Is there an MLS team with more swagger than the Columbus Crew?

I don't think so. Last night they became the first MLS team to beat Deportivo Saprissa on the road in the CONCACAF Champions League. It was a gutsy match where the Crew left 5 regulars at home - Chad Marshall (injury), Eric Brunner (discipline), Alejandro Moreno (rest), Frank Hejduk (rest?), Gina Padula (illness) - and Schelotto was parked on the bench. People always talk about how thin MLS rosters are, but Warzycha's main problem has been how to get playing time for everyone. It probably won't be like this for much longer, but right now the Crew are stacked.

As an aside, the game in Chicago this weekend will be a vital test for seeing if Schelotto can reintegrate himself into the team's attack. He looked somewhat out of touch against Houston, and we've seen much better from him in the past.

But that didn't effect his confidence as a player or his view of how good the Crew are. After Sunday's game against Houston, the Dynamo to a man were complaining about the loss. From Kinnear on down, they saw the Crew diving, cheating, and being heartless bastards. Brian Ching was the most petulant:

"[Alejandro Moreno's] diving all over the field and he did the same thing when he played for us," Ching said. "We know that coming in. It's part of the game. We carried the better of the play. It wasn't a great game. We definitely didn't deserve to lose that game and they didn't deserve to win it."

And what did the Crew have to say in response? Suck it up, delicate flowers. And by the way, we're better than you. Frankie Hejduk:

"That's what teams are going to say when they lose. They make excuses and say anything they can. They're angry that they lost. The better team on the field won tonight. When you lose you're never happy. I would have said the same thing if it had happened to us in Houston. It was a hard fought game by both teams. I thought it was a great game. There were hard tackles, both teams were battling. We came out aggressive. They started throwing numbers in the second half because we had the score.

"They were falling around, too. They were getting just as many calls as we were. It was evenly called. I don't care. They can say it all day long. We're walking out of here with three points and that's all that matters."

Schelotto:

"We are the best team. The second-best team is Houston. We have 42 points. They have 40," said Schelotto, who reportedly had a brief exchange with Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms afterward.

The topic of diving likely came up.

"We won. That is more important, not what is said by the Houston coach," Schelotto said. "It's his problem, not my problem. We played very good, better than them and we won."

And there was more the next day. Moreno:

"All they have to do is see the replay and really concern themselves more with talking to their defender about pulling somebody down in the box," he said. "To be honest, I don't guess they complained too much how I played the game for Houston."
. . .
Moreno said he was not surprised that Ching made those remarks about him but that it was a "non-issue."

"I have a lot of friends on that team and a lot of people I care about on that team and for the most part I enjoyed my time there with Houston," Moreno said. "I'd rather take the high road on this and not really have to respond to comments that go no further having lost the game."

And coach Robert Warzycha finished off Geoff Cameron (who surrendered the winning penalty kick) and Kinnear:

Cameron claimed Moreno and teammate Guillermo Barros Schelotto are classic divers and the ones who should have been punished while Kinnear and Schelotto had words near the locker rooms after the match.

"That's a comment, whether it's from a coach or player, that they should never say that. That's bad talking about somebody else. They have to look first at their own game," Warzycha said. "I know it is difficult to lose but you have to have some class."

He was quick to defend Schelotto and Moreno.

"They play the game the way it's supposed to be played," he said. "If you've ever played soccer, and Dominic played soccer and Cameron is playing now, you know that sometimes if you feel someone's hand on the back you're going to fall, hoping to get a call. That's part of the game but that's not diving. It's the other player doing something that is not legal. That's why he's penalized."

I know it's difficult to lose, but you have to have some class.

If these two teams meet in MLS Cup, it's either going to be a foul fest or the most amazing final we could hope for.