1999 Major League Soccer season


The 1999 Major League Soccer season was the fourth season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 87th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 21st with a national first-division league. This was the last season which used the 35 yard line shootout rule to resolve tied games, and that of the countdown timer, with MLS Cup 1999 adopting the IFAB-standard running clock thereafter.

1999 Major League Soccer season
Season1999
MLS CupD.C. United (3rd title)
Supporters' ShieldD.C. United (2nd shield)
CONCACAF Champions' CupD.C. United
Los Angeles Galaxy
Matches played192
Goals scored549 (2.86 per match)
Top goalscorerStern John
Roy Lassiter
Jason Kreis
(18 goals)
Highest attendance73,123
SJ 1–1 DC
(July 4, 1999)
Lowest attendance4,631
KC 1–2 COL
(July 7, 1999)
Total attendance2,742,108
Average attendance14,282
1998
2000

The Columbus Crew moved into the first soccer-specific stadium when Columbus Crew Stadium opened on May 15, 1999.

The regular season began on March 20, and concluded on October 10. The 1999 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 16, and concluded with MLS Cup 1999 on November 21. D.C. United won their second double by winning the Supporters' Shield and defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy in MLS Cup.

Overview

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Season format

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The season began on March 20 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 21. The 12 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 32 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their conference four times, for a total of 20 games. The remaining schedule consisted of two games against each team from the opposite conference.

The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The conference semifinals and finals were played as a best-of-three series, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken by penalty shootout 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. The winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

Stadiums and locations

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Team Stadium Capacity
Chicago Fire Soldier Field 66,944
Colorado Rapids Mile High Stadium 76,273
Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 22,555
D.C. United RFK Stadium 46,000
Dallas Burn Cotton Bowl 92,100
Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 81,425
Los Angeles Galaxy Rose Bowl 92,542
MetroStars Giants Stadium 80,200
Miami Fusion Lockhart Stadium 20,450
New England Revolution Foxboro Stadium 60,292
San Jose Clash Spartan Stadium 30,456
Tampa Bay Mutiny Raymond James Stadium 69,218

Personnel and sponsorships

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Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor
Chicago Fire   Bob Bradley
Colorado Rapids   Glenn Myernick
Columbus Crew   Tom Fitzgerald Snickers
D.C. United   Thomas Rongen MasterCard
Dallas Burn   Dave Dir
Kansas City Wizards   Ron Newman
Los Angeles Galaxy   Octavio Zambrano
MetroStars   Bora Milutinović   Tab Ramos
Miami Fusion   Ivo Wortmann
New England Revolution   Walter Zenga
San Jose Clash   Brian Quinn   John Doyle Honda
Tampa Bay Mutiny   Tim Hankinson

Coaching changes

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Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment
Kansas City Wizards   Ron Newman Fired April 14, 1999   Ken Fogarty April 14, 1999
Los Angeles Galaxy   Octavio Zambrano Fired April 22, 1999   Sigi Schmid April 22, 1999
Kansas City Wizards   Ken Fogarty End of interim period April 28, 1999   Bob Gansler April 28, 1999
San Jose Clash   Brian Quinn Fired September 16, 1999   Jorge Espinoza September 16, 1999
San Jose Clash   Jorge Espinoza End of interim period September 22, 1999   Lothar Osiander September 22, 1999

Standings

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Eastern Conference

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Pos Team Pld W SOW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 D.C. United 32 17 6 9 65 43 +22 57 MLS Cup Playoffs
2 Columbus Crew 32 13 6 13 48 39 +9 45
3 Tampa Bay Mutiny 32 9 5 18 51 50 +1 32
4 Miami Fusion 32 8 5 19 42 59 −17 29
5 New England Revolution 32 7 5 20 38 53 −15 26
6 MetroStars 32 4 3 25 32 64 −32 15
Source: MLS

Western Conference

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Pos Team Pld W SOW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Los Angeles Galaxy 32 17 3 12 49 29 +20 54 MLS Cup Playoffs
2 Dallas Burn 32 16 3 13 54 35 +19 51
3 Chicago Fire 32 15 3 14 51 36 +15 48
4 Colorado Rapids 32 14 6 12 38 39 −1 48
5 San Jose Clash 32 9 10 13 48 49 −1 37
6 Kansas City Wizards 32 6 2 24 33 53 −20 20
Source: MLS

Overall standings

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Pos Team Pld W SOW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 D.C. United (C, S) 32 17 6 9 65 43 +22 57 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
2 Los Angeles Galaxy 32 17 3 12 49 29 +20 54
3 Dallas Burn 32 16 3 13 54 35 +19 51
4 Chicago Fire 32 15 3 14 51 36 +15 48
5 Colorado Rapids 32 14 6 12 38 39 −1 48
6 Columbus Crew 32 13 6 13 48 39 +9 45
7 San Jose Clash 32 9 10 13 48 49 −1 37
8 Tampa Bay Mutiny 32 9 5 18 51 50 +1 32
9 Miami Fusion 32 8 5 19 42 59 −17 29
10 New England Revolution 32 7 5 20 38 53 −15 26
11 Kansas City Wizards 32 6 2 24 33 53 −20 20
12 MetroStars 32 4 3 25 32 64 −32 15
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

MLS Cup Playoffs

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Bracket

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Conference semifinals Conference finals MLS Cup
             
E1 D.C. United 2 0 (3) x
E4 Miami 0 0 (2) x
E1 D.C. United 2 1 4
Eastern Conference
E2 Columbus 1 5 0
E2 Columbus 2 2 x
E3 Tampa Bay 0 0 x
E1 D.C. United 2
W1 Los Angeles 0
W1 Los Angeles 3 2 x
W4 Colorado 0 0 x
W1 Los Angeles 2 2 (3) 3
Western Conference
W2 Dallas 1 2 (4) 1
W2 Dallas 2 0 3
W3 Chicago 1 4 2
  • Best of Three series winner will advance.

Conference semifinals

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Eastern Conference

Game 1
D.C. United2–0Miami Fusion
  • Moreno   34', 88'
Report
Attendance: 18,011
Referee: Tim Weyland
  • D.C. United advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.

Game 1
Columbus Crew2–0Tampa Bay Mutiny
Report
Game 2
Tampa Bay Mutiny0–2Columbus Crew
Report
Attendance: 14,392
Referee: Tim Weyland
  • Columbus Crew advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.

Western Conference

Game 1
Los Angeles Galaxy3–0Colorado Rapids
Report
Attendance: 16,307
Referee: Marcel Yonan
Game 2
Colorado Rapids0–2Los Angeles Galaxy
Report
Attendance: 6,542
Referee: Rich Grady
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.

Game 1
Dallas Burn2–1Chicago Fire
Report
Attendance: 10,980
Referee: Andrew Barnes
Game 2
Chicago Fire4–0Dallas Burn
Report
Attendance: 13,197
Referee: Ali Saheli
Game 3
Dallas Burn3–2Chicago Fire
Report
Attendance: 9,795
Referee: Kevin Stott
  • Dallas Burn advance 2–1, to the Conference Finals.

Conference finals

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Game 1
D.C. United2–1Columbus Crew
Report
Attendance: 14,529
Referee: Kevin Stott
Game 2
Columbus Crew5–1D.C. United
Report
Game 3
D.C. United4–0Columbus Crew
Report
  • D.C. United advance 2–1, advance to MLS Cup '99.

Game 1
Los Angeles Galaxy2–1Dallas Burn
Report
Attendance: 17,372
Referee: Noel Kenny
Game 2
Dallas Burn2–2Los Angeles Galaxy
Report
Penalties
4–3
Attendance: 13,816
Game 3
Los Angeles Galaxy3–1Dallas Burn
Report
Attendance: 25,703
Referee: Brian Hall
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–1. advance to MLS Cup '99.

MLS Cup

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Los Angeles Galaxy0–2D.C. United
Report
Attendance: 44,910
Referee: Tim Weyland

Player statistics

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Goals

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Rank Player Club Goals
1   Stern John Columbus Crew 18
  Roy Lassiter D.C. United
  Jason Kreis Dallas Burn
4   Joe-Max Moore New England Revolution 15
  Ronald Cerritos San Jose Clash
6   Ante Razov Chicago Fire 14
7   Raúl Díaz Arce San Jose Clash,
Tampa Bay Mutiny
13
8   Musa Shannon Tampa Bay Mutiny 12
  Jeff Cunningham Columbus Crew
10 5 players 10

Hat-tricks

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Player Club Against Result Date
  Jason Kreis Dallas Burn New England Revolution 4–0 March 20
  Stern John Columbus Crew Miami Fusion 4–0 August 1
  Stern John Columbus Crew MetroStars 4–2 August 18

Assists

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Rank Player Club Assists
1   Marco Etcheverry D.C. United 13
  Carlos Valderrama Tampa Bay Mutiny
3   Steve Ralston Tampa Bay Mutiny 12
4   Ben Olsen D.C. United 11
5   Jeff Baicher San Jose Clash 9
  Mauricio Cienfuegos Los Angeles Galaxy
  Roman Kosecki Chicago Fire
  Eddie Lewis San Jose Clash
9   Henry Gutierrez Miami Fusion 8
  Jason Kreis Dallas Burn
  Brian McBride Columbus Crew

Clean sheets

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Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1   Kevin Hartman Los Angeles Galaxy 11
  Matt Jordan Dallas Burn
3   Ian Feuer Colorado Rapids 8
4   Zach Thornton Chicago Fire 7
5   Mark Dougherty Columbus Crew 6
6   Scott Garlick Tampa Bay Mutiny 5
7   Joe Cannon San Jose Clash 4
  Marcus Hahnemann Colorado Rapids
9   Jeff Cassar Miami Fusion 3
  Garth Lagerway Miami Fusion
  Tony Meola Kansas City Wizards
  Tom Presthus D.C. United

Awards

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Individual awards

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Award Player Team
Most Valuable Player   Jason Kreis Dallas Burn
Defender of the Year   Robin Fraser Los Angeles Galaxy
Goalkeeper of the Year   Kevin Hartman Los Angeles Galaxy
Coach of the Year   Sigi Schmid Los Angeles Galaxy
Rookie of the Year   Jay Heaps Miami Fusion
Scoring Champion   Jason Kreis Dallas Burn
Goal of the Year   Marco Etcheverry D.C. United
Fair Play Award   Steve Ralston Tampa Bay Mutiny

Best XI

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Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
  Kevin Hartman, LA Galaxy   Jeff Agoos, D.C. United
  Luboš Kubík, Chicago
  Robin Fraser, LA Galaxy
  Chris Armas, Chicago
  Mauricio Cienfuegos, LA Galaxy
  Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United
  Eddie Lewis, San Jose
  Steve Ralston, Tampa Bay
  Jason Kreis, Dallas
  Jaime Moreno, D.C. United

Player of the Month

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Week Player Club
March   Ante Razov Chicago Fire
April   Musa Shannon Tampa Bay Mutiny
May   Roy Lassiter D.C. United
June   Jason Kreis Dallas Burn
July   Raúl Díaz Arce Tampa Bay Mutiny
August   Matt Jordan Dallas Burn
September   Ronald Cerritos San Jose Clash

Weekly awards

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Attendance

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Rank Team GP Cumulative High Low Mean
1 Columbus Crew 16 283,129 24,741 13,891 17,696
2 Los Angeles Galaxy 16 282,113 60,433 4,825 17,632
3 D.C. United 16 278,711 35,167 10,846 17,419
4 New England Revolution 16 267,752 30,564 7,260 16,735
5 Chicago Fire 16 256,261 27,311 6,223 16,016
6 San Jose Clash 16 239,350 73,123 6,824 14,812
7 MetroStars 16 235,301 43,192 6,876 14,706
8 Colorado Rapids 16 224,459 51,025 4,746 14,029
9 Tampa Bay Mutiny 16 209,700 20,976 8,264 13,106
10 Dallas Burn 16 195,387 17,621 7,237 12,212
11 Miami Fusion 16 139,021 13,648 5,862 8,689
12 Kansas City Wizards 16 130,924 15,509 4,631 8,183
Total 192 2,742,108 73,123 4,631 14,282

References

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