November 22, 2009
PLAYING THE UNDERDOG
Wingert, RSL gun for MLS glory today

By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor

SEATTLE -- Defender Chris Wingert has heard it for most of the week.

Sunday's MLS Cup pits the Los Angeles Galaxy, which boasts David Beckham and Landon Donovan against that team from Salt Lake City.

That team is Real Salt Lake.

The former St. John's standout and Babylon, N.Y. native takes it in stride.

"We're still getting a lot of hype. maybe not as much as them, of course," he said earlier this week. "But it's been a big in Utah and throughout our city and everything. We don't feel like a forgotten-about team. We understand they have some big stars on their team and the media will give them a lot of hype and that's fine with us. We're happy to be here. We're worried about winning the game. If we win the game, we'll get plenty of love."

RSL is the decided underdog. The team barely got into the playoffs as the eighth and final seed with an 11-12-7 record on the final day of the regular-season. Due to MLS rules, RSL wound up playing in the Eastern Conference bracket and knocked off a pair of favorites along the way -- defending champion and Supporters Shield champion Columbus Crew and the Chicago Fire.

"Yeah, that's fine," Wingert said about the underdog role. "We're not too worried about who's the favorite and who's the underdog and all that stuff. We'll let the media handle that. We're just focused on what we have to do on Sunday. We just will continue to do what we have been doing. We're going to come out with a lot of effort and energy and hopefully bury our chances."

Still, Wingert said RSL was "a little bit" a Cinderella team.

"We've got confidence in ourselves and I know we kind of snuck into the playoffs in the last minute," he said. "We've been playing well lately and we knew that if we could get into the playoffs anything could happen. A few teams have shown that over the past few years."

Take last year, for instance. In fact, RSL's route to the Emerald City has followed the Red Bulls' incredible playoff run. The Red Bulls finished the season below the break-even mark and had trouble winning on the road. They bested the defending champs, the Houston Dynamo, and RSL, while playing in the other bracket -- the Western Conference -- before succumbing to the Crew in the final, 3-1.

"We were obviously were a little disappointed on the way the season ended last year," Wingert said. "We thought that we played well. We were happy with our performance. We just were unable to finish in that game [a 1-0 Red Bulls road win]. It is a big stage. We really wanted to make it to the next step. At the same time, you need to realize that it is not easy to get there."

But that was then and this is now. RSL has the post-season magic.

"That's was something we had to think about this year and to really focus just each and every game to make the playoffs," he said. We were fortunate enough to get in. Then you re-focus and you reset your goals. Once you get into the playoffs, your goals are obviously to win a championship, just like the other seven teams. We've done well to get here. but at the same time, the job's not done yet."

RSL won but twice on the road between March and October before catching fire in the post-season. It isn't winning in Columbus and Chicago, let alone in back-to-back matches.

"We definitely were having trouble," Wingert said. "We were able to go into Columbus and get a huge 3-2 victory. Last week [against Chicago] was just kind of a tough-fought battle. We just hung in there. They had some opportunities and so did we. We felt that we out-possessed them a bit. We were unfortunate to finish. We hung in there."

The playoffs have drawn the best out of RSL, as it has responded well in difficult situations.

"We feel like sometimes when our back is against the wall, we're forced to get the job done and we're capable of doing it," Wingert said. "Hopefully in the future, we won't need a kick in the butt in order to play well. But sometimes that's the way it goes. In the end, things have worked out for us pretty well."

And about those two players from L.A. What were their names again? Beckham and Donovan? Well, stopping them will be one of RSL's priorities.

"For sure," Wingert said. "As much as you can, you want to prevent them from getting the ball. But it's a long match. It's a 90-minute game. You know they're going to get some touches. The more we can keep them on the ball away from our goal is good, too.

If Beckham is going to continue to get the ball off from their defenders, he's far from our goal. He's still capable of making a game-winning pass from there. We'll do our best to prevent them from getting the ball around our box, free kicks around our area, Donovan getting the ball on the run. Those guys are dangerous with that stuff. Once they get the ball, we have to be focused and make sure we're there to help defensively."

Wingert, 27, who won the Hermann Trophy award as a midfielder as the best college player in the nation in 2003, has thrived at fullback professionally. But if he had his way . . .

"Success came to me pretty quick when I moved into the back," he said. "I was happy about the move. To be honest with you, I'd prefer to play midfield. I still do today. I'd rather still would be in the midfield because that's where some of my qualities can shine. But I am happy to be where the team wants.

"I've done pretty well at center back and also on the outside. I do appreciate Jason [Kreis, the coach] giving me a position and letting me earn that spot, as opposed to moving me all around. Both me individually and also a team has had some success the last couple of years since I've been here. So I am happy with where I'm at. The style of soccer that we play is one that I really like where Jason really encourages us to get into the offense as an outside back and that's where I find the most fun in the game of soccer, to be in the offense, hopefully to provide some good service and get in the attack."