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2020 Zips in Pro Leagues - Domestic and International


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https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/12/13/mls-cup-player-ratings-perfect-night-lucas-zelarayan-caleb-porter-greg-seltzer

 

These 3 stood out to me:

...

Aidan Morris (7) — I won't lie. I figured Columbus would not be able to cover for the loss of Darlington Nagbe. Morris proved me wrong by doing many of the things Nagbe does. He scooped up loose balls, worked out of trouble and made the simple pass to get the team away. Nothing fancy, just good work. Kudos to the youngest player to ever start an MLS Cup.

 

Lucas Zelarayan (10) — I'm just going to say it: This performance has to be on a very short list for the greatest individual whistle-to-whistle display in MLS Cup history. Zelarayan kept possession alive with some insane touches, he won a small bushel of free kicks and he even checked back to offer defensive help to Morris. And when it came to to make the big plays, Zelarayan did it with style, as if the game was moving much slower for him than it was for everyone else. Each of his finishes was a proper peach, and his assist was just as good. Take a bow, champion.

 

...

 

Coach Caleb Porter (10) — I was thinking, hey man, don't be so generous with the perfect grades. But really, what could I ding Porter for? He played this game like chess, starting with the lineup calls to replace Nagbe and Pedro Santos. He pushed his lines of confrontation so high in the first half that Seattle couldn't build with their usual precision until they were down two goals. And just when it looked like the Sounders might gain rally momentum, he urged the team to get on the ball, which led to the coffin nail of the third goal. Sounds flawless to me.  ...

 

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On 12/13/2020 at 1:00 PM, Zip_ME87 said:

From the perspective of former Zips Men’s Soccer great, Steve Zakuani...

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/12/13/mls-cup-2020-three-takeaways-and-little-more-steve-zakuani

 

best part of the article :

 

Quick Hits

An ode to Caleb Porter

People are going to start thinking Caleb is paying me to say nice things about him. The reality is almost everything I’ve written about him this season was proved to be true on the biggest stage. I’ve said he has an ability to convince his team they can not only win, but dominate any game, no matter how undermanned they are.

 

I’ve also said he builds a culture where winning is expected. We saw both of those traits on show in the final as the Crew took the game to Seattle from the opening whistle and embodied the spirit of their coach. An NCAA College Cup, two MLS Cups — his first being the first in Timbers history, his second coming in just his second season with the Crew where he hasn’t had a crazy budget or anything. Say what you want about him, just remember to include he’s a winner.

 

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This is an Akron Zip board....and we obviously all deservedly want to pay credit to former zip great Darlington Nagbe and legendary former zip coach Caleb Porter.

 

However, I also want to pay credit to the "architect".  The architect also has some Akron connections.

 

The architect is 39 year old general manager Tim Bezbatchenko.  Bezbatchenko was heavily involved in building the great Toronto teams (won an MLS cup in 2017).   This was Bezbatchenko's 2nd year as Crew general manager.  He has obviously made brilliant decisions....Nagbe, Zelarayan, etal and this 39 year old leader deserve a ton of credit.

 

The Akron connection for Mr. Bezbatchenko.   His grandmother and one of his uncles are both Akron zip mens soccer season ticket holders.  Another one of Tim's uncles was the starting QB on some of Jim Dennison's finest gridiron teams in the mid to late 70's.

 

Tremendous credit to Tim Bezbatchenko and Caleb Porter for building a MLS championship team in Columbus.

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