The 1998 MLS Cup

MLS Cup

The MLS Cup is the championship match of Major League Soccer, the highest tier of professional soccer in the United States and Canada. As the final match of the MLS Cup playoffs, the winner is crowned the season champion in the same manner as other North American sports leagues...

was the championship game of the 1998 Major League Soccer season

Major League Soccer 1998 season

The 1998 Major League Soccer season was the 3rd season of the league. Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion FC played their inaugural seasons as the first two MLS expansion teams...

. The game was played on October 25, 1998, at the Rose Bowl

Rose Bowl (stadium)

The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pasadena, California, U.S., in Los Angeles County. The stadium is the site of the annual college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, held on New Year's Day. In 1982, it became the home field of the UCLA Bruins college football team of the Pac-12...

 in Pasadena, CA

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

. The Chicago Fire beat D.C. United

D.C. United

D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception, in 1996.Over the...

 2-0, bringing to an end United's reign as two-time defending MLS champions. The Fire great Peter Nowak

Piotr Nowak

Piotr Nowak is a Polish former professional soccer player. He is currently the head coach of the Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer.Nowak enjoyed a successful playing career in Europe, playing for Polish clubs such as Zawisza Bydgoszcz and Widzew Łódź, before going on to play in Turkey,...

 was named MVP, assisting on both goals. The first Chicago goal was in the 29th minute, after a give-and-go between Nowak and Ante Razov

Ante Razov

Ante Razov is a retired American soccer player of Croatian descent who last played for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer.-Club:...

. The move lured United goalkeeper Tom Presthus

Tom Presthus

Thomas “Tom” Presthus is a retired U.S. soccer goalkeeper. He spent seven seasons in Major League Soccer and earned one caps with the U.S. national team in 1999.-Youth:...

 out of the goal, at which point Nowak slipped the ball to Jerzy Podbrozny

Jerzy Podbrozny

Jerzy Podbrożny is a former Polish football striker, one of the top scorers in Polish football history.Podbrożny led the Polish league in scoring: in 1992 with 20 goals and in 1993 with 25 goals, both times for Lech Poznań. After winning the championship both those years, he transferred to Legia...

 for an easy tap-in at the opposite post. The second goal was scored by Diego Gutierrez

Diego Gutierrez (soccer)

Diego Gutiérrez is a retired Colombian American footballer, who spent his career between Chicago Fire and Kansas City Wizards, both of Major League Soccer, and is currently Head of Scouting and Player Development for Philadelphia Union.Born in Colombia, Gutiérrez was part of that country's youth...

 when he deflected the ball off a Nowak shot. Chris Armas

Chris Armas

Chris Armas is a retired American soccer player. He is currently the head women's soccer coach at Adelphi University. He was also a teacher of physical education at St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, New York.-College:Armas is of Puerto Rican descent...

 is often given much credit for this championship, because of his constant dogging of noted D.C. player Marco Etcheverry

Marco Etcheverry

Marco Antonio Etcheverry Vargas is a retired Bolivian footballer, considered one of the greatest Bolivian players of all time.-Career:...

. Zach Thornton

Zach Thornton

Zach Thornton is an American soccer player who currently plays for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer.-Youth and college:...

 saved 8 D.C. shots on goal, including 3 from Roy Lassiter

Roy Lassiter

Roy Lassiter is a retired American soccer striker, and Major League Soccer's record holder for goals scored in a season, with 27 in 1996.-Early life:...

. This win also gave Chicago the historic honor of capturing both the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is a knockout tournament in American soccer. The tournament is the oldest ongoing American soccer competition and is presently open to all United States Soccer Federation affiliated teams, from amateur adult club teams to the professional clubs of Major League...

 titles in the same year, the team's inaugural season.


Lineups:

D.C. United:
Tom Presthus, Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, Carlos Llamosa (Mike Slivinski), Tony Sanneh (A.J. Wood)
Marco Etcheverry, John Harkes, Richie Williams, Ben Olsen, Roy Lassiter, Jaime Moreno

TOTAL SHOTS: 22 (Lassiter 6, Etcheverry 6)
SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Lassiter 3)
FOULS: 8 (Lassiter 2, Sanneh 2, Etcheverry 2)
OFFSIDE: 1
CORNER KICKS: 12
SAVES: Presthus 1
CAUTIONS: Sanneh 25', Etcheverry 33'
EJECTIONS: none
POSSESSION PERCENTAGE: 52%

Chicago Fire:
Zach Thornton, C.J. Brown, Lubos Kubik, Francis Okaroh, Diego Gutierrez, Chris Armas, Jesse Marsch
Jerzy Podbrozny, Peter Nowak (Josh Wolff), Roman Kosecki (Frank Klopas), Ante Razov (Tom Soehn)

TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Podbrozny 2, Razov 2, Gutierrez 2)
SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Podbrozny 2)
FOULS: 27 (Razov 5)
OFFSIDE: 5
CORNER KICKS: 3
SAVES: Thornton 8
CAUTIONS: Razov 31', Gutierrez 50', Marsch 60'
EJECTIONS: none
POSSESSION PERCENTAGE: 48%

Most Valuable Player:
Peter Nowak (Chicago Fire)