it.”
The rest was vintage Dempsey, the Designated Player who lived up to his billing as one of the most decorated American soccer players to lace up his boots. He picked his spot in the upper right corner - Gonzalez’s left - and put it on a shelf so high the 20-year-old FC Dallas keeper had no chance of reaching it.
As Dempsey wheeled away from the spot of his kick, Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid noticed something other than just the goal.
“The thing I was happiest about was just the joy and exhilaration I saw in him after he scored the goal; the celebration,” Schmid said. “He’s been extremely focused this past week. He’s got his goal right now in terms of what he wants to achieve with this team. For me, nothing Clint does surprises me. I know he’s always capable to conjure up a goal at key moments.”
And that goal? It’s bigger than a second leg in Frisco - though that’s important - and bigger than even the Western Conference Final. It’s MLS Cup. And Seattle took another step in that direction on Sunday.
“We’re fighting for our survival,” Dempsey said. “We’re showing our character, showing how much we want to do well in this competition. This (MLS Cup) is the trophy that we haven’t won, and we’re looking to try to capture it.”
FC Dallas offered little in the way of tactical surprise on Sunday, setting up its vast numbers behind the ball and then throwing numbers forward into the attack like a rattlesnake uncoiling on its victim. The Texas outfit ended with just a 43 percent share of possession, were out-passed 509-393 and were even out-shot 14-10, and 7-4 on target.
And yet FC Dallas had its strident moments of danger, bombing down the wings behind Castillo and Michael Barrios, with creative attacking midfielder Mauro Diaz conducting traffic in the middle. Sounders fullbacks Oniel Fisher and Tyrone Mears had plenty of work, while Chad Marshall formed a capable duo with Zach Scott in the middle due to an injury captain Brad Evans picked up in the Knockout Round win over the LA Galaxy.
FC Dallas’ first goal was as good an indication of that danger as any. With Seattle’s battle lines stretched dearly following a scoring chance, Diaz hit Castillo on a counter with a beautiful long ball, and Castillo had two steps on Scott by the time he buried his one-on-one chance in the opposite corner.
In mere seconds. Just like that.
Despite FC Dallas’ early chances, Seattle slowly began turning the screws with its vast experience. FC Dallas started nine players 25 or younger, but the older Sounders looked the fresher of the two units in the second half.
“For some reason or another, I feel like we play as a second half team,” Scott said. “We said that going into halftime, that you’re almost playing downhill out here as you head towards our fans. That’s the way we needed to play, is play downhill. The fans will lift you up and they’ll kind of suck that ball back into Dallas’ end. We were disappointed (with the first half) obviously, but we knew we were going to grind it and get one.
“Or two.”
- MATCH PROFILE: Marshall leads back line without injured Evans
The initial spark was a piece of solo brilliance from Ivanschitz. FC Dallas still held its 1-0 lead when the Austrian playmaker found a sliver of space in the 67th minute and carved it wide open with a scything run that’ll end up on year-end highlight reels. He worked his way from right to left, cutting across both of FC Dallas’ defensive midfielders before left-footing a shot across his body that skidded just inside the far post.
Ivanschitz has been serving up superb free kicks all season. But this? Something extraordinary.
“I was looking for this spot,” Ivanschitz said. “I’m very happy that I kicked the ball pretty hard and in the right direction... Especially on turf you try to keep the ball on the ground, because if you hit it well, the ball becomes faster and that’s a small advantage against the goalkeeper. You can ask Stefan (Frei), it’s very hard on turf if you keep it on the ground. The ball becomes faster.”
So did Seattle’s attack. FC Dallas’ flooded back line lost its nerve late, as both the crowd and the Seattle attack intensified over the final 20 minutes. The introduction of Nelson Valdez seemed to kickstart the play going forward, and Dempsey’s final punctuation mark was a well-deserved reward for a furious finish.
The Sounders now head south with a mighty tailwind. They’ll play for the win, of course. Schmid was explicit about that point. But the fact remains that a draw will also push Seattle through to its second consecutive Western Conference Final. Plenty of work to do, but the Sounders put themselves on the precipice.
“We’ve always been a good road team because we go to win on the road,” Schmid said. “We’re going to go to win there. I think if you go to win, sometimes you come out with a tie. If you go for a tie, sometimes you come out with a loss. We’re going to go to win, and if a tie is the end result, we’ll be happy with that.”
