Major League Soccer 2008
| Major League Soccer 2008 | |
|
|
| master | Columbus crew |
| Cup winners | DC United |
| Teams | 14th |
| Games | 210 |
| Gates | 591 (ø 2.81 per game) |
| spectator | 3,456,641 (ø 16,460 per game) |
| Top scorer | Landon Donovan , 20 goals |
| ← Major League Soccer 2007 | |
The 13th major league soccer season began with the regular season on March 29, 2008 and ended with the MLS Cup 2008 on November 23, 2008 at the Home Depot Center in Carson (California) . The winner of the regular season, Columbus Crew , also won the MLS Cup and thus the 2008 championship.
Innovations
- The San José Earthquakes take part in the game operation in the Western Conference. This increases the field of participants to 14 teams.
- Due to scheduling problems, the four best teams of the regular season that did not qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League will qualify for the SuperLiga 2009 .
- Real Salt Lake is moving to its new football-only stadium in October, the Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah .
- The winner of the MLS Cup will be presented with the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy for the first time , which will replace the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy.
- new shirt sponsors:
- The US company Glidden is the new shirt sponsor of the Columbus Crew .
- The American company Best Buy is the new jersey sponsor of Chicago Fire .
- Volkswagen becomes the new shirt sponsor of DC United .
- Change of coach:
- Bruce Arena is leaving the New York Red Bulls , replacing Juan Carlos Osorio , former Chicago Fire coach, as the new team boss.
- Denis Hamlett is the new Chicago Fire coach.
- Frank Yallop becomes the coach of the San José Earthquakes .
- Ruud Gullit is the new LA Galaxy coach .
- After Ruud Gullit's resignation during the season, Bruce Arena succeeds him as LA Galaxy coach.
- John Carver is the new Toronto FC manager
Season course
Regular season
In addition to the three best teams in each conference, the two teams with the next highest number of points also qualify for the play-offs.
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||
| team | Pt. | Games | S. | N | U | T + | T- | TD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus crew | 57 | 30th | 17th | 7th | 6th | 50 | 36 | 14th | |
| Chicago Fire | 46 | 30th | 13 | 10 | 7th | 44 | 33 | 11 | |
| New England Revolution | 43 | 30th | 12 | 11 | 7th | 40 | 43 | −3 | |
| Kansas City Wizards | 42 | 30th | 11 | 10 | 9 | 37 | 39 | −2 | |
| New York Red Bulls | 39 | 30th | 10 | 11 | 9 | 42 | 48 | −6 | |
| DC United | 37 | 30th | 11 | 15th | 4th | 43 | 51 | −8 | |
| Toronto FC | 35 | 30th | 9 | 13 | 8th | 34 | 43 | −9 | |
| Western Conference | |||||||||
| team | Pt. | Games | S. | N | U | T + | T- | TD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Dynamo | 51 | 30th | 13 | 5 | 12 | 45 | 32 | 13 | |
| CD Chivas USA | 43 | 30th | 12 | 11 | 7th | 40 | 41 | −1 | |
| Real Salt Lake | 40 | 30th | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 | 39 | 1 | |
| Colorado Rapids | 38 | 30th | 11 | 14th | 5 | 44 | 45 | −1 | |
| FC Dallas | 36 | 30th | 8th | 10 | 12 | 45 | 41 | 4th | |
| LA Galaxy | 33 | 30th | 8th | 13 | 9 | 55 | 62 | −7 | |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 33 | 30th | 8th | 13 | 9 | 32 | 38 | −6 | |
Overall table
| society | Points | Games | G | N | U | T + | T- | TD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbus Crew (M, S) | 57 | 30th | 17th | 7th | 6th | 50 | 36 | 14th |
| 2 | Houston Dynamo | 51 | 30th | 13 | 5 | 12 | 45 | 32 | 13 |
| 3 | Chicago Fire | 46 | 30th | 13 | 10 | 7th | 44 | 33 | 11 |
| 4th | New England Revolution | 43 | 30th | 12 | 11 | 7th | 40 | 43 | −3 |
| 5 | CD Chivas USA | 43 | 30th | 12 | 11 | 7th | 40 | 41 | −1 |
| 6th | Kansas City Wizards | 42 | 30th | 11 | 10 | 9 | 37 | 39 | −2 |
| 7th | Real Salt Lake | 40 | 30th | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 | 39 | 1 |
| 8th | New York Red Bulls (V) | 39 | 30th | 10 | 11 | 9 | 42 | 48 | −6 |
| 9 | Colorado Rapids | 38 | 30th | 11 | 14th | 5 | 44 | 45 | −1 |
| 10 | DC United (P) | 37 | 30th | 11 | 15th | 4th | 43 | 51 | −8 |
| 11 | FC Dallas | 36 | 30th | 8th | 10 | 12 | 45 | 41 | 4th |
| 12 | Toronto FC | 35 | 30th | 9 | 13 | 8th | 34 | 43 | −9 |
| 13 | LA Galaxy | 33 | 30th | 8th | 13 | 9 | 55 | 62 | −7 |
| 14th | San Jose Earthquakes | 33 | 30th | 8th | 13 | 9 | 32 | 38 | −6 |
M = Champion, S = Supporter's Shield, P = Cup winner, V = Vice-Champion
List of goalscorers
| player | Gates |
|---|---|
 Landon Donovan , LA
|
20th |
|
Kenny Cooper , DAL
|
18th |
|
Edson Buddle , LA
|
15th |
 Juan Pablo Angel , NY
|
14th |
|
Brian Ching , HOU
|
13 |
|
Luciano Emilio , DC
|
11 |
|
Conor Casey , CLB
|
11 |
 Jaime Moreno , DC
|
10 |
Playoffs
| Conference semifinals | Conference finals | MLS Cup 2008 | |||||||||||||
| E1 | Columbus crew | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||
| E4 | Kansas City Wizards | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Columbus crew | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||
| E2 | Chicago Fire | 1 | |||||||||||||
| E2 | Chicago Fire | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||
| E3 | New England Revolution | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| E. | Columbus crew | 3 | |||||||||||||
| W. | New York Red Bulls | 1 | |||||||||||||
| W1 | Houston Dynamo | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||
| W4 | New York Red Bulls | 1 | 3 | 4th | |||||||||||
| W4 | New York Red Bulls | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Western Conference | |||||||||||||||
| W3 | Real Salt Lake | 0 | |||||||||||||
| W2 | CD Chivas USA | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Real Salt Lake | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||
In the conference semifinals, the higher seeded team had home rights in the second leg, the conference final took place in the stadium of the higher seeded team and the MLS Cup 2008 was held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California .
final
| pairing | Columbus Crew - New York Red Bulls |
| Result | 3: 1 (1: 0) |
| date | November 23, 2008 |
| Stadion | Home Depot Center , Carson |
| spectator | 27,000 |
| referee | Baldomero Toledo |
| Gates | 1-0 Alejandro Moreno (31st) 1: 1 John Wolyniec (51st) 2-1 Chad Marshall (53rd) 3-1 Frankie Hejduk (82nd) |
| Columbus crew |
Will Hesmer - Gino Padula , Chad Marshall , Frankie Hejduk - Frankie O'Rourke , Eddie Gaven (90th Steven Lenhart ), Brian Carroll , Robbie Rogers - Brad Evans , Guillermo Barros Schelotto (90th Andy Iro ), Alejandro Moreno Trainer: Sigi Schmid |
| New York Red Bulls |
Danny Cepero - Kevin Goldthwaite , Carlos Mendes , Diego Jiménez , Chris Leitch - Siniša Ubiparipović , Dave van den Bergh , Dane Richards , Luke Sassano (78th Jorge Alberto Rojas ) - Juan Pablo Ángel , John Wolyniec (82nd Macoumba Kandji ) Trainers: Juan Carlos Osorio |
Qualification for international competitions
- Group stage: Columbus Crew (MLS Cup winner and MLS Supporter's Shield), Houston Dynamo (2nd place Regular Season)
- Qualification: New York Red Bulls (MLS Cup Finalist), DC United (Cup Winner)
- Chicago Fire , New England Revolution , CD Chivas USA , Kansas City Wizards (3rd - 6th place regular season)
MLS All-Star Game
The 13th MLS All-Star Game took place on July 24, 2008 at BMO Field in Toronto . A selection of the best players from Major League Soccer met the English Premier League representative West Ham United . The game ended 3-2 for the national team. The best player was Cuauhtemoc Blanco.
The All-Star Game took place outside of the United States for the first time.
National Cup
- Eight teams from the MLS qualify for the main round of the cup. The best six teams of the previous regular season had already been determined as participants, the other two teams were played among the remaining five teams (Kansas City and Chicago). Toronto FC is not allowed to compete as a Canadian club. The following MLS teams entered the competition in the third round of the cup:
- New York Red Bulls - lost to Crystal Palace Baltimore in the 3rd round
- Houston Dynamo - lost to Charleston Battery in the 3rd round
- CD Chivas USA - lost to the Seattle Sounders in the 3rd round
- Chicago Fire - lost to DC United in the quarterfinals
- Dallas FC - lost to Charleston Battery in the quarterfinals
- Kansas City Wizards - lost to the Seattle Sounders in the quarterfinals
- New England Revolution - lost to DC United in the semifinals
- DC United - Cup Winner
- In 2008 the Open Canada Cup was suspended and the Canadian Championship introduced in order to determine the participant for the CONCACAF Champions League from the three Canadian professional clubs.
- Toronto FC , the only representative of the MLS, was only able to take second place behind Montreal Impact , while the Vancouver Whitecaps came third .
International competitions
- DC United - Eliminated semi-finals
- Houston Dynamo - Semi-Finals Eliminated
- Houston Dynamo
- DC United - Eliminated group stage
- New England Revolution - Eliminated qualification
- CD Chivas USA - Eliminated qualification
- DC United - Eliminated in the preliminary round
- CD Chivas USA - preliminary round eliminated
- Houston Dynamo Final Eliminated
- New England Revolution - Winner
Preseason competitions
- Carolina Challenge Cup 2008
- Houston Dynamo took second place.
- LA Galaxy reaches third place.
- Texas Pro Soccer Festival
