The San Diego, Minnesota rivalry doesn't go back a long way, but from San Diego's point of view, it goes back far enough. The San Diego Flash, now in their 3rd year in the A-League, have been a dominate west coast team for their two years of existence, as shown by back-to-back Pacific Division Championships.
The San Diego Flash, after going 20-8 in 1999 met up with Western Conference rivals, Minnesota (22-6) for the 2nd straight year. As 1998 went, so did 1999. Two games against Minnesota, one home and one away, and their season came to a disappointing end.
The Minnesota Thunder on the other hand, has not had the easiest of roads to travel either. Starting their 7th Pro season, Minnesota had made three previous trips to the final, only to be sent home without the coveted title of 'League Champion'. In 1994, Minnesota's inaugural pro season, they made it to the final only to be defeated by the Greensboro Dynamo. 1995 saw Minnesota again make it to the championship match only to be ousted by the Long Island Rough Riders. 1996 saw Minnesota lose in the Western Conference Championship to the eventual champion California Jaguars. 1997 was a very forgettable year as Minnesota missed the playoffs all together by a single point. In 1998, once again Minnesota made a championship match appearance only to be ousted, this time by the Rochester Raging Rhinos.
In 1999, it seemed everything finally came up roses for Minnesota as they made their 4th championship match appearance in six years as a pro team, at home in front of ~10,000 fans, and they made their dream come true, defeating Rochester 2-1 for their first A-League Championship.
Minnesota is now in the same uncomfortable position any previous season champion faces. The target everyone is out for, as well as the pressure to see if they are the one who can repeat.
That's where San Diego comes back into the picture. Remember them, the one's whose season was spoiled two years in a row ? I have it from very reliable sources that San Diego does not intend to let that happen a 3rd time !
During San Diego's off-season many things have changed, as is the norm for most teams. First off, they hired a new coach, Colin Clarke. Next they made some key player acquisitions to bolster their team for the 2000 season. Wooed away from the Seattle Sounders was Forward, Mark Baena, and Defender Jason Annicchero. From MLS they aquired Midfielder Leighton O'Brien of the San Jose Earthquakes, and Midfielder Guillermo Jara of the Tampa Bay Mutiny. Those additions, coupled with a new head coach indicate that San Diego seems pretty serious about solving their 1998-99 post-season dilemma.
Minnesota had their own off-season issues to deal with. Amos Magee, a veteran all 10 years of the Minnesota Thunders' existence, was drafted by the Tampa Bay Mutiny of MLS, as was their Bulgarian National Team Defensive Midfielder, Kalin Bankov. Neither of these are easy to replace, but Minnesota has made some interesting acquisitions to counter these losses. In the Defensive Midfield slot, Brian Winters, U23 Olympic team member, has played this position pretty much all his playing career, and will be leaned on heavily to be that midfield stopgap in front of the defense.
Brian Winters, by the way, is the only A-League representative on the USA U23 Olympic team. He had been drafted by the Columbus Crew of MLS, but they were too deep in their midfield positions for Brian to get a crack, so after his release, he was successfully persued by the Minnesota Thunder.
Other off-season acquisitions by the Minnesota Thunder are:
Defenders: Ubusuku 'Buka' Abukusumo (Columbus Crew-MLS), Mark Schulte (Twin Cities Tornado-PDL), Dionysius Sebwe (Kansas City-MLS), and Ronald Valderrama, younger brother of midfield general Carlos Valderrama of the Tampa Bay Mutiny. We'll have to see if the play is as good as the name; Forward: John Menyongar (port Autho of Sierra Leone), and Nate Winkel (Twin Cities Tornado-PDL).
The end result of all this off-season posturing by teams throughout the A-League, and specifically Minnesota and San Diego is simple.
Minnesota wants to repeat as A-League Champions.
San Diego wants to break everyone's heart, and especially Minnesota's, by going all the way in only their 3rd pro season.
We will find out for sure on Saturday, May 6, when San Diego hosts Minnesota in what is expected to be a very exciting, attacking and action packed match.
