1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup

1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup

Tournament details
Host country	United States
City	Washington, D.C.
Dates	August 11 – 16
Teams	8 (from 5 associations)
Final positions
Champions	D.C. United (1st title)
Runners-up	Toluca
Third place	Saprissa
Fourth place	León
Tournament statistics
Matches played	8
Goals scored	19 (2.38 per match)
← 1997 1999 →

The 1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 34th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It determined that year's club champion of football in the CONCACAF region.

The final tournament, held in Washington, D.C., was won by D.C. United, who defeated Deportivo Toluca 1–0 in the final, ^[1] becoming the first team from the United States to win the tournament. ^[2]

Qualified teams

• MEX Cruz Azul (holders) bye to final round.
• MEX Deportivo Toluca (Mexican summer champions 1997/98) bye to final round.
• USA DC United (USA champions 1997) bye to final round.

Qualifying

Qualifying Playoff

June 28, 1998

18:00 MST

Colorado Rapids	1–0	León
Balboa 83'	Report

Mile High Stadium , Denver, United States

Attendance: 7,442

Referee: Kevin Skinner (CAN)

July 15, 1998

León	4–2	Colorado Rapids
Bejines 30' Romero 38' Trittschuh 42' (o.g.) Cadena 53'		45' Trittschuh 69' Bravo

Estadio León , León, Mexico

• León advances to the quarterfinals.

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Qualifying Central American zone

Organized by the Central American Football Union.

Group South A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Saprissa	3	3	0	0	9	2	+7	9	Advance to Second Stage
2	Árabe Unido	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
3	Diriangén	4	0	1	3	2	9	−7	1

Updated to match(es) played on March 11, 1998. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Diriangén v Saprissa

February 8, 1998	Diriangén	0–3	Saprissa	Cacique Diriangen Stadium.
	None		Steven Bryce Gerard Drummond Alejandro Sequeira

Árabe Unido v Diriangén

February 15, 1998	Árabe Unido	1–0	Diriangén	Panama
	Carlos Brown		None	Stadium: Colón’s Roberto Mariano Bula Stadium

Diriangén v Árabe Unido

February 17, 1998	Diriangén	1–1	Árabe Unido	Colón, Panama
				Stadium: Estadio Armando Dely Valdés

Saprissa v Diriangén

February 25, 1998	Saprissa	4–1	Diriangén
	Adrian Mahia Kervin Lacey Vinicio Montero

Árabe Unido v Saprissa

March 8, 1998

Árabe Unido

1–2

Saprissa

Saprissa v Árabe Unido

March 11, 1998	Saprissa	v	Árabe Unido
Note: Cancelled due to irrelevance.

Group South B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Alajuelense	4	4	0	0	17	2	+15	12	Advance to Second Stage
2	Tauro	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	0
3	Real Estelí	2	0	0	2	1	11	−10	0

Updated to match(es) played on March 8, 1998. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Tauro v Alajuelense

February 8, 1998	Tauro	1–2	Alajuelense	Panama City, Panama
	Luis Agrazal		David Diach Richard Smith	Stadium: Estadio Javier Cruz de Colegio de Artes y Oficios

Alajuelense v Tauro

February 11, 1998

Alajuelense

4–0

Tauro

Alajuelense v Real Estelí

February 14, 1998

Alajuelense

8–0

Real Estelí

Real Estelí v Alajuelense

February 17, 1998

Real Estelí

1–3

Alajuelense

Palmares de Alajuela, Costa Rica

Real Estelí v Tauro

March 8, 1998	Real Estelí	v	Tauro
Note: Cancelled due to irrelevance.

Tauro v Real Estelí

March 1998	Tauro	v	Real Estelí
Note: Cancelled due to irrelevance.

Group North A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Comunicaciones	3	2	1	0	13	6	+7	7	Advance to Second Stage
2	Olimpia	3	2	0	1	8	4	+4	6
3	Alianza	3	0	2	1	6	9	−3	2
4	Juventus	3	0	1	2	5	13	−8	1

Updated to match(es) played on March 22, 1998. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Olimpia v Juventus

March 18, 1998	Olimpia	2–0	Juventus	Guatemala City, Guatemala
	Quiroga 59'79'		Nil

Comunicaciones v Alianza

March 18, 1998	Comunicaciones	2–2	Alianza	Guatemala City, Guatemala
	Nicolas Suazo 19'		Horacio Lugo 29' Erick Dowson Prado

Alianza v Juventus

March 20, 1998	Alianza	3–3	Juventus	Guatemala City, Guatemala
	Marcelo Bauza		Fredy Tun Steve Hall Allan Flowers

Comunicaciones v Olimpia

March 20, 1998	Comunicaciones	3–2	Olimpia	Guatemala City, Guatemala
	Fonseca 40'67' Rodas 76'		50' Velásquez 85' Costa

Alianza v Olimpia

March 22, 1998	Alianza	1–4	Olimpia	Guatemala City, Guatemala
	Adrian de La Cruz 68' (pen.)		Costa 6'34'58' Velásquez 90'

Comunicaciones v Juventus

March 22, 1998	Comunicaciones	8–2	Juventus	Guatemala City, Guatemala
	Jewison Bennet 22'53'79' Edgar Valencia 13'75' Julio Rodas 15'69' Edwin Westphal 82'		Doni Tun 28' Dave McCuley 90'	Referee: Oscar Bardales

Group North B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Platense	5	3	1	1	10	3	+7	10	Advance to Second Stage
2	Luis Ángel Firpo	4	3	1	0	9	3	+6	10
3	Aurora	6	1	1	4	8	12	−4	4
4	Real Verdes	5	1	1	3	5	14	−9	4

Updated to match(es) played on March 25, 1998. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Aurora v Platense

February 1, 1998	Aurora	1–2	Platense
	Castagnaro 60'		49' Cárcamo 85' Da Silva

Platense v Aurora

February 8, 1998	Platense	2–1	Aurora
	Da Silva 84' Cárcamo 85'		67' (pen.) Castagnaro

Real Verdes v Platense

February 22, 1998	Real Verdes	0–0	Platense
	Nil		Nil

Aurora v Luis Ángel Firpo

February 25, 1998	Aurora	2–2	Luis Ángel Firpo	Guatemala City, Guatemala
	Luis Perez Selvin Ponciano		Jose Monterrosa Celio Rodríguez	Stadium: Estadio del Ejéricto

Platense v Real Verdes

March 1, 1998	Platense	6–0	Real Verdes
	Mejía 3'65' Da Silva 10' Fuentes 44' Morales 76' de León 84' (pen.)		Nil

Luis Ángel Firpo v Aurora

March 4, 1998	Luis Ángel Firpo	2–0	Aurora
	Alfredo Perez Raul Toro		Nil

Real Verdes v Aurora

March 15, 1998	Real Verdes	1–2	Aurora	San Ignacio, Belize
	TBD		TBD Selvin Ponciano	Stadium: Norman Broaster Stadium

Luis Ángel Firpo v Real Verdes

March 22, 1998	Luis Ángel Firpo	4–1	Real Verdes	San Ignacio, Belize
	Israel Castro Luis Oseguera Raul Toro Pedro Vasquez		Crusel Treik	Stadium: Norman Broaster Stadium

Luis Ángel Firpo v Platense

March 25, 1998	Luis Ángel Firpo	1–0	Platense
	Toro 20'		Nil

Aurora v Real Verdes

March 25, 1998

Aurora

2–3

Real Verdes

Real Verdes v Luis Ángel Firpo

April 1, 1998	Real Verdes	v	Luis Ángel Firpo
Note: Cancelled due to irrelevance.

Platense v Luis Ángel Firpo

April 12, 1998	Platense	v	Luis Ángel Firpo
Note: Cancelled due to irrelevance.

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Saprissa	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2	7	Advance to Final Tournament
2	Comunicaciones	4	2	0	2	5	6	−1	6	Advance to Playoff
3	Platense	4	1	1	2	5	6	−1	4

Updated to match(es) played on May 27, 1998. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Platense v Saprissa

April 19, 1998	Platense	1–3	Saprissa
	Cárcamo 6'		16' Ramírez 76' Myers 90' Ilama

Comunicaciones v Saprissa

April 22, 1998

Comunicaciones

1–0

Saprissa

Platense v Comunicaciones

April 29, 1998	Platense	3–1	Comunicaciones	San Pedro Sula, Honduras
	Bernárdez 10' de León 46' Cárcamo 88'		4' Valencia

Saprissa v Comunicaciones

May 6, 1998

Saprissa

2–1

Comunicaciones

Saprissa v Platense

May 20, 1998

Saprissa

0–0

Platense

Comunicaciones v Platense

May 27, 1998	Comunicaciones	2–1	Platense	Guatemala City, Guatemala
20:00	Westphal 55' (pen.) Fonseca 90'		85' (pen.) Fuentes	Stadium: Estadio Cementos Progreso

Group II

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Luis Ángel Firpo	4	2	2	0	7	4	+3	8	Advance to Final Tournament
2	Alajuelense	4	2	1	1	9	5	+4	7	Advance to Playoff
3	Olimpia	4	0	1	3	2	9	−7	1

Updated to match(es) played on May 20, 1998. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Alajuelense v Luis Ángel Firpo

April 15, 1998

Alajuelense

1–1

Luis Ángel Firpo

Olimpia v Alajuelense

April 22, 1998	Olimpia	0–1	Alajuelense
			6' Miso

Luis Ángel Firpo v Olimpia

April 30, 1998	Luis Ángel Firpo	2–0	Olimpia
	Toro 48' Monterrosa 55'

Alajuelense v Olimpia

May 7, 1998	Alajuelense	5–1	Olimpia
	Badilla 11' Madrigal 20' Martins 41' Cubero 50' Miso 73'		75' Velásquez

Luis Ángel Firpo v Alajuelense

May 14, 1998

Luis Ángel Firpo

3–2

Alajuelense

Olimpia v Luis Ángel Firpo

May 20, 1998	Olimpia	1–1	Luis Ángel Firpo
	Fernández 27'		72' Rodríguez

Playoff

Alajuelense v Comunicaciones

July 26, 1998	Alajuelense	4–2	Comunicaciones	Alajuela, Costa Rica
				Stadium: Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto

Comunicaciones v Alajuelense

July 29, 1998	Comunicaciones	1–1 (3–5 agg.)	Alajuelense	Guatemala City, Guatemala
				Stadium: Estadio Mateo Flores

• Alajuelense advanced to the Final Tournament.

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Caribbean zone

• Caribbean Zone:
  Joe Public F.C. (invitee)
• The Caribbean club championships during that time were only played in November,
  CONCACAF invited Joe Public of Trinidad and Tobago as Caribbean representative.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	August 11 – Washington, D.C
	D.C. United	8
					August 14 – Washington, D.C
	Joe Public	0
					D.C. United	2
	August 11 – Washington, D.C
					León	0
	León (p)	1 (3)
									August 16 – Washington, D.C
	Luis Ángel Firpo	1 (2)
									D.C. United	1
	August 12 – Washington, D.C
									Toluca	0
	Cruz Azul	0 (3)
					August 14 – Washington, D.C
	Deportivo Saprissa (p)	0 (5)
					Deportivo Saprissa	1 (2)
	August 12 – Washington, D.C
					Toluca (p)	1 (3)			Third place
	Toluca	2
									August 16 – Washington, D.C
	Alajuelense	0
									León	0
									Deportivo Saprissa	2

Quarterfinals

August 11, 1998

D.C. United	8–0	Joe Public
Olsen 13'44' Lassiter 22'29'67'72' Wood 75'90+2'

RFK Stadium , Washington, D.C., United States

Attendance: 7,117

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August 11, 1998

Cruz Azul	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Saprissa
Penalties
	3–5

RFK Stadium , Washington, D.C., United States

Attendance: 7,117

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August 12, 1998

León	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Luis Ángel Firpo
Mercado 27' (pen.)		79' Nildeson
Penalties
	3–2

RFK Stadium , Washington, D.C., United States

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August 12, 1998

Toluca	2–0	Alajuelense
Estay 72' Abundis 90'

RFK Stadium , Washington, D.C., United States

Semifinals

August 14, 1998

D.C. United	2–0	Club León
Lassiter 12', 61'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C., United States

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August 14, 1998

Deportivo Toluca	1 – 1 (AET) 3 – 2 (pen)	Deportivo Saprissa
Cordero 31' (o.g.)		Sequeira 58'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C., United States

Third place match

August 16, 1998

Club León	0–2	C.D. Saprissa
		Mahia 45' Centeno 85'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C., United States

Final

August 16, 1998

D.C. United	1–0	Deportivo Toluca
Pope 41'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C., United States

Attendance: 12,607

Referee: Carlos Batres – Guatemala

Team details

D.C. United Toluca GK Scott Garlick DF Carey Talley DF 23 Eddie Pope DF Jeff Agoos DF Brian Kamler MF Ben Olsen MF 6 John Harkes MF Richie Williams MF 10 Marco Etcheverry FW 99 Jaime Moreno  75' FW 15 Roy Lassiter Substitutes: FW Carlos Llamosa  75' Manager: Bruce Arena GK Mario Albarrán DF Salvador Carmona DF Héctor O. Blanco DF Alberto Macías DF Antonio Taboada  59' MF Víctor Ruiz MF Fabián Estay MF David Rangel MF Enrique Alfaro  70' FW José S. Cardozo FW Juan Manuel Abundis  75' Substitutes: MF Darko Vukić  59' DF Adrian García Arias  70' MF José J. Ordiales  75' Manager: Enrique Meza

Champion

CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1998 Winners
D.C. United First Title

Player awards

Top goalscorer

• Roy Lassiter (D.C. United) – 6 goals ^[3]

Most Valuable Player

• Roy Lassiter (D.C. United)

Team of the tournament

Goalkeeper

• Scott Garlick, D.C. United

Defenders

• Jeff Agoos, D.C. United
• Eddie Pope, D.C. United
• Salvador Carmona, Toluca
• Roberto Medina, Leon

Midfielders

• Fabian Estay, Toluca
• Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United
• Roy Myers, Saprissa

Forwards

• Roy Lassiter, D.C. United
• Jose Manuel Abundis, Toluca
• Nidelson De Mello, Firpo

References

1. Copa de Campeones 1998 on the RSSSF
2. DC United, primer campeón de Concacaf de la MLS on Goal.com
3. "DC United Wins the 1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup" (PDF). November 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2005.