And so we tee it off this weekend with six games to kick off another MLS season. As fate would have it, there was a Number 11 staring First XI in the face this week. With the First Kick MLS Cup rematch between Houston and New England at the Big Razor, we get to take a look at the First XI MLS Cup rematches which, as you'll see, favor the revenge-seekers:
11. March 29, 1997: D.C. United 1, Los Angeles Galaxy 0 (shootout), at the Rose Bowl.
A crowd of more than 53,000 came out to see a rematch of MLS Cup '96, hoping to see an end-to-end thriller like the sloppy final played in Foxborough the previous fall. Instead, they got a scoreless 90 minutes and a shootout that D.C. won, with goals coming from (shootout substitution) Kris Kelderman, Marco Etcheverry and John Maessner. Among the interesting aspects of the game, D.C. started a first-year defender named Carlos Llamosa and a young 'keeper named Scott Garlick ahead of Mark Simpson, who had been their 'keeper down the stretch in 1996. The Galaxy were without Jorge Campos, but introduced new players in Danny Pena and Martin Machon.
10. April 11, 1998: D.C. United 4, Colorado Rapids 3 (shootout), at RFK Stadium.
If we were ranking these games for excitement this clash might have earned the top spot on the list. D.C. United scored first through Richie Williams (on a header!) but the Rapids leveled the game on a bomb by Marcelo Balboa. After United seemingly regained control, getting goals from Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno to take a 3-1 lead, the Rapids came storming back, getting a goal from Adrian Paz and a penalty kick from Wolde Harris to make it 3-3. Colorado, however, came up empty in the shootout while D.C. got goals from Roy Wegerle and Etcheverry to come away with the point.
9. May 1, 1999: Chicago Fire 3, D.C. United 2, at Soldier Field.
For the second consecutive season, the MLS Cup rematch was a thriller. Through much of the evening in Chicago it appeared that United would exact revenge for its bitter 2-0 loss in MLS Cup '98. D.C. jumped out to a 2-1 lead, but Chicago got late goals from Chris Armas and Josh Wolff to come away with the victory. In the end, D.C. would get its revenge the best possible way, by getting back to MLS Cup and winning its third title. Chicago, meanwhile, had an up and down season that ended with a first-round playoff loss to Dallas. For several seasons, D.C.-Chicago was as good as it got in MLS.
8. March 25, 2000: Los Angeles Galaxy 4, D.C. United 0, at the Rose Bowl.
You want to talk about foreshadowing. No one expected to see United take it on the chin like this when they met up with old friend LA at the Rose Bowl in Week Two of the 2000 season, but take it on the chin they did. A kid named Clint Mathis, who would soon be on his way to New York, scored and a veteran named Cobi Jones added two before Sasha Victorine added one for good measure. United fell to 0-2 on the year, which many figured would be a bump in the road. It was much more than a bump as United would finish the season in last place in the East (8-18-6) and begin a run of three consecutive seasons without a spot in the playoffs.
7. May 19, 2001: Chicago Fire 2, Kansas City Wizards 0, at Soldier Field.
The Fire could've won this match 100-0 and it wouldn't have made the bad taste from their loss in MLS Cup 2000 go away. Still, there was a match to play and Dema Kovalenko's goal and assist paved the way for Chicago.
6. July 4, 2002: Los Angeles Galaxy 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1, at the Rose Bowl.
Oddly, the Galaxy and Earthquakes did not get to engage in their rematch of MLS Cup 2001 until the Fourth of July, but this game was worth the wait. After Manny Lagos gave the Quakes the lead in the first half, Carlos Ruiz did what he did all throughout the 2002 season, he won the game for the Galaxy. First, Ruiz scored on a header off a cross from Ezra Hendrickson. Then, three minutes from time, he tallied again, this time off a heel flick by Alexi Lalas. The Quakes blew a lead, which back in those days rarely happened. In fact, the Galaxy comeback marked the first time in 30 games that the Quakes had lost a game in which it had scored the first goal.
5. May 10, 2003: New England Revolution 2, Los Angeles Galaxy 0, at Gillette Stadium.
Remember 2003, the year the Galaxy opened the season with a million straight road games? Well, this was Road Game 5 for the Galaxy and the defending champions remained winless on the year, falling to the Revs, who got goals from Brian Kamler and Taylor Twellman en route to the victory. The thing that stands out when you look at the boxscore from this game is the name Hong Myung-Bo for the Galaxy. Honestly, I had forgotten about that guy.
4. April 10, 2004: Chicago Fire 0, San Jose Earthquakes 0, at Spartan Stadium.
If you ever wonder why the Quakes had to shut down for a few years, look no further than a game like this one. The defending champions playing their home opener and all of 8,000 fans show up for the game. I don't know who deserves the blame there, but obviously someone wasn't getting the word out that, ya know, San Jose had a pretty good soccer team. Anyway, the small crowd got no goals on the night, but did get to see the Quakes hold for a point on after Ramiro Corrales was ejected in the 73rd minute. Here's hoping the new version of the Quakes get it right on and off the field.
3. April 30, 2005: Kansas City Wizards 0, D.C. United 0, at Arrowhead Stadium.
After playing a cracking final in '04, the Wizards and D.C. United slogged their way through 90 scoreless minutes at Arrowhead. The scoreless game was a real surprise since, to that point in the season, neither team had been able to keep the ball out of its net. The most memorable moment of the match came late, when 77th-minute sub Freddy Adu (who was on his grand rookie tour) was denied from point blank range by Bo Oshoniyi. Adu tried to get to the rebound and took a dive that earned him a yellow card from Brian Hall. And how's this for fun facts. Of the 11 players who started the game for D.C. United, only Ben Olsen, Clyde Simms, Santino Quaranta and Jaime Moreno remain with the club.
2. April 1, 2006: New England Revolution 1, Los Angeles Galaxy 0, at The Home Depot Center.
Give the Revs this much. They may not be able to catch a break in finals, but they are money in these rematches. Clint Dempsey's goal in the 33rd minute was all the Revs needed to win the game played before a packed house in Carson. The Galaxy outshot the Revs 12-3, but were seemingly weighed down by the championship rings they received before the match, and could not put a ball past Matt Reis.
1. May 19, 2007: New England Revolution 1, Houston Dynamo 0, at Robertson Stadium.
See what I mean about the Revs? They improved to 3-0 in MLS Cup rematches (and will go for 4-0 this Saturday) with Shalrie Joseph providing the game's only goal. So, if you're scoring at home, you'll see that after winning the first three rematches, the defending MLS Cup champs have gone 0-6-2 in these matches. Of course, when dissecting MLS history, we must point out that two of the first three victories by the defending champions in these games came via the shootout, so if you count those matches as ties, incredibly, the defending champions have won only once in 11 of these games.
Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Send your comments and complaints (200 words or less, please) to Jeff at jbradleyespn2003@yahoo.com and he promises to read (but not respond to) all of them. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
