From the bench to the first championship: For former national soccer player Marco Reus, the long-held dream of a championship title finally came true on Saturday. The 35-year-old won the Major League Soccer (MLS) final with his club Los Angeles Galaxy against the New York Red Bulls with German coach Sandro Schwarz 2-1 (2-1). Reus came on as a substitute in the 75th minute.
A week earlier, Reus had been substituted in the conference final against Seattle (1-0) with adductor problems. It wasn’t enough for a starting eleven in the final in front of 27,000 spectators in their own stadium, Dignity Health Sports Park. But coach Greg Vanney brought his midfielder on in the final phase.
The former Gladbach and Dortmund player Reus initially saw a game from the sidelines in which LA took the lead early thanks to Joseph Paintsil (9th) and ex-Frankfurt player Dejan Joveljic (13th). Sean Nealls (28th) shortened the score for the guests. In the second half, Black brought in five fresh players, but all of New York’s efforts were in vain. In the end, the record champion from California celebrated his sixth title and his first since 2014.
“I don’t know if this is a Hollywood finale, but it’s a big day,” the 35-year-old said as he stood in a large pool of beer, champagne and other drinks, the medal dangling from his neck. In twelve years with Borussia Dortmund, the crowd’s favorite Reus never managed to get the trophy he longed for – after moving to the USA, four months were enough for the title.
MLS: Reus “wouldn’t have played in a normal game”
“You always work your whole career to be successful, to try to reach as many finals as possible and then win,” said Reus in front of his locker with the number 18. “It doesn’t work like that for me in Germany “A lot worked out. But as I said when I arrived, the goal was always to continue to be successful.”
Reus only played the last 20 minutes, he came on as a substitute in the 76th minute and – after a good chance immediately afterwards – his only job was to keep the guests away from his own goal. The fact that he played at all because of an adductor injury was remarkable
“I’ve trained twice, I think, in the last two weeks,” he said. Last week in the 1-0 win against the Seattle Sounders it was time for work at halftime. “In a normal game I wouldn’t have played, no chance. In the end it doesn’t matter to me,” he reported.
Reus came to Los Angeles in the summer after his contract with Borussia Dortmund ended. He received a contract with the Galaxy for two and a half years until the end of 2026. In the MLS, the season always ends with the calendar year.