2008 Major League Soccer season

Last updated

Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer MLS wordmark 2007.svg
Season2008
MLS Cup Columbus Crew (1st title)
Supporters' Shield Columbus Crew (2nd shield)
Champions League Columbus Crew
New York Red Bulls
Houston Dynamo
D.C. United
SuperLiga Chicago Fire
N.E. Revolution
Chivas USA
Kansas City Wizards
Matches played210
Goals scored591 (2.81 per match)
Top goalscorer Landon Donovan
Los Angeles Galaxy
Goals: 20
Biggest home win COL 4–0 LA
CHI 4–0 NE
RSL 4–0 DCU
Biggest away win FCD 1–5 LA
NY 1–5 CHI
Highest scoring NY 4–5 COL
Longest winning run5 games:
Columbus Crew
Longest unbeaten run9 games:
Columbus Crew
San Jose Earthquakes
Longest losing run4 games:
D.C. United
Highest attendance LA @ NY: 46,754
Lowest attendance CLB @ CHV: 6,733
Total attendance3,456,641
Average attendance16,460
← 2007
2009 →
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Locations of teams for the 2008 Major League Soccer season
ButtonRed.svg Western Conference   ButtonBlue.svg Eastern Conference

The 2008 Major League Soccer season was the 13th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 96th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 30th with a national first-division league.

Contents

The San Jose Earthquakes returned to the league, following a two-year hiatus that began after the 2005 season.

The Kansas City Wizards left Arrowhead Stadium and moved to the Kansas side of the metropolitan area, occupying CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City. The league also debuted its newest soccer-specific stadium in October when Real Salt Lake opened Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.

The regular season began on March 29, and concluded on October 26. The 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 30, and concluded with MLS Cup 2008 on November 23. The Columbus Crew captured the league double by winning their second Supporters' Shield and by defeating the New York Red Bulls, 3-1, in MLS Cup.

Overview

Season format

The season began on March 29 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 23. The 14 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 30 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team twice, home and away, for a total of 26 games. The remaining four games were played against four regional rivals, two at home and two away.

The top three teams from each conference automatically qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In addition, the two highest remaining point totals, regardless of conference, also qualified. In the first round, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The conference finals were played as a single match, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.

The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield and qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. An additional berth in the Champions League was also awarded to the winner of the U.S. Open Cup. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions League, then additional berths were awarded to the highest overall finishing MLS team(s) not already qualified. Also, Toronto FC, as a Canadian-based team, could not qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS, and had to instead qualify through the Canadian Championship.

Automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup was awarded to the top six overall finishers, as opposed to the top three finishers in each conference. The rest of the U.S.-based MLS teams had to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games.

Due to fixture congestion, qualification for the SuperLiga was limited to the top four overall finishers not already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. This applied retroactively to the 2008 season, and thus was related to qualification for MLS teams to SuperLiga 2009.

Stadiums and locations

TeamStadiumCapacity
Chicago Fire Toyota Park 20,000
Chivas USA Home Depot Center 27,000
Colorado Rapids Dick's Sporting Goods Park 18,061
Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 22,555
D.C. United RFK Stadium 46,000
FC Dallas Pizza Hut Park 21,193
Houston Dynamo Robertson Stadium 32,000
Kansas City Wizards CommunityAmerica Ballpark 10,385
LA Galaxy Home Depot Center 27,000
New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 68,756
New York Red Bulls Giants Stadium 80,200
Real Salt Lake Rice-Eccles Stadium
Rio Tinto Stadium 		45,017
20,213
San Jose Earthquakes Buck Shaw Stadium 10,525
Toronto FC BMO Field 21,566

Personnel and sponsorships

TeamHead coachCaptainShirt sponsor
Chicago Fire Flag of Costa Rica.svg Denis Hamlett Best Buy
Chivas USA Flag of the United States.svg Preki Comex
Colorado Rapids Flag of the United States.svg Fernando Clavijo —
Columbus Crew Flag of the United States.svg Sigi Schmid Flag of the United States.svg Frankie Hejduk Glidden
D.C. United Flag of the United States.svg Tom Soehn Volkswagen
FC Dallas Flag of the United States.svg Schellas Hyndman —
Houston Dynamo Flag of the United States.svg Dominic Kinnear Flag of the United States.svg Wade Barrett —
Kansas City Wizards Flag of the United States.svg Curt Onalfo —
LA Galaxy Flag of the Netherlands.svg Ruud Gullit Herbalife
New England Revolution Flag of Scotland.svg Steve Nicol —
New York Red Bulls Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Carlos Osorio Flag of the United States.svg Claudio Reyna Red Bull
Real Salt Lake Flag of the United States.svg Jason Kreis Flag of the United States.svg Kyle Beckerman —
San Jose Earthquakes Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Frank Yallop Flag of the United States.svg Nick Garcia —
Toronto FC Flag of England.svg John Carver —

Coaching changes

TeamOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming coachDate of appointment
FC Dallas Ulster Banner.svg Steve Morrow FiredMay 20, 2008 Flag of the United States.svg Marco Ferruzzi May 20, 2008
FC Dallas Flag of the United States.svg Marco Ferruzzi End of interim periodJune 16, 2008 Flag of the United States.svg Schellas Hyndman June 16, 2008

Results table

Abbreviation and Color Key:
Chicago Fire - CHI • Chivas USA - CHV • Colorado Rapids - COL • Columbus Crew - CLB • D.C. United - DC
FC Dallas - DAL • Houston Dynamo - HOU • Kansas City Wizards - KC • Los Angeles Galaxy - LA • New England Revolution - NE
New York Red Bulls - NY • Real Salt Lake - RSL • San Jose Earthquakes - SJ • Toronto FC - TOR
Win •Loss •Tie •Home
ClubMatch
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
Chicago Fire RSLNESJKCCOLNEDCHOUNYDCDALCHVSJCLBTORRSLKCCHVNEDCLAHOUNYCOLDALLAKCCLBTORNY
1-10-41-01-01-23-02-02-15-12-10-10-20-02-21-20-00-00-12-11-01-01-20-10-24-11-31-12-22-32-5
Chivas USA DALRSLCLBDALLAHOUNEDCCOLCLBNYRSLCHINYSJLACHIKCLAHOUSJTORTORNERSLKCDCSJCOLHOU
1-11-33-42-02-50-02-11-32-10-20-11-00-21-10-11-10-12-32-20-40-01-23-10-41-01-23-01-02-11-1
Colorado Rapids LAKCNESJCHIDCHOURSLCHVDALLATORHOUCLBNYSJDALCLBTORKCDCRSLDALCHINENYHOULACHVRSL
0-42-31-02-01-20-21-20-22-11-22-31-30-01-20-41-12-22-00-11-20-30-21-00-21-15-43-12-32-11-1
Columbus Crew TORNYCHVDCHOUKCSJTORNECHVSJKCLACOLCHIRSLKCCOLHOUDALRSLDALNETORNYNELACHINYDC
0-20-23-42-10-11-23-20-01-00-22-03-03-31-22-20-23-32-00-21-20-32-10-41-11-31-00-12-21-30-1
D.C. United KCTORRSLCLBRSLCOLCHICHVTORTORNECHINYSJLAHOUKCNYCHINECOLNYSJDALLADALCHVHOUNECLB
0-21-40-42-11-40-22-01-30-12-32-22-11-41-31-42-00-24-11-01-20-30-01-22-22-50-33-00-01-20-1
FC Dallas CHVHOUNYCHVNESJRSLLARSLHOUCOLNECHINYHOUKCCOLLATORCLBKCCLBCOLDCCHIDCSJTORRSLLA
1-13-30-22-01-00-01-25-11-22-21-21-20-10-11-11-12-20-42-01-21-12-11-02-24-10-31-12-21-32-2
Houston Dynamo NEDALKCLACLBCHVCOLCHISJDALNYTORNECOLDALRSLDCCLBRSLCHVNYCHIKCSJTORCOLDCSJLACHV
0-33-30-02-20-10-01-22-11-22-20-11-32-00-01-10-02-00-23-40-40-31-21-31-11-13-10-01-20-31-1
Kansas City Wizards DCCOLNEHOUCHITORCLBNYLARSLCLBTORRSLDALNYCLBCHIDCCHVCOLDALSJHOULATORCHVCHINESJNE
0-22-33-10-01-00-21-21-11-30-03-00-00-11-11-23-30-00-22-31-21-11-21-30-20-21-21-10-12-33-1
Los Angeles Galaxy COLSJTORHOUCHVRSLNYDALKCTORCOLSJCLBDCNECHVNYDALSJCHVCHINERSLKCDCCHICLBCOLHOUDAL
0-40-23-22-22-52-22-15-11-30-22-33-03-31-42-11-12-20-42-32-21-02-22-20-22-51-30-12-30-32-2
New England Revolution HOUCHIKCCOLNYDALCHICHVSJCLBDCDALHOUNYRSLTORLACHISJDCTORLACLBCHVCOLCLBRSLKCDCKC
0-30-43-11-01-11-03-02-10-21-02-21-22-01-11-21-22-12-10-41-21-12-20-40-41-11-02-20-11-23-1
New York Red Bulls CLBDALNESJTORLAKCCHIHOUCHVDCNEDALCHVCOLKCLASJDCTORHOUDCCHIRSLCLBCOLTORRSLCLBCHI
0-20-21-10-21-12-11-15-10-10-11-41-10-11-10-41-22-21-14-10-20-30-00-11-21-35-43-11-11-32-5
Real Salt Lake CHICHVDCTORDCLADALCOLDALSJKCCHVSJNEKCHOUCLBCHITORHOUCLBCOLLANYCHVSJNENYDALCOL
1-11-30-40-11-42-21-20-21-21-30-01-00-01-20-10-00-20-01-23-40-30-22-21-21-03-22-21-11-31-1
San Jose Earthquakes LACHICOLNYDALCLBNEHOURSLCLBLARSLDCCHICHVCOLTORNYLANECHVKCDCHOURSLDALCHVHOUKCTOR
0-21-02-00-20-03-20-21-21-32-03-00-01-30-01-01-10-01-12-30-40-01-21-21-13-21-11-01-22-30-2
Toronto FC CLBDCLARSLKCNYCLBDCDCLAHOUCOLKCNECHISJRSLDALCOLNYNECHVCHVCLBKCHOUNYDALCHISJ
0-21-43-20-10-21-10-00-12-30-21-31-30-01-21-20-01-22-01-00-21-11-23-11-10-21-13-12-22-30-2

Standings

Eastern Conference

PosTeam
PldWLTGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Columbus Crew 3017765036+1457 MLS Cup Playoffs
2 Chicago Fire 30131074433+1146
3 New England Revolution 30121174043−343
4 Kansas City Wizards 30111093739−242
5 New York Red Bulls 30101194248−639
6 D.C. United 30111544351−837
7 Toronto FC 3091383443−935
Source: MLS

Western Conference

PosTeam
PldWLTGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Houston Dynamo 30135124532+1351 MLS Cup Playoffs
2 Chivas USA 30121174041−143
3 Real Salt Lake 301010104039+140
4 Colorado Rapids 30111454445−138
5 FC Dallas 30810124541+436
6 LA Galaxy 3081395562−733
7 San Jose Earthquakes 3081393238−633
Source: MLS

Overall standings

PosTeam
PldWLTGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Columbus Crew (C, S)3017765036+1457 CONCACAF Champions League
2 Houston Dynamo 30135124532+1351
3 Chicago Fire 30131074433+1146 North American SuperLiga
4 Chivas USA 30121174041−143
5 New England Revolution 30121174043−343
6 Kansas City Wizards 30111093739−242
7 Real Salt Lake 301010104039+140
8 New York Red Bulls 30101194248−639 CONCACAF Champions League
9 Colorado Rapids 30111454445−138
10 D.C. United 30111544351−837 CONCACAF Champions League
11 FC Dallas 30810124541+436
12 Toronto FC 3091383443−935 CONCACAF Champions League [a]
13 LA Galaxy 3081395562−733
14 San Jose Earthquakes 3081393238−633
Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (S) Supporters' Shield
Notes:
  1. ↑ As winners of the 2009 Canadian Championship

MLS Cup Playoffs

Conference semifinals Conference finals MLS Cup
          
E1 Columbus Crew 12
E4 Kansas City Wizards 1 0
E1 Columbus Crew 2
Eastern Conference
E2 Chicago Fire 1
E3 New England Revolution 0 0
E2 Chicago Fire 03
E1 Columbus Crew 3
W4 New York Red Bulls 1
W1 Houston Dynamo 1 0
W4 New York Red Bulls 113
W4 New York Red Bulls 1
Western Conference
W3 Real Salt Lake 0
W3 Real Salt Lake 12
W2 Chivas USA 0 2

1 The New York Red Bulls earned the eighth and final playoff berth, despite finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference. They represent the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket, as only three teams in the Western Conference qualified for the playoffs.

Player statistics

Goals

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Flag of the United States.svg Landon Donovan LA Galaxy 20
2 Flag of the United States.svg Kenny Cooper FC Dallas 18
3 Flag of the United States.svg Edson Buddle LA Galaxy 15
4 Flag of Colombia.svg Juan Pablo Ángel New York Red Bulls 14
5 Flag of the United States.svg Brian Ching Houston Dynamo 13
6 Flag of Brazil.svg Luciano Emilio D.C. United 11
Flag of the United States.svg Conor Casey Colorado Rapids
8 Flag of Bolivia.svg Jaime Moreno D.C. United 10
9 Flag of the United States.svg Chad Barrett Chicago Fire
Toronto FC 		9
Flag of the United States.svg Chris Rolfe Chicago Fire

Assists

RankPlayerClubAssists
1 Flag of Argentina.svg Guillermo Barros Schelotto Columbus Crew 16
2 Flag of Argentina.svg Javier Morales Real Salt Lake 11
3 Flag of England.svg Terry Cooke Colorado Rapids 10
4 Flag of England.svg David Beckham LA Galaxy 8
Flag of the United States.svg Justin Mapp Chicago Fire
6 Flag of Argentina.svg Christian Gómez Colorado Rapids 7
7 Flag of Mexico.svg Cuauhtémoc Blanco Chicago Fire 6
Flag of the United States.svg Brad Davis Houston Dynamo
Flag of the United States.svg Landon Donovan LA Galaxy
Flag of Bolivia.svg Jaime Moreno D.C. United
Flag of Ireland.svg Ronnie O'Brien San Jose Earthquakes

Clean sheets

RankPlayerClubClean
sheets
1 Flag of the United States.svg Jon Busch Chicago Fire 10
Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Hartman Kansas City Wizards
Flag of the United States.svg Will Hesmer Columbus Crew
4 Flag of the United States.svg Joe Cannon San Jose Earthquakes 9
5 Flag of the United States.svg Nick Rimando Real Salt Lake 8
6 Flag of the United States.svg Jon Conway New York Red Bulls 7
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Pat Onstad Houston Dynamo
Flag of Argentina.svg Darío Sala FC Dallas
9 Flag of the United States.svg Matt Reis New England Revolution 6
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Greg Sutton Toronto FC

Awards

Individual awards

AwardPlayerClub
Most Valuable Player Flag of Argentina.svg Guillermo Barros Schelotto Columbus Crew
Defender of the Year Flag of the United States.svg Chad Marshall Columbus Crew
Goalkeeper of the Year Flag of the United States.svg Jon Busch Chicago Fire
Coach of the Year Flag of the United States.svg Sigi Schmid Columbus Crew
Rookie of the Year Flag of the United States.svg Sean Franklin LA Galaxy
Newcomer of the Year Flag of England.svg Darren Huckerby San Jose Earthquakes
Comeback Player of the Year Flag of the United States.svg Kenny Cooper FC Dallas
Golden Boot Flag of the United States.svg Landon Donovan LA Galaxy
Goal of the Year Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Will Johnson Real Salt Lake
Fair Play Award Flag of the United States.svg Michael Parkhurst New England Revolution
Humanitarian of the Year Flag of the United States.svg José Burciaga Jr. Colorado Rapids

MLS Best XI

GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards
Flag of the United States.svg Jon Busch, Chicago Flag of the United States.svg Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City
Flag of the United States.svg Chad Marshall, Columbus
Flag of Mali.svg Bakary Soumaré, Chicago 		Flag of Mexico.svg Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Chicago
Flag of Grenada.svg Shalrie Joseph, New England
Flag of the United States.svg Sacha Kljestan, Chivas USA
Flag of the United States.svg Robbie Rogers, Columbus
Flag of Argentina.svg Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus 		Flag of the United States.svg Kenny Cooper, Dallas
Flag of the United States.svg Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy

Weekly awards

Monthly awards

Attendances

ClubGamesSeasonGame Avg.
LA Galaxy 15390,13226,009
Toronto FC 15301,79320,120
D.C. United 15297,53119,835
New England Revolution 15263,70617,580
Chicago Fire 15255,51117,034
Houston Dynamo 15254,08316,939
Real Salt Lake 15242,69016,179
New York Red Bulls 15238,92515,928
Chivas USA 15226,71715,114
Columbus Crew 15219,33214,622
San Jose Earthquakes 15205,69513,713
Colorado Rapids 15204,88413,659
FC Dallas 15195,35613,024
Kansas City Wizards 15160,28610,686
Totals2103,456,64116,460

International competitions

CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2008

The Houston Dynamo and D.C. United earned berths in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup by virtue of their MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield wins, respectively. Houston and D.C. were both victorious in their quarterfinal ties and advanced to the semifinals. For the second straight year, however, both lost their respective semifinals, and were eliminated.

SuperLiga 2008

D.C. United, Chivas USA, the New England Revolution, and the Houston Dynamo were MLS's entrants into SuperLiga 2008, based on their top-four finish in the 2007 regular season.

Following the Group Stage, which took place from July 12 to July 20, Houston and New England each won their respective groups to advance to the Semifinals, where they faced 2007 champion Pachuca on July 29 and Atlante on July 30, respectively. D.C. United finished last and Chivas USA finished third in their respective groups and failed to advance.

Both MLS teams were victorious in the Semifinals, setting up a rematch of the 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups in the Final on August 5 at Gillette Stadium.

The teams played to a 2–2 draw after extra time. New England eventually defeated Houston 6–5 on penalty kicks.

CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09

The Houston Dynamo (MLS Cup winner), D.C. United (Supporters' Shield Winner), the New England Revolution (U.S. Open Cup winner and MLS Cup runner-up), and Chivas USA (Supporters' Shield runner-up) were the representatives in the rebranded successor to the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

New England and Chivas USA entered at the preliminary round, and were eliminated over two legs by Joe Public of Trinidad and Tobago and Tauro of Panama, respectively.

D.C. and Houston were seeded into the Group Stage as the top seeds in Groups A and B, respectively.

D.C. was eliminated from Group A with two games remaining in group play, while Houston qualified for the Championship Round with a 1–0 win in their last match against Luis Ángel Firpo on November 26, which was postponed from Matchday 1 due to Hurricane Ike.

Houston was eliminated in the Quarterfinals over two legs by Atlante.

National competitions

2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

MLS awarded the top three finishers in each conference last season automatic berths into the 2008 U.S. Open Cup's Third Round. D.C. United, the New England Revolution, and the New York Red Bulls qualified from the Eastern Conference while Chivas USA, the Houston Dynamo, and FC Dallas qualified from the Western Conference. The rest of MLS's U.S.-based teams would have to compete for the final two berths into the third round via a seven-team playoff. Eventually Chicago Fire and the Kansas City Wizards qualified by beating the Columbus Crew and the Colorado Rapids respectively.

Each of the qualified MLS teams was matched up against the winner of a Second Round game, all of whom came from either one of the USL's three divisions or the USASA, in the third round on July 1. Three MLS teams were eliminated by these lower division clubs. Chivas USA was eliminated by USL-1's Seattle Sounders, the New York Red Bulls were upset by Crystal Palace Baltimore of USL-2, and the Houston Dynamo lost a penalty shootout to the USL-1's Charleston Battery.

In the Quarterfinals on July 8, FC Dallas and the Kansas City Wizards were eliminated by the Charleston Battery and the Seattle Sounders, respectively. This meant an MLS team, either D.C. United or the New England Revolution would face a USL-1 team in the final.

In the Semifinals on August 12, D.C. United upset the Open Cup holding Revolution by a score of 3 to 1. This earned United a berth in the final against the USL-1's Charleston Battery on September 3 at RFK Stadium.

In the Final on September 3, D.C. United won their second U.S. Open Cup in a 2–1 win over the Charleston Battery.

2008 Canadian Championship

Due to the fact that none of the Canadian teams playing in the American soccer pyramid can qualify for Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League through their leagues or the U.S. Open Cup, the Canadian Soccer Association was forced to develop a tournament to determine the country's representative in the Champions League. The country's top three teams, MLS's Toronto FC and the USL-1's Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC were entered into the inaugural Canadian Championship. The tournament was played as a double round robin group from May 27 to July 22. The Montreal Impact finished first, claiming the Canadian berth in the Champions League.

All-Star game

The 2008 MLS All-Star Game was held at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, home of Toronto FC, on July 24. [1] The opponent was West Ham United, of England's Premier League. It was the first time that the game was played outside the United States.

The game was won by the MLS All-Stars by a score of 3–2. Cuauhtémoc Blanco was named MVP of the game after assisting the All-Stars' first goal and scoring their second.

See also

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The 2007 season was the 12th season of New York Red Bulls's franchise existence. They played their home games at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

References

  1. ↑ Kelly, Cathal (February 28, 2008). "Luring Liverpool to Toronto would be an all-star coup". The Star. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
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