Eastern Conference Final, Columbus Crew vs Chicago from Crew Stadium, Thursday 7:30 EST, ESPN2.

If the games between the teams this season are any indication then the match could be headed to penalty kicks to decide a winner. They tied 2-2 in Columbus on July 5 and 2-2 in Chicago on Oct. 12 when Fire forward and Brian McBride scored twice in his first match against his former club. This will be McBride’s first game in Columbus as a member of the Fire.

“It’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be a tough game, lots of fouls, hard tackles. We’re expecting them to come all out and the thing is it’s at home for us,” says Frankie Hejduk. “This is really big for the organization and our fans. They’ve waited a long time,” said midfielder Duncan Oughton. “We’re going to play our style of play. We’ll let them worry about us because we’re not worrying about them, ” says Hejduk.

Images via Foxsports and Flickr

Out of all the videos of Top 10 Goals, Columbus takes it hands down.  But Frankie’s goal?  Looks to me like he was whipping that ball in rather than looking to chip the keeper far post.

Not a bad debut for Danny Cepero.  Not only did he get the win, but he is the first MLS keeper to score a goal. I wonder if he is the first goalkeeper to ever score a goal in his debut game? That can’t have happened very often.

Such a great guy and this is no joke, trust me.  I’ve seen this up close many a morning, afternoon and night with Frankie.

UPDATE - Having been a former Crew player and knowing what the fan base is like, it’s nice to finally see the different publications starting to acknowledge the incredible work that the Nordecke (and combined fan base) has done this season.

I’ve been to Crew stadium calling games three different times this year and each time it’s gotten bigger and bigger, even after the turbulent time it went through earlier in the season.

Peep this impressive video put together by Columbus Alive.

Dunny

Frankie Hejduk has always been a good dude. Tough to hate on a cat that plays the game to his fullest and enjoys every second that he is out there. Not to mention the multiple world cups, his experience overseas, and now captaining the Columbus Crew. Frankie couldn’t play over the weekend against the LA Galaxy due to suspension, so he made sure and tailgated and put back a couple brews with the C-bus fans before the game. You gotta love this!

Video after the jump

[Busted Coverage]

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