The 2004 Major League Soccer season was the ninth season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 92nd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 26th with a national first-division league.
After playing one season in the suburb of Southlake, the Dallas Burn returned to the Cotton Bowl.
D.C. United signed 14-year-old prodigy Freddy Adu, who made his debut as a substitute in their season opener becoming the youngest player in North American sports history. The Columbus Crew emerged as a dominant team in the second half of the regular season, running off an MLS-record 18-game unbeaten streak en route to winning the Supporters' Shield.
The regular season began on April 3, and concluded on October 17. The 2004 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 22, and concluded with MLS Cup 2004 on November 14. D.C. United won their record 4th league title by defeating the Kansas City Wizards in MLS Cup.
Overview
Season format The season began on April 3 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 14. The 10 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 in their conference, and two designated opponents from the opposite conference, four times, and the remaining teams in the opposite conference twice.
The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. 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. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup and the runner-up qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Stadiums and locations
Team Stadium Capacity Chicago Fire Soldier Field 61,500 Colorado Rapids Invesco Field at Mile High 76,125 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 Home Depot Center 27,000 MetroStars Giants Stadium 80,200 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 68,756 San Jose Earthquakes Spartan Stadium 30,456
Personnel and sponsorships Team Head coach CaptainManufacturer Shirt sponsorChicago Fire Dave SarachanPumaHonda Colorado Rapids Tim HankinsonAtletica— Columbus Crew Greg Andrulis Robin FraserAdidas Sierra Mist D.C. United Piotr NowakAdidas— Dallas Burn Colin ClarkeAtleticaRadioShackKansas City Wizards Bob GanslerAdidasU.S. Soccer Foundation Los Angeles Galaxy Steve SampsonNikeBudweiser MetroStars Bob Bradley Eddie PopeNike— New England Revolution Steve NicolReebok Sierra Mist San Jose Earthquakes Dominic Kinnear Jeff AgoosNike Yahoo! en Español
Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment Los Angeles Galaxy Sigi Schmid Fired August 16, 2004 Steve Sampson August 18, 2004
Standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
MLS Cup Playoffs
Bracket
Conference semifinals
New England Revolution advance 2–1 on aggregate.
D.C. United advance 4–0 on aggregate.
Kansas City Wizards advance 3–2 on aggregate.
Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–1 on aggregate.
Conference finals
D.C. United advance 4–3 on penalties (3–3 after full time).
MLS Cup
Player statistics Goals Rank Player Club Goals1 Brian Ching San Jose Earthquakes12 Eddie Johnson Dallas Burn3 Edson Buddle Columbus Crew11 Pat Noonan New England Revolution Damani Ralph Chicago Fire Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy7 Alecko Eskandarian D.C. United10 Amado Guevara MetroStars Josh Wolff Kansas City Wizards John Wolyniec MetroStars
Assists Rank Player Club Assists1 José Cancela New England Revolution 8 Simon Elliott Columbus Crew Amado Guevara MetroStars 4 Landon Donovan San Jose Earthquakes 75 Andreas Herzog Los Angeles Galaxy6 Chris Klein Kansas City Wizards Dema Kovalenko D.C. United Jaime Moreno D.C. United Richard Mulrooney San Jose Earthquakes Ronnie O'Brien Dallas Burn Andy Williams Chicago Fire
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Jon BuschColumbus Crew10 Joe CannonColorado Rapids3 Kevin HartmanLos Angeles Galaxy7 Tony MeolaKansas City Wizards Henry RingChicago Fire6 Pat OnstadSan Jose Earthquakes67 Bo OshoniyiKansas City Wizards5 Jonny WalkerMetroStars9 Jeff CassarDallas Burn4 Scott GarlickDallas Burn Nick RimandoD.C. United
Awards
Individual awards AwardPlayerClubMost Valuable Player Amado GuevaraMetroStarsDefender of the Year Robin FraserColumbus CrewGoalkeeper of the Year Joe CannonColorado RapidsCoach of the Year Greg AndrulisColumbus CrewRookie of the Year Clint DempseyNew England Revolution Comeback Player of the Year Brian ChingSan Jose EarthquakesScoring Champion Amado Guevara Pat Noonan MetroStars New England RevolutionGoal of the Year Dwayne De RosarioSan Jose EarthquakesFair Play Award Eddie PopeMetroStarsHumanitarian of the Year Chris HendersonColorado Rapids
Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Joe Cannon, Colorado Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City Robin Fraser, Columbus Ryan Nelsen, D.C. United Eddie Pope, MetroStars Eddie Gaven, MetroStars Amado Guevara, MetroStars Ronnie O'Brien, Dallas Kerry Zavagnin, Kansas City Brian Ching, San Jose Jaime Moreno, D.C. United
Attendance ClubGames TotalAverageLos Angeles Galaxy15357,13723,809D.C. United 15258,48417,232MetroStars15257,92317,195Chicago Fire15257,295 17,153 Columbus Crew15253,07916,872Kansas City Wizards15222,23514,816Colorado Rapids15212,925 14,195San Jose Earthquakes15195,01513,001New England Revolution15183,38512,226Dallas Burn 15136,3199,088 Totals1502,333,79715,559
References