2007 Major League Soccer season

2007 Major League Soccer season

Season	2007
MLS Cup	Houston Dynamo (2nd title)
Supporters' Shield	D.C. United (4th shield)
2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League	Houston Dynamo D.C. United N.E. Revolution Chivas USA
2008 SuperLiga	D.C. United Chivas USA Houston Dynamo N.E. Revolution
2008 CONCACAF Champions' Cup	Houston Dynamo D.C. United
Matches played	195
Goals scored	518 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorer	Luciano Emilio D.C. United Goals: 20
Biggest home win	CHV 4–0 RSL NY 4–0 CLB TOR 4–0 FCD
Biggest away win	CHI 0–4 HOU FCD 0–4 DCU
Highest scoring	NY 5–4 LA
Longest winning run	D.C. United Games: 6 (08/05/ – 09/01)
Longest unbeaten run	D.C. United Games: 13 (08/05 – 10/13)
Longest losing run	Los Angeles Galaxy Games: 6 (08/09 – 09/01)
Highest attendance	Los Angeles Galaxy Season: 363,782 Game Avg.: 24,252
Lowest attendance	K.C. Wizards Season:173,784 Game Avg.: 11,586
Total attendance	3,270,210
Average attendance	16,770
← 2006 2008 →

D.C. United

New York

Columbus

New England

Chicago

Kansas City

Toronto

Colorado

Dallas

Chivas USA

Galaxy

Houston

Salt Lake

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Locations of teams for the 2007 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference

The 2007 Major League Soccer season was the 12th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 95th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 29th with a national first-division league.

This year marked the inaugural season for expansion franchise, Toronto FC who began play in the Eastern Conference. Two new soccer-specific stadiums opened as well. The Colorado Rapids moved into Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver-suburb of Commerce City and, before the season began, BMO Field opened for expansion side, Toronto FC.

This season is often cited as the first in the modern-era of Major League Soccer because of the introduction of the Designated Player Rule which permitted each team to sign one big-ticket player without it counting against the salary cap. Six such players were signed for the 2007 season: David Beckham, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Juan Pablo Ángel, Luciano Emilio, Denílson and Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

The regular season began on April 7, and concluded on October 21. The 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 25, and concluded with MLS Cup 2007 on November 18. For the first time in league history, the same two clubs consecutively won the MLS Cup and the Supporters' Shield. The Houston Dynamo repeated as MLS Cup Champions by defeating the New England Revolution in the final and D.C. United won the Supporters' Shield by edging Chivas USA by two points in the standings.

Overview

Season format

The season began on April 7 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 18. The 13 teams were split into two conferences with 7 playing the Eastern Conference and 6 playing in the Western Conference. 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' Cup. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions' Cup, 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 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.

Qualification for the SuperLiga was determined by the overall table with the top four overall finishers qualifying for the 2008 edition.

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Team	Stadium	Capacity
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	Arrowhead Stadium	81,425
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	45,017
Toronto FC	BMO Field	21,566

Personnel and sponsorships

Team	Head coach	Captain	Shirt sponsor
Chicago Fire	Dave Sarachan		—
Chivas USA	Preki		Comex
Colorado Rapids	Fernando Clavijo		—
Columbus Crew	Sigi Schmid	Frankie Hejduk	—
D.C. United	Tom Soehn		—
FC Dallas	Steve Morrow		—
Houston Dynamo	Dominic Kinnear	Wade Barrett	—
Kansas City Wizards	Curt Onalfo		—
LA Galaxy	Frank Yallop		Herbalife
New England Revolution	Steve Nicol		—
New York Red Bulls	Bruce Arena	Claudio Reyna	Red Bull
Real Salt Lake	John Ellinger	Jason Kreis Eddie Pope	—
Toronto FC	Mo Johnston		—

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Chicago Fire	Dave Sarachan	Fired	June 20, 2007	Juan Carlos Osorio	July 1, 2007
Real Salt Lake	John Ellinger	Fired	May 3, 2007	Jason Kreis	May 3, 2007

Standings

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D.C. United	30	16	7	7	56	34	+22	55	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	New England Revolution	30	14	8	8	51	43	+8	50
3	New York Red Bulls	30	12	11	7	47	45	+2	43
4	Chicago Fire	30	10	10	10	31	36	−5	40
5	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	12	7	45	45	0	40
6	Columbus Crew	30	9	11	10	39	44	−5	37
7	Toronto FC	30	6	17	7	25	49	−24	25

Source: MLS

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chivas USA	30	15	7	8	46	28	+18	53	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Houston Dynamo	30	15	8	7	43	23	+20	52
3	FC Dallas	30	13	12	5	37	44	−7	44
4	Colorado Rapids	30	9	13	8	29	34	−5	35
5	LA Galaxy	30	9	14	7	38	48	−10	34
6	Real Salt Lake	30	6	15	9	31	45	−14	27

Source: MLS

Overall standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D.C. United (S)	30	16	7	7	56	34	+22	55	CONCACAF Champions' Cup
2	Chivas USA	30	15	7	8	46	28	+18	53	North American SuperLiga
3	Houston Dynamo (C)	30	15	8	7	43	23	+20	52	CONCACAF Champions' Cup
4	New England Revolution	30	14	8	8	51	43	+8	50	North American SuperLiga
5	FC Dallas	30	13	12	5	37	44	−7	44
6	New York Red Bulls	30	12	11	7	47	45	+2	43
7	Chicago Fire	30	10	10	10	31	36	−5	40
8	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	12	7	45	45	0	40
9	Columbus Crew	30	9	11	10	39	44	−5	37
10	Colorado Rapids	30	9	13	8	29	34	−5	35
11	LA Galaxy	30	9	14	7	38	48	−10	34
12	Real Salt Lake	30	6	15	9	31	45	−14	27
13	Toronto FC	30	6	17	7	25	49	−24	25

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

Main article: 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs

	Conference semifinals						Conference finals					MLS Cup
	E1	D.C. United	0	2
	E4	Chicago Fire	1	2
							E4	Chicago Fire	0
	Eastern Conference
							E2	New England Revolution	1
	E3	New York Red Bulls	0	0
	E2	New England Revolution	0	1
												E2	New England Revolution	1
												W2	Houston Dynamo	2
	W1	Chivas USA	0	0
	W4	Kansas City Wizards1	1	0
							W4	Kansas City Wizards	0
	Western Conference
							W2	Houston Dynamo	2
	W3	FC Dallas	1	1
	W2	Houston Dynamo (AET)	0	4

¹ The Kansas City Wizards 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

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United	20
2	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls	19
3	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution	16
4	Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Wizards	15
5	Maykel Galindo	Chivas USA	12
6	Ante Razov	Chivas USA	11
7	Christian Gómez	D.C. United	10
8	Jozy Altidore	New York Red Bulls	9
9	Landon Donovan	LA Galaxy	8
	Robbie Findley	Real Salt Lake

Assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Landon Donovan	LA Galaxy	11
	Steve Ralston	New England Revolution
3	Davy Arnaud	Kansas City Wizards	9
	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew
	Sacha Kljestan	Chivas USA
6	Cuauhtémoc Blanco	Chicago Fire	7
	Christian Gómez	D.C. United
	Alejandro Moreno	Columbus Crew
9	Eddie Gaven	Columbus Crew	6
	Stuart Holden	Houston Dynamo
	Dax McCarty	FC Dallas

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Brad Guzan	Chivas USA	13
2	Pat Onstad	Houston Dynamo	11
3	Matt Pickens	Chicago Fire	10
	Matt Reis	New England Revolution
5	Bouna Coundoul	Colorado Rapids	9
6	Troy Perkins	D.C. United	8
7	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake	7
8	Joe Cannon	LA Galaxy	5
	Jon Conway	New York Red Bulls
	Kevin Hartman	Kansas City Wizards
	Will Hesmer	Columbus Crew
	Darío Sala	FC Dallas
	Ronald Waterreus	New York Red Bulls

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United
Defender of the Year	Michael Parkhurst	New England Revolution
Goalkeeper of the Year	Brad Guzan	Chivas USA
Coach of the Year	Preki	Chivas USA
Rookie of the Year	Maurice Edu	Toronto FC
Newcomer of the Year	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United
Comeback Player of the Year	Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Wizards
Golden Boot	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United
Goal of the Year	Cuauhtémoc Blanco	Chicago Fire
Fair Play Award	Michael Parkhurst	New England Revolution
Humanitarian of the Year	Diego Gutiérrez	Chicago Fire

Best XI

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Brad Guzan, Chivas USA	Michael Parkhurst, New England Eddie Robinson, Houston Dynamo Jonathan Bornstein, Chivas USA	Christian Gómez, D.C. United Shalrie Joseph, New England Dwayne De Rosario, Houston Dynamo Ben Olsen, D.C. United Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus	Luciano Emílio, D.C. United Juan Pablo Ángel, New York Red Bulls

Attendance

Club	Games	Season	Game Avg.
LA Galaxy	15	363,782	24,252
D.C. United	15	314,506	20,967
Toronto FC	15	301,947	20,130
New England Revolution	15	251,132	16,742
New York Red Bulls	15	247,948	16,530
Chicago Fire	15	247,536	16,502
Real Salt Lake	15	239,395	15,960
Houston Dynamo	15	238,240	15,883
Columbus Crew	15	228,451	15,230
FC Dallas	15	227,182	15,145
Colorado Rapids	15	221,209	14,747
Chivas USA	15	214,578	14,305
Kansas City Wizards	15	173,784	11,586
OVERALL	195	3,269,690	16,768

International competitions

CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2007

Main article: CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2007

D.C. United
Defeated Club Deportivo Olimpia in the Quarterfinals
Lost Club Deportivo Guadalajara in the Semifinals.

Houston Dynamo
Defeated Puntarenas FC in the Quarterfinals.
Lost C.F. Pachuca in the Semifinals.

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SuperLiga 2007

Main article: North American SuperLiga 2007

FC Dallas
Finished in fourth place and did not advance from
Group A after going 0-1-2 in group play.

D.C. United
Runner-up of Group B after going 1-1-1 in group play.
Lost to Los Angeles Galaxy in Semifinals.

Houston Dynamo
Winner of Group B after going 2-0-1 in group play.
Lost to C.F. Pachuca on penalty kicks in the Semifinals.

Los Angeles Galaxy
Winner of Group A after going 2-1-0 in group play.
Defeated D.C. United in the Semifinals
Lost to C.F. Pachuca on penalty kicks in the Final.

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Copa Sudamericana 2007

Main article: Copa Sudamericana 2007

D.C. United
Lost to Club Deportivo Guadalajara on away goals in the Round of 16.

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Other competitions

2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Main article: 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Eight of the twelve U.S.-based MLS teams entered the tournament in the third round.

D.C. United
Lost to Harrisburg City Islanders in the third round.

Los Angeles Galaxy
Lost to Richmond Kickers in the third round.

Chicago Fire
Lost to Carolina RailHawks in the third round.

Houston Dynamo
Lost to Charleston Battery in the third round.

Chivas USA
Lost to Seattle Sounders (USL) in the third round

Colorado Rapids
Defeated California Victory in the third round.
Lost to Seattle Sounders (USL) in the Quarterfinals.

FC Dallas
Defeated Atlanta Silverbacks on penalty kicks in the third round,
Defeated Charleston Battery after extra time in the Quarterfinals,
Defeated Seattle Sounders (USL) after extra time in the Semifinals,
Lost to New England Revolution in the Final.

New England Revolution
Defeated Rochester Raging Rhinos in the third round.
Defeated Harrisburg City Islanders in the Quarterfinals.
Defeated Carolina RailHawks after extra time in the Semifinals.
Defeated FC Dallas in the Final.

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All-Star game

Main article: 2007 MLS All-Star Game

The 2007 MLS All-Star Game was held at Dick's Sporting Goods Park
in Commerce City, Colorado, home of the Colorado Rapids on July 19.
The opponent was Celtic F.C. of the Scottish Premier League.

Final Score:
MLS All-Stars 2-0 Celtic F.C.

External links

• MLS 2007 Season Stats