When Nat Borchers decided to leave Odd Grenland and return to the United States to play for Real Salt Lake prior to the 2008 season, he didn't have any grand goals as he embarked upon a new journey. Those meager aspirations changed quickly once he settled into the middle of the back four.
"I initially just wanted to be a good presence at the club," Borchers said. "I wanted to help them defend and get better in that respect. As I got more comfortable with the team, the next step is obviously a championship."
Borchers' reliable excellence in central defense has provided one of the fundamental building blocks that has led RSL to the cusp of MLS Cup glory. In his two seasons with the Claret-and-Cobalt, Borchers has missed just one match. By maintaining the consistency he had shown in his previous stint with Colorado (2003-2005) and showing up for each and every game, Borchers provided a developing RSL side with a savvy marshal and a constant presence alongside Jamison Olave.
"He's a vocal organizer back there for us," Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis said. "He's been the most consistent player for the entire season for me. He's brought a high level to every single match for us. That's why he's the MVP of our team."
As Borchers continued to plug along without too much fuss, he watched RSL develop into a side capable of challenging for MLS Cup. Only a win will satisfy RSL's dreams on Sunday night -- Borchers said winning MLS Cup would be the type of moment that would allow him to end his career happily when all is said and done -- but the 28-year-old defender said he has enjoyed watching his team reach this point in its progression.
"Last year, we were pretty inconsistent because we were a bit immature," Borchers said. "We would get up 1-nil or 2-nil in games and then we'd end up blowing it. This year, we've done better in our game management. A lot of our younger guys have grown and our veteran guys have had stronger voices in the locker room. It's been a pleasure to see."
DEVELOPING AS A DUO: While his steady play has benefited the entire team, Borchers' presence has reaped dividends for Olave in particular. As the two players have started the majority of RSL matches together in central defense over the past two season, Borchers has passed along his experience to the Colombian center back and guided him through the pitfalls of playing in MLS.
The partnership isn't a one-way street, however, as Borchers has also picked up a few linguistic tricks along the way.
"I've learned more Spanish, but I don't think he's learned much more English," Borchers said with a smile.
The partnership works well because Borchers provides the steady, rational presence beside the rugged and occasionally impetuous Olave. By combining Borchers' no-nonsense defending with Olave's otherworldly physical gifts, the duo has cemented itself as one of the leading central defensive tandems in the league.
"It's been awesome to play with him because he's just this physical specimen," Borchers said. "He's fast, he's strong and he wins everything in the air. Basically, I just have to tell him where to go and he does it. It's easy for me to defend when I have him back there."
Not even the lack of a common language has impacted how the two players communicate on the field. Kreis said Borchers' vocal role -- combined with some help from the equally verbose Nick Rimando and assistant coach and former MLS standout defender Robin Fraser -- has added some polish to Olave's game and encouraged his development.
"I think it has been very important to put a guy next to Jamison who is an organizer and who can really talk to Jamison about where he wants him positioned," Kreis said. "Jamison has developed a lot and, for me, that comes down to people like Nat Borchers and Nick Rimando in a small part. For the most part, it comes down to Robin Fraser."
"A GOOFY LITTLE GUY": His signature dreadlocks make him one of the most recognizable players in Major League Soccer. But many are unaware of the long road Kyle Beckerman has taken to be make his first MLS Cup.
Real Salt Lake's skipper was one of the USA's standout players in his youth, captaining the U.S. U-17 team that included such players as Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Oguchi Onyewu and Bobby Convey. In fact, Beckerman remembers a young Donovan's first appearance in national team camp.
"He's a really good kid. He's grown a lot as a person. When he first came in with the under-17s, he was a goofy little guy," Beckerman said of Donovan, who had been a late addition to the roster. "He had these aspirations to be the Golden Boot winner at every tournament and we were looking at him like, 'What are you talking about? You just got on this team.'"
"But he had that mindset at a young age and he's really taken it to another level."
Since then, Beckerman and Donovan have faced each other on the field numerous times during Beckerman's 10-year career.
"I remember in Miami when we played him and San Jose," Beckerman said. "We were both 18 years old and the whole stadium was booing him every time he touched the ball. (I thought) 'Wow, that means he's a good player. Our fans notice him. He's public enemy No. 1 for us.'"
JOGO BONITO ... UTAH STYLE: Real Salt Lake have won over neutral observers during their playoff run by attacking frequently and combining intricately in the attacking third. Combination play isn't a novel concept for a side that can move the ball quickly when Javier Morales can find the ball and orchestrate the movement, but creative consistency has eluded RSL from time to time during the course of the campaign.
Given the performances in the past few games, it's clear those bouts of possession-based frustration have stopped for the moment. Real Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley said the Claret-and-Cobalt can point to their cohesiveness as the main reason for their crisp connection work.
"We just read each other well," Findley said. "A lot of the guys in the team have been playing together for a while now. We know what each player likes to do and how they play. I think that plays into it a lot."
With Morales and Andy Williams providing killer passes through the back four and Findley causing problems alongside either Fabian Espindola or Yura Movsisyan, the RSL attack presents numerous issues for a staunch Galaxy defense that sometimes struggles to cope with pace. No matter whether the Galaxy decides to protect against Findley running through or the series of short passes in the attacking third, Findley said there will be an avenue through the Los Angeles back line.
"It depends on how they play us," Findley said. "They could probably sit off us a little bit and that gives us an opportunity to play underneath. Hopefully, we'll start to pull them out of their spaces and open up the game."
ONE REAL FAN: Real Salt Lake's Yura Movsisyan said he wasn't concerned that few are picking Real Lake to win Sunday's MLS Cup against the Los Angeles Galaxy. But he knows of at least one vote in his favor, however.
"Yeah, my dad. My family picked us," Movsisyan said. "To be honest, we're not too worried about it. We feel good about not being the favorites because the pressure's off us. We just need to play the game. Like Jason (Kreis) said, it's the same size ball we're playing with, the same size field we're playing with, it's the same game and the same rules.
"I don't think we have anything to worry about other than just going out and playing the game."
Added Beckerman: "There's always going to be an underdog in every playoffs in every sport. If it's us, that's fine. We've been the underdog the past two series, and hopefully the underdog will come out on top again one more time."
Kyle McCarthy and Andrew Winner are contributors to MLSnet.com.
