A 33-year-old bearded goalkeeper, a top shot-stopper with leadership qualities to match, will hoist the MLS Cup on Sunday.

The question is: Will it be Toronto FC’s Quentin Westberg or the Sounders’ Stefan Frei? It will be one of the most tantalizing matchups at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, before a capacity crowd of around 69,000.

“At some point, some team has got nothing to lose and they’re going to throw everything at you, and goalkeepers are going to have to come up with saves,” TFC coach Greg Vanney said this week. “Both ’keepers are capable of it.”

Toronto’s history with Frei goes back to 2009, when he was drafted by the Reds in the first round. He played 81 regular-season games in his first three years with TFC, but only 90 minutes in his final two before a trade to Seattle in December, 2013.

For all that Frei accomplished with the Reds at a time when they were a shadow of the powerhouse they would become, it is what he did against them that fans remember most. Frei stood on his head in the 2016 MLS Cup final — the first of three between these teams — and made seven saves, including arguably the best in league history when he reached back and swatted away a Jozy Altidore header that seemed destined to cross the line and break a 0-0 deadlock in extra time. He also stopped a penalty in that game on the way to a Sounders victory.

“He’s just good at organizing the defence and he’s always ready,” Altidore said. “There’s never too many times you see a shot go and he’s caught flat-footed. He’s always looking to move his feet, and he’s a guy that you’ve got to just try to outwit sometimes. He’s a clever goalkeeper.”

Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei makes a ridiculous diving stop on Jozy Altidore in the 108th minute of extra time.

Even in the 2017 final, which Toronto won 2-0, Frei kept the ball out of the back of his net until the 67th minute. Vanney remembers having to counsel his players to be patient as they heaped pressure on Seattle’s goal.

“He’s a ’keeper who can come up with some saves and you have to expect that he’s going to make one or two,” Vanney said. “We’ve got to stay resilient and keep finding ways to create chances and get one by him. That’s the same for (Westberg). Hopefully we don’t make him make any saves, but I imagine at some point like in the last couple games he’s going to have to come up with a save. I think they’re going to play a big role in this.”

Westberg’s work has been key to Toronto’s playoff run. He made a pair of point-blank saves to deny D.C. United star Wayne Rooney in the first round and stopped a penalty by prolific Atlanta United striker Josef Martinez in the Eastern final.

The native of France signed with TFC in February after playing for AJ Auxerre in French Ligue 2 and made his first MLS start in Seattle back in April. His ability to lead and communicate calmly — on top of excellent foot skills, distribution and those big saves — helped Westberg not only win the starting job from Alex Bono but become one of the Reds’ most valuable players.

“With his feet he’s basically another field player,” Altidore said. “You’ve seen now how phenomenal, how vital it is to have a goalie in today’s game to be able to take the ball under pressure and find a guy, or just take the sting out of a game with a fantastic distribution, so (Westberg’s) been giving us something that we’ve needed and I think it’s been a great lift for us.”

Westberg called Frei a “great” goalie, praising his consistency between the posts — not showy, but reliable.

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“This is what I like about this goalkeeper, and I think it’s the best goalkeeping you can do, actually,” Westberg said.

Frei said handling the nervous energy of a final is as crucial as preparing tactically.

“(The butterflies are) starting already now,” Frei told reporters in Seattle this week. “How do you deal with the emotions that are coming up? The possible outcomes, how do you feel about those, what does that mean? Those questions have to be answered before the game starts. If you haven’t answered those questions in your head and dealt with those emotions, you’re going to be in trouble.”

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