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

Season	1999
MLS Cup	D.C. United (3rd title)
Supporters' Shield	D.C. United (2nd shield)
CONCACAF Champions' Cup	D.C. United Los Angeles Galaxy
Matches played	192
Goals scored	549 (2.86 per match)
Top goalscorer	Stern John Roy Lassiter Jason Kreis (18 goals)
Highest attendance	73,123 SJ 1–1 DC (July 4, 1999)
Lowest attendance	4,631 KC 1–2 COL (July 7, 1999)
Total attendance	2,742,108
Average attendance	14,282
← 1998 2000 →

D.C. United

MetroStars

Miami

Tampa Bay

Columbus

New England

Colorado

Dallas

Los Angeles

Kansas City

San Jose

Chicago

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Locations of teams for the 1999 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference

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

Season format

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

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

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

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

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

Eastern Conference

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

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

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

Bracket

	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

Eastern Conference

October 16, 1999

Game 1

D.C. United	2–0	Miami Fusion
Moreno 34', 88'	Report

RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 18,011

Referee: Tim Weyland

October 24, 1999

Game 2

Miami Fusion	0–0	D.C. United
	Report
Penalties
Mastroeni Heaps Rooney Martínez Vargas Marshall	2–3	Etcheverry Wood Agoos Soñora Aunger Lassiter

Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Attendance: 8,446

Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela

• D.C. United advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.

---

October 17, 1999

Game 1

Columbus Crew	2–0	Tampa Bay Mutiny
John 78', 84'	Report

Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 9,188

Referee: Paul Tamberino

October 22, 1999

Game 2

Tampa Bay Mutiny	0–2	Columbus Crew
	Report	West 23' Cunningham 88'

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Attendance: 14,392

Referee: Tim Weyland

• Columbus Crew advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.

---

Western Conference

October 17, 1999

Game 1

Los Angeles Galaxy	3–0	Colorado Rapids
Hendrickson 8' Vanney 52' (pen.) Jones 57'	Report

Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California

Attendance: 16,307

Referee: Marcel Yonan

October 24, 1999

Game 2

Colorado Rapids	0–2	Los Angeles Galaxy
	Report	Pena 74' Franchino 84'

Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

Attendance: 6,542

Referee: Rich Grady

• Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.

---

October 16, 1999

Game 1

Dallas Burn	2–1	Chicago Fire
Graziani 52' Santel 75'	Report	Ball 79'

Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Attendance: 10,980

Referee: Andrew Barnes

October 23, 1999

Game 2

Chicago Fire	4–0	Dallas Burn
Nowak 18' Kosecki 36' Razov 43' Kovalenko 46'	Report

Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Attendance: 13,197

Referee: Ali Saheli

October 27, 1999

Game 3

Dallas Burn	3–2	Chicago Fire
Deering 55' Rodríguez 84' (pen.) Graziani 86'	Report	Razov 3' Marsch 5'

Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Attendance: 9,795

Referee: Kevin Stott

• Dallas Burn advance 2–1, to the Conference Finals.

Conference finals

October 31, 1999

Game 1

D.C. United	2–1	Columbus Crew
Moreno 15' Olsen 72'	Report	Cunningham 82'

RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 14,529

Referee: Kevin Stott

November 7, 1999

Game 2

Columbus Crew	5–1	D.C. United
Elcock 20' Cunningham 41' Stern John 48', 61', 84'	Report	Lassiter 7'

Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 12,778

Referee: Brian Hall

November 13, 1999

Game 3

D.C. United	4–0	Columbus Crew
Moreno 17' Lassiter 34', 52' Etcheverry 86'	Report

RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 21,451

Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela

• D.C. United advance 2–1, advance to MLS Cup '99.

---

October 31, 1999

Game 1

Los Angeles Galaxy	2–1	Dallas Burn
Cienfuegos 39' Hendrickson 90'	Report	Graziani 75'

Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California

Attendance: 17,372

Referee: Noel Kenny

November 7, 1999

Game 2

Dallas Burn	2–2	Los Angeles Galaxy
Graziani 33', 73'	Report	Hermosillo 12', 54'
Penalties
Santel Tréllez Farrer Daniv Rodríguez Pareja Graziani	4–3	Jones Cienfuegos Vanney Hendrickson Hermosillo Caligiuri Pena

Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Attendance: 13,816

Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela

November 11, 1999

Game 3

Los Angeles Galaxy	3–1	Dallas Burn
Vanney 3' (pen.) Hermosillo 20' Cienfuegos 68'	Report	Kreis 89' (pen.)

Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California

Attendance: 25,703

Referee: Brian Hall

• Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–1. advance to MLS Cup '99.

MLS Cup

Main article: MLS Cup 1999

November 21, 1999

Los Angeles Galaxy	0–2	D.C. United
	Report	Moreno 19' Olsen 45+3'

Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Attendance: 44,910

Referee: Tim Weyland

Player statistics

Goals

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

Main article: List of Major League Soccer hat-tricks

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

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

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

Individual awards

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

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

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

Attendance

Main article: Major League Soccer attendance

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

• MLS Site