Soccer Bowl '77

The Cosmos qualified for the playoffs by virtue of a second-place finish in the Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference with 140 points. The Cosmos defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies in a first round single-match, 3–0, on August 10, 1977, before a home crowd of 57,828 fans. They then faced the Eastern Division winner and number one seed, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers in a best-of three-series. The first game of the series was witnessed by an all-time record NASL crowd of 77,691 and saw the Cosmos win convincingly, 8–3, on August 14, 1977. The second leg, played in Fort Lauderdale on August 17, 1977, finished regulation as a 2–2 draw. After 15 minutes of scoreless golden goal extra time the teams moved on to an NASL shoot-out, which the Cosmos won, 3–0. The win advanced them to the Conference finals. In the Atlantic Conference finals series the Cosmos went up against the upset-minded Rochester Lancers, who had already dispatched two higher seeded opponents. Game 1 of the series was played on August 21, 1977 in Rochester, and saw the Cosmos win a close-fought contest, 2–1. The second leg was played before another large Meadowlands crowd of 73,669 on August 24, 1977. In that game, as with the two previous home playoff games, the Cosmos proved to be a decisive winner, 4–1. By winning the series two games to none, the Cosmos won the Atlantic Conference title and advanced to the Soccer Bowl.

The Seattle Sounders qualified for the playoffs by virtue of a third-place finish in the Western Division of the Pacific Conference with 123 points. The Sounders defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps in a first round single-match, 2–0, on August 10, 1977. They then faced the Western Division winner, Minnesota Kicks in a best-of three-series. The first game of the series, which was played on August 14, 1977, saw the Sounders edge ahead, 2–1, on a sudden death goal in overtime. In the second leg, the Sounders hung on for a 1–0 win on August 17, 1977. The two victories advanced them to the conference finals. In the Pacific Conference finals series, the Sounders went up against the Los Angeles Aztecs, who themselves had just upset Dallas, the number one seed in the conference. Game 1 of the series was played on August 21, 1977 in Los Angeles, and the Sounders won, 3–1. The second leg was played before an impressive Kingdome crowd of 56,256 on August 25, 1977. In that game, the Sounders gutted out a 1–0 result. In doing so, they won the series two games to none, and the Pacific Conference title to advance to the Soccer Bowl.

August 28

12:00 (PDT)

Cosmos	2–1	Seattle Sounders
Hunt  19:05' Chinaglia  77:19' (Hunt)		Ord  23:13' (Cave)

Civic Stadium, Portland

Attendance: 35,548

Referee: Toros Kibritjan (USA)

Cosmos

Seattle

GK 1 Shep Messing D 12 Bobby Smith D 4 Werner Roth (c) D 25 Carlos Alberto  74:29' M 14 Nelsi Morais M 8 Terry Garbett  45:00' M 6 Franz Beckenbauer  63:21' F 7 Tony Field F 10 Pelé F 9 Giorgio Chinaglia F 11 Steve Hunt Substitutes: M 3 Vito Dimitrijević  66:34'  45:00' G 19 Erol Yasin Manager: Eddie Firmani

GK 1 Tony Chursky D 4 Mel Machin D 3 Jim McAlister D 5 Mike England D 17 Dave Gillett M 16 Adrian Webster (c) M 15 Steve Buttle M 19 Jimmy Robertson  79:49' M 2 Jocky Scott F 18 Tommy Ord  16:58' F 12 Micky Cave  68:07' Substitutes: M 8 David Butler  68:07' F 6 Tommy Jenkins  79:49' G 26 Mike Ivanow Manager: Jim Gabriel

1977 NASL Champions: Cosmos

Television: TVS
Announcers: Jon Miller, Paul Gardner
Touchline reporter: Walt Chyzowych