MLS Cup 2006 was the 11th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and took place on November 12, 2006. It was contested between the New England Revolution and the Houston Dynamo to decide the champion of the 2006 season. The match was played at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, which had hosted the previous cup.
Both teams qualified for the playoffs by placing second in their respective conference during the regular season. New England were appearing in their second consecutive final, while Houston had been formed from the relocated San Jose Earthquakes. The match was tied 1–1 on goals scored 71 seconds apart by Taylor Twellman and Brian Ching in extra time. Houston won 4–3 in the first penalty shootout in MLS Cup history, with Ching scoring the winning penalty kick and Pat Onstad saving the follow-up in the fifth round. Houston and New England would stage a rematch in the following cup, which the Dynamo won in Washington, D.C.
Venue
The match was hosted at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, the venue of the previous final between the New England Revolution and Los Angeles Galaxy. The $80 million stadium was opened on August 6, 2005, and serves primarily as the home of FC Dallas. On January 31, 2006, MLS announced that Pizza Hut Park would repeat as the venue for a second consecutive MLS Cup, following a successful bid from FC Dallas; the other bidding finalist was the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, home to the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Home Depot Center was also the only other venue to previously host consecutive MLS Cups, having done so in 2003 and 2004. Pizza Hut Park was considered as a model for Houston's proposed stadium, along with other soccer-specific stadiums built by the league in the 2000s. During the run-up to the match, the MLS Cup trophy toured the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to promote the league and FC Dallas.
Road to the final
The MLS Cup is the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), a professional club soccer league based in the United States. The 2006 season was the eleventh in the league's history and was contested by twelve teams in two conferences, divided into the east and west. Each team played a total of 32 matches in the regular season from April to October, facing teams within their conference four times, and teams outside of their conference two times. The playoffs ran from mid-October to November and was contested by the top four teams in each conference. It was organized into three rounds: a home-and-away series with a winner determined by aggregate score in the Conference Semifinals, a single-match Conference Final, and the MLS Cup final.
MLS Cup 2006 was contested by the New England Revolution and the Houston Dynamo, who had both finished second in their respective conferences during the regular season. The two teams finished within two points of each other in regular season standings and had identical home win–loss–draw records. The 2006 final also marked the first time that neither MLS Cup finalist had won their conference or division, as well as the first time that both finalists had qualified despite losing their first playoffs match. New England and Houston played each other twice during the regular season, trading 1–1 draws in May and July.
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution finished as MLS Cup runners-up in 2002 and 2005, losing both championships to the Los Angeles Galaxy in overtime. The Revolution had also qualified for four straight Eastern Conference Finals, losing in 2003 to the Chicago Fire and in 2004 to D.C. United in a penalty shootout in between their MLS Cup appearances. The team finished second overall in league standings at the end of the 2005 regular season, setting new team records for wins and points after going on an eleven-match unbeaten streak. The Revolution were in their sixth season under manager Steve Nicol, who primarily used a 3–5–2 formation, and kept their starting lineup from the previous season. The team added forwards Kyle Brown and Willie Sims in the offseason to provide additional depth.
The Revolution opened their season with only three wins in their first thirteen matches, including a run of five draws in six matches during a winless streak from May to June. The team's struggles were blamed, in part, on injuries and Clint Dempsey's call-up to play in the World Cup that required manager Steve Nicol to use different starting lineups to rotate players. The return of Dempsey and other injured players helped the team to earn three more wins by early July, which helped New England rise from fourth to second in the Eastern Conference standings behind D.C. United.
Despite a six-match winless run in July and August, blamed on long road trips in the schedule, the Revolution remained in second place but fell further behind D.C. in the conference standings. New England finished the season with several home matches on a seven-match unbeaten streak, including five wins, which mirrored the end of the previous season. The team finished the regular season with 48 points, their second-highest record, and clinched the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Dempsey was named to the MLS Best XI, while Matt Reis and Steve Ralston finished as finalists for other league awards.
New England was matched against the third-place Chicago Fire in the Eastern Conference Finals, losing 1–0 in the first leg away from home and conceding an early goal in the second leg to create a 0–2 defect on aggregate. The Revolution rallied in the second leg with goals by Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan to tie 2–2 on aggregate and force a penalty shootout against the Fire, despite missing midfielders Dempsey and Shalrie Joseph. New England won the shootout 4–2 in four rounds, with two saves by goalkeeper Matt Reis (who also scored) to clinch a fifth consecutive appearance in the Eastern Conference Final. The Revolution mirrored their performance in the 2005 Eastern Conference Final against league winners D.C. United by winning 1–0 on a volleyed goal scored in the fourth minute by Twellman. The win clinched an MLS Cup appearance for New England for the third time in five years.
Houston Dynamo
The Houston Dynamo were formed after owners Anschutz Entertainment Group announced that the San Jose Earthquakes would relocate to Houston for the 2006 season, citing a failure to secure a stadium and local ownership group in the Bay Area. The Earthquakes had won the MLS Cup in 2001 and 2003 and finished the 2005 season as Supporters' Shield winners before being eliminated by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the first round of the playoffs. The team's players, head coach Dominic Kinnear, and technical staff were transferred to Houston, while the Earthquakes name was retained by the league for an expansion team that was announced in 2007.
The team was renamed from Houston 1836 to the Dynamo prior to starting the season after objections from the area's Hispanic communities over its reference to the year 1836, which marked both the city's founding and Texas's independence from Mexico. The Dynamo lost only three of their first eighteen matches, including a ten-match unbeaten streak that lasted from May to late July, and only trailed in-state rivals FC Dallas in the Western Conference standings. Prior to the unbeaten run, Houston were without starting forward Brian Ching, who was called up to the U.S. national team at the World Cup and missed six league matches. He later missed five more matches due to knee surgery in August, leaving the team without their top goalscorer as it lost against several Western Conference rivals.
To mitigate the loss of Ching, the Dynamo signed Scottish striker Paul Dalglish and relied more heavily on attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, who recorded ten goals and five assists by late September. After a four-match winless streak in September, which still left the Dynamo in second place, Houston went unbeaten in their remaining six league matches (with two wins) to secure a playoff berth, with 46 points. The team also made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup, where they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Galaxy. De Rosario and defensive midfielder Ricardo Clark were named to the MLS Best XI for their regular season performances.
Houston played against third-seeded Chivas USA, themselves a first-time playoff team, in the Western Conference Semifinals and lost 2–1 in the first leg at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. After conceding twice before halftime, Brian Ching scored for the Dynamo and Dwayne De Rosario took a penalty kick in the 86th minute that was saved by Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan, denying an equalizing goal. In the second leg at home, Houston took advantage of a red card shown to Chivas striker Francisco Palencia and pushed for a series-equalizing goal, which came in the 64th minute on a penalty kick scored by Brad Davis. Ching then scored a header in the third minute of stoppage time to give the Dynamo a 2–0 win, clinching the series with an aggregate score of 3–2 without going to extra time.
In the Western Conference Final, the Houston Dynamo hosted the Colorado Rapids, who had defeated conference-leading Dallas as the fourth seed and were appearing in their second consecutive conference final. Colorado took an early lead on a fourth-minute penalty kick scored by Jovan Kirovski that was awarded after a handball by defender Adrian Serioux in the box. The Dynamo responded with two goals in quick succession by Paul Dalglish: a shot in the 10th minute and a 21st-minute header on a cross by Brian Mullan. Mullan added a third goal for Houston in the 71st minute to clinch a 3–1 victory and an MLS Cup appearance for the team in their inaugural season.
Summary of results
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). New England RevolutionRoundHouston Dynamo2nd place in Eastern Conference
TeamD.C. United (SS)321571055New England Revolution321281248Chicago Fire321311847New York Red Bulls329111239Kansas City Wizards321014838Regular season2nd place in Western Conference
TeamFC Dallas321612452Houston Dynamo321181346Chivas USA321091343Colorado Rapids321113841Los Angeles Galaxy321115639Opponent1st leg2nd legMLS Cup PlayoffsOpponent1st leg2nd legChicago Fire2–2 Conference SemifinalsChivas USA3–2D.C. United1–0 (A)Conference FinalColorado Rapids3–1 (H)
Broadcasting
The MLS Cup final was televised in the United States on ABC in English and Spanish using secondary audio programming, earning a Nielsen rating of 0.8 and an estimated audience of 1.24 million. English play-by-play commentary was provided by Boston-based sportscaster Dave O'Brien and color analysis by Eric Wynalda and former U.S. men's national team coach Bruce Arena. Brandi Chastain provided sideline reporting, while Rob Stone anchored the pre-game and halftime shows. The match was also carried in 96 countries by ESPN International and its associated networks. The MLS Cup pregame show featured Dallas-based choral rock group The Polyphonic Spree, and the halftime show was headlined by Los Angeles alternate rock group Under the Influence of Giants.
Match
Analysis
In 14 previous meetings from 2001 to 2006 between the New England Revolution and the Houston Dynamo and their predecessor, the San Jose Earthquakes, the Revolution had lost nine matches and drew five. Injuries to several of New England's starting players, including Clint Dempsey, Steve Ralston, and Daniel Hernandez led to uncertainty surrounding the team's starting lineup. The 2006 cup was also considered the last chance for the core players of the Revolution team, as several looked to move to European leagues or retire.
Summary