It was the greatest MLS Cup ever. 

 

And it had everything a Hollywood scriptwriter would want. 

 

There was the backstory of teams with contrasting styles -- the gritty, blue-collar guys from Philadelphia against the high-flying, big spending glitzy Los Angeles Football Club.

 

It was a meeting of the top seeds in both the Eastern and Western Conference for the first time since 2003, teams that finished level on 67 points during the regular season with LAFC claiming their second Supporters’ Shield title on a wins tiebreaker. 

 

And then the match, played over the course of 120 pulsating minutes that culminated in a dramatic penalty kick shootout, actually surpassed the hype leading up to the title tilt. 

 

When the smoke cleared, LAFC lifted their first Philip Anschutz Trophy with the unlikeliest of heroes named MLS Cup MVP. 

 

That honor went to John McCarthy, the backup goalkeeper called into action when LAFC starter Maxime Crepeau was sent off on a red card for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity for a challenge on Philadelphia forward Cory Burke.

 

“Couldn't happen to a better guy. John is one of the heartbeats of this team emotionally,” LAFC first-year coach Steve Cherundolo said after the match. “And I think I mentioned yesterday at the press conference there was a moment in preseason where we found ourselves as a group, and John was right in the middle of that, being a vocal leader for this team, and working very hard all season long and being an amazing number two in disguise.”

 

The collision forced both players out of the match, with Crepeau stretchered off with an apparent serious leg injury that will likely force him to miss Canada’s first World Cup appearance since 1986. 

 

So, with the score tied 2-2 in extra time, in stepped McCarthy, a Philadelphia native who started his MLS career with the Union where he forged a reputation as a goalkeeper with a penchant for stopping penalty kicks. 

 

His former head coach started already envisioning the narratives. 

 

“Johnny is a great kid, a Philly kid. You know, a guy that did great things here in Philadelphia,” Union coach Jim Curtin said. “Soccer gods have a funny way of working. As soon as the injury happened, I started the half-joke with my staff that I can't believe Johnny is going to be in there and this is probably going to go to PKs, or something along those lines when it happened.”

 

Moments after entering the match, McCarthy made a stunning diving save to deny Julian Carranza only for Jack Elliott to crash the net and score his second of the game. 

 

It looked like the center back had clinched Philadelphia’s first Cup title in the 124th minute. But Gareth Bale, whose summertime signing made worldwide headlines, responded with the latest goal scored in MLS Cup playoffs history — a powerful header of a clipped endline service from Diego Palacios — just four minutes later.

 

“It's always nice to score in finals, and I seem to have a knack for doing that,” Bale said. “It's big, it's important for the club, it's important for the fans. Like I said, we were down to 10 men, I guess not really looking like we were going to get anything out of the game. Credit to everybody and to keep pushing and keep fighting, and yeah, like I said, it was nice to get the goal and to help the team. And where it ranks, I'm not too sure but it's a great feeling.”

 

Bale came to Los Angeles with a sterling resume, 19 championships the 33-year-old helped win in a career that spanned Tottenham Hotspur in England and Real Madrid in Spain. 

 

Part of Bale’s plan in a 12-month contract with a club option for an additional year, was to be match fit ahead of the World Cup, where he’s helped lead Wales to a first appearance in 64 years. Their first match in Qatar is Nov. 21 against the United States. 

 

But he’s struggled to acclimate in MLS and has dealt with some slight injuries that has limited him to two regular season starts in 12 appearances across 347 minutes. Bale scored two regular season goals and hadn’t featured in the playoffs until replacing Carlos Vela, the club’s first-ever signing out of Real Sociedad in Spain’s La Liga. 

 

And yet, there was Bale, coming up with one of the most dramatic goals in league history, his latest in a career littered with huge goals. 

 

“Gareth being Gareth. He’s a guy with big qualities and a guy who makes big plays,” Cherundolo said. “Let's hope he doesn't in the first game of the World Cup for all the Americans in the room.”

 

The final whistle blew, which meant MLS Cup 2022 would be decided in a penalty kick shootout. On one side was Philadelphia’s Andre Blake, who became the first player in league history to be named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year for a third time. 

 

And his opposing goalkeeper was McCarthy, Blake’s former backup who joined LAFC in January on a one-year deal with a club option for a second after spending the last two seasons with Inter Miami CF. 

 

McCarthy made two saves during the shootout against Jose Martinez and Kai Wagner. When Ilie Sanchez converted his attempt in the fourth round, LAFC had claimed a first MLS Cup title. 

 

And McCarthy had a storybook ending to his first season in LA, albeit against an opponent he hoped he wasn’t facing.

 

“I'm a Philly kid through and throughout. I grew up in Philly my whole life, grade school, high school, college,” McCarthy said. “I know the people from that city. I know a lot of guys on that team, some of the fans … I wish it was against somebody else, honestly, because I feel for the team and the city because if it was against — if we weren't in the final and Philly was in the final, I would for sure root for them.”

 

The 30-year-old, who had played in just one league match during the regular season, had a dream ending and became an unlikely hero, but it wasn’t without preparation.

 

“I was sitting in the hot tub for pregame warming my body up, I watched a nine-minute clip of PKs,” McCarthy said. “I'm not going to say I didn't have some type of idea.”

 

Vela, who’s been the face of LAFC since the club’s inaugural season in 2018, watched all the late drama from the bench after being subbed out for Bale in the 97th minute. 

 

“To be quick and simple, for 10 minutes, 15, it was like a Halloween movie,” Vela said. “And then we finished with a Hollywood movie, like dreaming things, like something you can't imagine can happen, can happen. In my head was something like that, changing one movie to another or the second.”