I’ll let y’all know now, this First Reaction is going to be a bit different. As I type this, I’m in the middle of a live stream reacting with high blood pressure and guttural, screaming noises to Atlanta currently (44′) winning 2-1. Who knows what may happen here in the next half, but as of now this game has been entertaining, wild, shaky, and fun. Jamal Thiare is sitting on a brace, Miami’s second goal was called back, Luis Suarez attempted a bicycle kick, and Atlanta United is 45 minutes away from pulling the greatest upset in MLS history. I won’t update this first paragraph no matter what happens. Regardless, here are your final whistle thoughts from this game three between Atlanta United and Inter Miami!
Jamal Thiare
Thiare walked into Chase stadium in the first 45 minutes and said “This game is mine.” He scored two of the best goals of his entire Atlanta career, when he and his team absolutely needed it most. Against the best team in MLS in 2024, Jamal Thiare stood up in the first half and did exactly what he needed to do. And it wasn’t just the two goals, he had a couple of other good opportunities.
No matter what happens, 2024 Atlanta United will always be looked at as the one version of the team that truly broke through the curse of having no backup strikers. Thiare and Daniel Rios have performed admirably, and though they haven’t been a Josef Martinez or Giorgos Giakoumakis, they’ve both stepped up heavily when called upon.
FEA
Atlanta United came into this series playing with the proverbial house money and a motto…”F&$% ’em all.” And LET’S GOOOOOO!!!!! They have dug in the absolute deepest way possible to beat a team that has some of the best players this world has ever seen. That’s mentality. That’s grit. And that credit needs to go to Rob Valentino. This man has stepped in and rode an up and down wave, but he got it right when it mattered.
OMG LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I don’t even know what to say. Don’t come to this article expecting anything extravagant in terms of analysis right now, that’ll come later in the week. But Atlanta United JUST PULLED OFF THE GREATEST UPSET IN MLS HISTORY. LET’S. FREAKING. GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
It keeps working, so I’m going to keep saying it.
I expect the team to play hard and play well, but ultimately lose to the more talented team with home-field advantage.
Anyone on here have any insight on how to find the presale code for the Orlando game? Looks like there’s one for their STH but then another “general presale”
Isn’t that the first confrence semifinals we have made since 2019???!!!!
I was waiting for Suarez to take a bite out of Guz’s nose in the goal mouth. What a whiner. And Campaña is a shiv you in the back a-hole.
The flying header by Slisz off the beautiful Amador cross is deserving of a statue. Sweet redemption.
No way around it, Miami has incredible players, but they are old.
I wanted to punch Suarez in the face and kick Messi and body slam Campana to the ground. Like ur the one seed bro we barley made playpoffs and you are some of the greatest of all time. But, maybe that shows that we were really were pushing them and they felt the pressure.
Still stunned! WHAT…A…PERFORMANCE. Now let’s conquer Orlando.
Knocking out the two Florida teams would be sweet.
Our annual team payroll was less than one single player on Miami and a 1/3rd of Miami’s total. 2 backup strikers. 1 [not really an] attacking midfielder. 1 true DP, 1 that’ll likely be bought down at the start of the next season. 1 backup coach, no technical director. 2nd oldest active players in MLS.
We limped into Orlando with a 10% chance of making it
But despite all of the odds, we made it with grit
Into the wildcard against Montreal
A wild match for us all
We flew to Miami battered and beat
Despite a Guzz masterclass, it wasn’t to be
We marched to the A with 70,000 cheers
After a game winner, there were so many beers
We forced a game three but they all counted us out
They thought we were Messi’s dinner but we would never doubt
We went to Miami and started in a flash
Despite conceding earlier, there was Thiare in a dash
One goal, two goals, hope was restored
But then with a shake of the goat’s wand he wanted to have his little dance
But we scored to make it three, we had a great chance
With three whistles, we scored the greatest upset in MLS history
Messi losing will forever be a mystery
Don’t be a top seed in the East
It was all part of our master plan.
(Hire Rob – making the semis mean you are playing like one of the best 4 teams in the East )
All the talk is going to be about not stopping the game for Aviles and the missed opportunity of having your highest profile team and players out of the playoffs. F$&k that: Miami did shady crap to build a super squad and turned to the dark arts. Well they got beat by a hungry team, and even if we lose in the next round, I’ll still be glad we kicked their teeth in.
Was Aviles even hurt? He was back up and playing when the game restarted after the goal. If I were a Miami fan, I would be pissed at him, not Atlanta.
He went down just to try and slow down our attack. He was clearly not actually injured. We were absolutely in the right to continue play. Also note they continued their attack earlier when Thiare was down for a solid 2 minutes.
He went down so Busquets could come in. You can’t do that.
For better or worse the sport has changed – unless it’s a bad-looking injury or the ref blows play dead, your opponent is not going to stop, ESPECIALLY when on the attack. Just too many teams looking to take advantage of the dark arts to be trusting these days.
Amador … more assists
Dude is money
Just here for the Marcelo comment!!
It won’t be logical, that’s for sure
How could a team without a coach and without any talent win… can’t wait to hear the explanation!
Heppens, depending on what the opponents comes up with.Not in a three game series, though. This is very unusual.
The US keeps sending me surprises, the worst one, with your election, and nice ones, like this Atlanta win.
Dear Atlantistas. Football is what it is because of moments like this. I would not have bet one single nanopeseta on an Atlanta win, and here we are,
Miami failed big time, when the going got tough. And, Atlanta found an extra gear somewhere. I think your team has no shape, no real top talent, no real tactical vision, and yet, you won. Congrats, we have to take the wins as they come, and maybe later think about whys, and hows. For now, just enjoy, and congrats.
o what will MLS do now without their cash cow (Miami) in the playoffs anymore… HAHAHA
We back?