MLS Cup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The MLS Cup is the final game of the Major League Soccer postseason, officially recognized as the championship of the league. The trophy is called the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy, after the founding chairman of MLS. The MLS Cup winner, along with the MLS Supporters' Shield winner or runner-up (if the Cup winner also wins the Shield), represents the United States in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Previous finals
^ Sell-out crowd
[edit] MLS Cup successes by club
| Club[2] | Winners | Runners-Up |
|---|---|---|
| D.C. United | 4 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 2 | 3 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2 | 0 |
| Chicago Fire | 1 | 2 |
| Kansas City Wizards | 1 | 1 |
| Houston Dynamo | 1 | 0 |
| New England Revolution | 0 | 3 |
| Colorado Rapids | 0 | 1 |
[edit] MLS scudetto
For the 2006 season, MLS created their version of the scudetto (Italian: "small shield"), a symbol worn on the jersey by the team who won the previous season's Serie A (the top Italian league).
The MLS scudetto is a curved, triangular badge featuring a backdrop of the American flag behind a replica of the Alan I. Rothenberg MLS Cup trophy. The MLS scudetto is worn by the winning team the season following the victory. It is only during the subsequent season (two years after winning the championship), that the team adds a star — a common soccer signifier of titles won — above the team logo. The team can display the star on other items beside their jersey in the year after winning the Cup, but only if the scudetto is not shown.
The 2005 MLS Cup champion, the Los Angeles Galaxy, was the first team to wear the scudetto and will receive a second star above the team shield on the jersey during the 2007 season[1].
[edit] Most Valuable Player Award recipients
| Year | Winner | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 |  Marco Etcheverry |
Midfielder | D.C. United |
| 1997 | Jaime Moreno |
Forward | D.C. United |
| 1998 |  Peter Nowak |
Midfielder | Chicago Fire |
| 1999 |  Ben Olsen |
Midfielder | D.C. United |
| 2000 | Tony Meola |
Goalkeeper | Kansas City Wizards |
| 2001 |  Dwayne De Rosario |
Forward | San Jose Earthquakes |
| 2002 |  Carlos Ruiz |
Forward | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| 2003 | Landon Donovan |
Midfielder | San Jose Earthquakes |
| 2004 | Alecko Eskandarian |
Forward | D.C. United |
| 2005 | Guillermo Ramírez |
Midfielder | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| 2006 | Brian Ching |
Forward | Houston Dynamo |
[edit] Halftime shows
- 1996
- 1997
- 1998
- 1999 Christina Aguilera
- 2000 Innocense
- 2001
- 2002 Paulina Rubio
- 2003 Michelle Branch
- 2004 Switchfoot
- 2005 The Click Five
- 2006 Under the Influence of Giants
[edit] Trivia
- The most successful team in MLS Cup playoffs: D.C. United, winning the title four times (1996, 1997, 1999, 2004).
- The other multiple winners:
San Jose Earthquakes (2001, 2003) and
Los Angeles Galaxy (2002, 2005).
- The only team to have successfully defended MLS Cup: D.C. United (1996, 1997).
- D.C. United qualified for four successive MLS Cup finals between 1996 to 1999, a standing record as of 2006.
- Teams with most appearances (5) in MLS Cup finals:
DC United: 4 Wins (1996, 1997, 1999, 2004); 1 Loss (1998).
Los Angeles Galaxy: 2 Wins (2002, 2005); 3 Losses (1996, 1999, 2001).
- MLS Cup winners who also won the MLS Supporters' Shield (having finished first in the regular season):
D.C. United (1997; 1999),
Kansas City Wizards (2000) and
Los Angeles Galaxy (2002).
- Only 2 teams won MLS Cup after winning every game in the playoffs:
D.C. United (won all 5 postseason games in 1997).
Chicago Fire (won all 5 postseason games in 1998).
- The runner-up who lost the most playoff games was Chicago Fire, with 3 losses (all in regulation), also in 2000.
- The MLS Cup winner with the worst regular-season record was Los Angeles Galaxy in 2005; they finished 4th in the Western Conference and 9th of 12 overall, with a 0.500 record (13-13-6) and negative (-1) goal difference (44-45). The MLS Cup winner with the 2nd-worst regular-season record was D.C. United in 2004, who finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 4th of 10 overall, with a 0.524 record (11-10-9) and a goal difference of just +1 (43-42); on the basis of points earned per game, the United of 2004 actually performed worse than the Galaxy of 2005. The 3rd-worst regular-season record was that of D.C. United in 1996; they finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 3rd of 10 overall, with a 0.536 record (15-13-4)[3] and a goal difference of +6 (62-56).
- The MLS Cup runner-up with the worst regular-season record was Colorado Rapids in 1997, finishing 4th in the Western Conference and 7th of 10 overall, with a 0.444 record (12-15-5)[4] and a negative goal difference (50-59)! The 2nd-worst regular-season record for an MLS Cup runner-up was that of the New England Revolution in 2002 - they finished 1st in the Eastern Conference but only 5th out of 10 teams overall, with a 0.462 record (12-14-2) and a zero goal difference (49-49).
- The MLS Cup winners who also won the US Open Cup in the same season ("The Double"):
D.C. United (1996),
Chicago Fire (1998) and
Los Angeles Galaxy (2005).
- All but two MLS Cup finals (2001, 2006) involved at least a team that finished in the top two overall during the regular season. Some finals even featured both the Shield winners and runners-up (1999, 2000, 2003).
- The 2006 season was the first time in MLS history where all the major honors were won by different teams:[5]
US Open Cup Winner: Chicago Fire. Runner-up: Los Angeles Galaxy
Supporters' Shield Winner: D.C. United. Runner-up: FC Dallas
MLS Cup Winner: Houston Dynamo. Runner-up: New England Revolution
- The inaugural MLS Cup (1996) was, to this point, the only one in which both teams were making their championship game debut.
- Up to 2005, Los Angeles Galaxy had been the only team to have qualified for playoffs every season. However, this proud record has come to an end in 2006, as they were knocked out of the playoffs for the first time in their 11-year history.[6]
- Defending MLS Cup champions who have failed to qualify for the postseason:
D.C. United (2000) and
Los Angeles Galaxy (2006).
- San Jose Earthquakes was the only previous champion winning every final it contested (2001, 2003). Also, any time that San Jose Earthquakes qualified for the playoffs, it either went all the way to win the Cup or lost out in the first round.
- In 2006, Houston Dynamo became the first club to win in a penalty shootout, beating the New England Revolution 4-3. Both teams scored in the second extra time session, resulting in a 1-1 draw, to extend the match to a shootout.
- Houston Dynamo (2006), Chicago Fire (1998) and D.C. United (1996), were the only teams to have won MLS Cup in their debut seasons.
- New England Revolution was the only team to lose consecutive finals (2005 and 2006).
- All but one of the MLS Cup winners also rank (1st to 5th) above every other team who have never won the MLS Cup, based on all-time PPG in the regular season, the only exception being Kansas City Wizards (8th).
- New England Revolution, 3-time MLS Cup finalist, ranked just 13th in terms of all-time regular season PPG, only ahead of Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake, the two expansion teams in 2005. [2]
- To date, the 2001 MLS Cup was the only final contested by teams fom the same conference: both San Jose Earthquakes and Los Angeles Galaxy were from MLS Western Conference
[edit] Notes
- ^ "MLS announces competition changes for 2006"
http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20060214&content_id=52200&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp - ^ The latest names are used for franchises who had name changes,e.g. FC Dallas was formerly known as Dallas Burn.
- ^ Based on W-L-T convention, PK scores excluded. Their record was only 0.500 (16-16), if PK scores were included.
- ^ Based on W-L-T convention, PK scores excluded. Their record was only 0.438 (14-18), if PK scores were included.
- ^ An MLS First For 2006: http://usasoccer.blogspot.com/
- ^ Galaxy playoff hopes erased by FCD http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20061008&content_id=75057&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp
| MLS Cup |
|---|
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|
Eastern Conference |
Western Conference |
| Former teams | On hiatus |
|---|---|
 Miami Fusion •  Tampa Bay Mutiny |
 San Jose Earthquakes |
| Miscellaneous | |
|
MLS Cup • All-Star Game • SuperLiga • USSF • CSA • Central Division • U.S. Open Cup |
|
