Philadelphia Union relishing 'underdog role' in MLS Cup vs LAFC
By Chris Smith
Philadelphia Union captain Alejandro Bedoya says he and his teammates are relishing the 'underdog role' in their MLS Cup clash with LAFC.
The Union head to Banc of California Stadium on Saturday to face a team they finished level on points with during the regular season, only losing the Supporters' Shield race on games won - Major League Soccer's primary tiebreaker.
What's more, the Union enjoyed the best offensive and defensive records in MLS during the regular season, scoring 72 goals and conceding just 26 in 34 matches.
However, with home advantage and will a lineup of attacking talent that is the envy of the league, LAFC have been installed as many pundits' favorites. But Bedoya isn't bothered one bit.
“Do I feel that we’re the underdog? Well, yeah, I mean, we’re playing in LA,” Bedoya told reporters. “The home team is always favored to win normally in MLS, typically. So yeah, I think the media narrative has always been, the questions that we get asked here have always been, ‘Oh, how do you defend LAFC’s offensive weapons?’ But who scored the most goals this season? Why isn’t our offense getting the same attention as their offense? So, there is some of that. I’m not blaming you guys, but it is the media narrative.
“I’ll take the underdog [role] all the time,” Bedoya added. “Philly typically is a city like that. We like being underdogs out there in Philly. We just use that as motivation, and we’re going to do our best to do what we can to win the game because LAFC is a very, very talented team – a very good team – so we respect them a lot. But we know what got us here, and we know we can compete with anybody, as we’ve already shown. We’ve given them some good games.”
Union head coach Jim Curtin agreed with his captain's assessment, but is confident the 'bravery' of his players can get them over the line.
“I think home-field advantage is what skews it in their favor because they're an incredible team in this building,” Curtin said. “So we know how difficult it will be and how hard they make it for you here with their crowd behind them. But our group is brave. I want our guys to go on the field with courage, to not be scared. I think we've kind of taken pride in ourselves that we respect every team, but we fear nobody.”
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