By Mike Woitalla, Executive Editor
Soccer America Magazine
These players, all MLS champions, agree. Of all the thrills in sports, nothing compares to the glory of lifting a championship trophy with oneÆs teammates.
Ben Olsen (1999, 2004)
NOT A JINX
Even though Ben Olsen (right) won Rookie of the Year honors, he felt crummy after his first MLS season. He had lost in MLS Cup '98 with D.C. United to Chicago.
''I started thinking I was one of those guys who never wins. That I was a jinx,'' he says.
With Pennsylvania youth club FC Delco, he lost in the McGuire Cup final. As a freshman at Virginia, which had won four straight national titles, he lost in the NCAA semis. The year before going pro, he lost in the final with Virginia.
But in his second MLS year, at age 22, he scored in D.C. UnitedÆs 2-0 win over Los Angeles in MLS CupÆ 99. Last season, the midfielder helped United return to the throne.
''It was nice to put D.C. United back on the map after a few bad years,'' he says. ''This is such a well-run organization, it deserves to be on top.''
Dwayne De Rosario (2001, 2003)
IN PERSPECTIVE
Before turning into San JoseÆs playmaker, Canadian Dwayne De Rosario served mainly as a super sub.
He got a late assist in the 2003 MLS Cup victory and scored the overtime winner against Los Angeles 11 minutes after entering MLS Cup 2001.
''My job was to go for the jugular,'' he says.
Against Los Angeles, with the score tied, 1-1, he took a pass at the outside corner of the penalty area. Before anyone could guess his next move, he curved a right-footed shot off the far post and into the goal. De Rosario tore off his jersey to reveal a T-shirt with the message, ''One Love.''
''A message of peace because of the war,'' he says.
Two weeks earlier, the bombing of Afghanistan had begun.
''Winning a championship is beautiful,'' he says, ''but there were people dying in other parts of the world. I wanted to keep things in perspective.''
Landon Donovan (2001, 2003)
WINNING WHEN IT MATTERS
If proof were needed that results at the youth level donÆt reflect talent development, Landon Donovan can serve as Exhibit A.
''Absolutely,'' says the attacker who came into the league at 19 and lifted the MLS Cup his first season.
''Before my first MLS final, I thought to myself, 'I canÆt remember ever winning anything with my club teams growing up,''' he says. After a two-year stint in Germany, DonovanÆs homecoming was accompanied by great expectations, but he joined a San Jose team that hadnÆt been to the playoffs in four years.
''I didnÆt feel any pressure,'' he says.
The Quakes, with a revamped team under new coach Frank Yallop, had turned things around with an attack spearheaded by Donovan, who scored the equalizer with a precision volley in the 2-1 MLS Cup 2001 win over Los Angeles.
''I didnÆt know what I was doing,'' he said. ''Back then, the playoffs were hectic. You played more games than now. I was just tired. It was just the next game in line.''
Two years later, he scored twice in San JoseÆs 4-2 win over Chicago, becoming the only player to score three MLS Cup goals.
''The second title was different because I think people still expected us to be good,'' he says. ''And really, aside from the last couple weeks of the season, we were very average. The good and bad thing about MLS is you can be terrible, do well at the end of the year and still get rewarded for it.''
Donovan has 10 goals and six assists in 14 postseason games.
''I like the end of the year because it gets colder and you feel like you have more energy,'' he says. ''You can run more, which helps my game. National team games are done. YouÆre not traveling every fourth day. All I have to think about is the playoffs and the next game. When thereÆs more on the line, more intensity, more people in the stands, thatÆs when I really like to play.''
Preki (2000)
LUCK NEEDED
In 2003, at age 40, Preki was named MLS MVP for the second time. He was MVP of the indoor CISL and MISL, which he joined, at age 22, after leaving his native Belgrade.
''Individual accolades are not as satisfying as your team ones,'' he says. ''Winning as a team is what will always be remembered.''
In the 1998 Gold Cup, PrekiÆs searing long-range shot gave the USA its historic 1-0 win over Brazil. He played in the 1998 World Cup and two years later won an MLS title with Kansas City. His 26-year pro career included stints in England with Portsmouth and Everton. He announced his retirement after this season, his 10th in MLS.
''To win a championship, you donÆt just have to play well as a group, you need a lot of luck,'' he says. ''I donÆt care what anybody says. You can be as good as you want to be, but if you donÆt get a bounce here and there, youÆre not going to win anything.''
This article originally appeared in the October 17, 2005 issue of Soccer America Magazine.