Sports & Recreation

Comments (0) Best Underdogs - 2006

FC Roma

What FC Roma accomplished over the summer was akin to your beer-league softball team beating the Texas Rangers. Check that, considering the Rangers' annual summer meltdown, it's even more of an upset. Think Dane Cook actually being funny or Tom DeLay: Role Model. Roma, a collection of has-been Dallas Sidekicks and never-were no-names led by 46-year-old goalie Nestor Merlo, became the first amateur soccer team to beat a professional side from Major League Soccer when it toppled Chivas USA in the third round of the prestigious U.S. Open Cup in June. If it wasn't soccer, the upset would've made national news. Instead, it's just a footnote reminding us that, yes, Rocky and Invincible can still strike in today's environment. Roma's run ended when it lost in the fourth round to the perennial MLS power Los Angeles Galaxy. And when Cinderella awoke? Roma's players didn't make quite as much money as Exxon/Mobil, but they did get to temporarily stop practicing at sunrise before heading off to real jobs.

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