MLS Cup 2007

MLS Cup 2007
New England
Revolution		 Houston Dynamo
United States United States
1 2
Date November 18, 2007
Venue Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C., US
Man of the Match Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo)
Referee Alex Prus
Attendance 39,859
Weather Sunny 55 °F (13 °C)

MLS Cup 2007 was the final match of the 2007 MLS season, the 12th in the history of Major League Soccer. The game was a rematch between the previous year's two MLS Cup finalists, New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo.

The match took place on Sunday, November 18, 2007 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C.. Houston won the game by a score of 2-1, handing New England its third consecutive MLS Cup defeat and fourth overall. Plácido Domingo performed the national anthem and Jimmy Eat World performed "Big Casino" at halftime.[1]

Venue

RFK Memorial Stadium hosted MLS Cup 2007.

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium was announced as the venue for MLS Cup 2007 on December 14, 2006.[2]

Home to D.C. United and Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals at the time, RFK Stadium previously hosted MLS Cup in 1997 and 2002. The facility also hosted matches during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup and was the site of the 1996 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final and the 2002 MLS All-Star Game.

MLS Cup Playoffs

Bracket

  Conference Semifinals Conference Finals MLS Cup 2007
                             
E1 D.C. United 0 2  
E4 Chicago Fire 1 2  
  E4 Chicago Fire 0  
Eastern Conference
  E2 New England Revolution 1  
E2 New England Revolution 0 1
E3 New York Red Bulls 0 0  
  E New England Revolution 1
  W 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  
W2 Houston Dynamo (AET) 0 4
W3 FC Dallas 1 1  

MLS adopted a new format for qualification into the playoffs. In 2007, the top two teams from each of the league's two conferences, followed by the next four teams with the highest number of points at the end of the regular season, qualified for the postseason, leading to the possibility of an uneven number of playoff teams from each conference.[3] This year, five teams qualified from the Eastern Conference, and only three teams from the Western Conference qualified, so the Kansas City Wizards, who have been assigned to the Western Conference playoffs, could have played a fellow Eastern Conference team in the final.

New England Revolution

For the fourth time in team history, third-straight, the New England Revolution became the Eastern Conference Champion. New England defeated the New York Red Bulls in the semifinals, advancing to the conference finals where they defeated the Chicago Fire.

Houston Dynamo

The Houston Dynamo, for the second consecutive year in the club's two-year history, won the Western Conference Championship. Their win came through their victories over in-state rival FC Dallas in the conference semifinals and the Kansas City Wizards in the conference championship game. The Dynamo advanced to a rematch against the Revolution, and the MLS Cup, for the second straight year.

Match details

New England Revolution1–2Houston Dynamo
Taylor Twellman  20' Report Joseph Ngwenya  61'
Dwayne De Rosario  74'
Attendance: 39,859
Referee: Alex Prus
New England Revolution
Houston Dynamo
GK1United States Matt Reis
DF4Trinidad and Tobago Avery John
DF6United States Jay Heaps
DF15United States Michael Parkhurst
MF13United States Jeff Larentowicz
MF14United States Steve Ralston (c) 78'
MF18Bermuda Khano SmithYellow card 65'
MF21Grenada Shalrie Joseph
MF27United States Wells Thompson
FW11United States Pat Noonan
FW20United States Taylor Twellman 20'
Substitutes:
GK12United States Doug Warren
DF16United States James Riley
MF22United States Marshall Leonard
MF25Wales Andy Dorman 78'
MF29The Gambia Kenny Mansally
MF31The Gambia Sainey Nyassi
FW7United States Adam Cristman
Manager:
Scotland Steve Nicol


Man of the Match:
Canada Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo)[4]

Assistant referees:
United States Adam Wienckowski
United States Rob Fereday
Fourth official:
United States Brian Hall
GK18Canada Pat Onstad
DF2United States Eddie Robinson
DF5United States Ryan Cochrane
DF16United States Craig Waibel
DF24United States Wade Barrett (c)Yellow card 57'
MF9United States Brian Mullan
MF11United States Brad Davis
MF14Canada Dwayne De Rosario 74'
MF30United States Richard Mulrooney
FW21United States Nate Jaqua
FW33Zimbabwe Joseph Ngwenya 61'  80'
Substitutes:
GK1United States Zach Wells
DF4United States Patrick Ianni
MF7United States Chris Wondolowski
MF17United States Mike Chabala
MF22United States Stuart Holden 80'
MF26United States Corey Ashe
FW8Scotland Paul Dalglish
Manager:
United States Dominic Kinnear

Notes

  • The 2007 MLS Cup was the first time the final has been a rematch from the previous year.
  • The Houston Dynamo are the first team to have back-to-back titles in the 2000s (decade), and only the second team in MLS history after D.C. United.

References

  1. ↑ "MLS Cup 2007 to feature musical guests Jimmy Eat World and Placido Domingo" Archived November 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., Major League Soccer press release, November 1, 2007.
  2. ↑ Goff, Steven (December 13, 2006). "MLS Cup Coming to RFK in '07". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved February 8, 2007.
  3. ↑ "League address covers upcoming changes". MLSnet.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2007. Retrieved February 8, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Dynamo stun Revolution, repeat as champions". mlsnet.com. November 18, 2007. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved November 19, 2007.
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