<div style="float: right;margin-left: 5px"><a href="http:\/\/view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/mls-2010-august-colorado/image/9514225?term=San+Jose+Colorado+Rapids" target="_blank"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div></a></div>
<p>Tonight the Eastern Conference final will kick off in Colorado at 9:30 Eastern on Fox Soccer Channel. &nbsp;In a playoff full of upsets, this matchup epitomizes the postseason so far: the visitors are the lowest playoff seed who were led by the Golden Boot winner who provided almost all of their scoring and overcame the team with the biggest payroll in New York. &nbsp;On the opposite bench is a club with two prolific strikers, so we could see a high-scoring match tonight. &nbsp;However, both previous matches between the two ended 1-0 with the two clubs splitting. &nbsp;As a preview of tonight’s match, here are some ambitious, bold, and likely wrong predictions for the match:</p>
<p><strong>Chris Wondolowski will not score, but San Jose will:</strong> New York’s defense in the second leg of their match was somewhat lacking, to be polite. &nbsp;Not only did it allow Wondo to score, but Bobby Convey twice. &nbsp;Colorado should not make the same mistake, with Pablo Matroeni and Jeff Larentowicz tasked with slowing Wondolowski down. &nbsp;I expect that they will slow him down enough to prevent him from adding to his goal total, but Colorado’s back line is still a major weakness on this team. &nbsp;The midfield focusing on Wondo will not overcome the defensive shortcoming, and look for Convey or Ryan Johnson to score.</p>
<p><strong>Colorado’s Omar Cummings will get his first playoff goal of 2010:</strong> So far this playoffs, Omar Cummings has been the set-up man, using his speed to penetrate defenses and set up Conor Casey or, as in the first Columbus match, &nbsp;Mastroeni. &nbsp;Against a San Jose defense that is decent but not great, I can see him creating his own opportunities and finally scoring that first goal. &nbsp;Even if he does not, San Jose will have to adjust to the Colorado speed up front and come up with a game plan to thwart the Colorado offense. &nbsp;I’m not saying they can’t do it, because I won’t discount San Jose at any point in this playoffs, but it will be a tough task.</p>
<p><strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>The actual crowd tonight will be under 15,000</strong>: &nbsp;The first Colorado playoff match was on a Thursday night, so that helped hold down the crowd size. &nbsp;But the matchup tonight is not the most exciting and lacks the big names that might bring a casual fan to the park. &nbsp;Rapids fans are good fans and this will be a fun game to watch on TV and probably in person, but I suspect there will be empty seats.</p>
<p><strong>The game will go into extra time, where Colorado will win 3-2</strong>: &nbsp;As I said at the beginning, I expect this to be a high-scoring affair (which guarantees a 1-0 match) but fairly even. &nbsp;So I predict a tight 2-2 match with Conor Casey scoring the game-winner in the extra period.</p>
<p>What are your predictions for the match tonight?</p>

Ambitious Predictions for the Eastern Conference Final - World Soccer Talk

Ambitious Predictions for the Eastern Conference Final

<div style="float: right;margin-left: 5px"><a href="http:\/\/view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/sports/san-jose-earthquakes/image/9975057?term=wondolowski" target="_blank"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div></a></div>
<p>Chris Wondolowski has had a dream season.&nbsp; He finally broke out this year with a league-leading 18 goals and almost single-handedly led San Jose to the playoffs, where they will try and pull out a win at New York tonight.&nbsp; He has shown the ability to score and lead a team, and with the national team gearing up for a friendly in South Africa later this month, should Wondo be included on that team?</p>
<p>Bob Bradley recently has looked at MLS play as an indicator of who he should call-up for the team.&nbsp; As we all know, Edson Buddle and Robbie Findley both earned call-ups because of their successes with LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, respectively.&nbsp; And we all know how that turned out – neither made much of an impact in South Africa and, in some cases, may have hurt the squad.</p>
<p>One reason that Wondo should get a call-up is the utter lack of depth at his position for the national team.&nbsp; Looking at the roster, the only guaranteed lock to start is Clint Dempsey, who has been impressive in England this year.&nbsp; Jozy Altidore has also been written into the ideal starting lineup, but his play in South Africa was rather disheartening.&nbsp; He is young, so he has time to grow into the role, but as we know with young players he may or may not turn out to be what the US team needs.&nbsp; Wondo should be given a shot if for no other reason than Bradley has so few options that he needs to see if he can find someone, anyone, who can create scoring chances for the team.&nbsp; Seemingly the Quakes forward can do that.</p>
<p></p>
<p>But if the Quakes lose tonight, will he get the invitation?&nbsp; Consider the opposite argument against his call-up.&nbsp; Before this season, Wondolowski showed potential, but nothing more.&nbsp; He has been the <a href="http:\/\/www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/mls/quakes/2010-10-26-chris-wondolowski_N.htm" target="_blank">surprise of the league</a>, but is he a flash in the pan?&nbsp; Is he a more talented Maykel Galindo?&nbsp; Another knock against him may be his playoff performance.&nbsp; If the Quakes lose to New York, will he be penalized?&nbsp; In the first match he failed to score against a good <a href="http:\/\/www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/san-jose-0-v-1-new-york-red-bulls-lindperes-goal-is-enough/10495" target="_blank">Red Bulls backline</a>, and with the return leg in New York, it will be harder to pull out that victory.&nbsp; A failure in the playoffs could lead to some doubts about his big-game ability.</p>
<p>Also, Bob Bradley could go a different direction.&nbsp; His Edson Buddle/Robbie Findley experiment so far has proven to be a failure, so he may shy away from mid-career MLS strikers and go much younger by selecting a player like Juan Agudelo or Omar Salgado.&nbsp; Or Bob Bradley could simply stick with Altidore and Dempsey, work Charlie Davies back into the starting lineup, and hope his recent call ups like Brek Shea can become contributors, or continue to develop Buddle, Findley, and Eddie Johnson.</p>
<p>But I hope he picks Wonodolowski and gives him a chance, regardless of how the playoffs turn out.&nbsp; What’s the worst that could happen?</p>

Will Wondolowski Get a Call Up to the National Team? - World Soccer Talk

Will Wondolowski Get a Call Up to the National Team?

Latest news from San Jose Earthquakes. Find out about all the news related to San Jose Earthquakes on worldsoccertalk.com

ALL POSTS TAGGED "San Jose Earthquakes - Page 2"

Leagues: MLS

Ambitious Predictions for the Eastern Conference Final

Leagues: MLS

Will Wondolowski Get a Call Up to the National Team?