2007 Major League Soccer season

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2007 Major League Soccer season

Season	2007
MLS Cup	Houston Dynamo (2nd title)
Supporters' Shield	D.C. United (4th shield)
2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League	Houston Dynamo D.C. United N.E. Revolution Chivas USA
2008 SuperLiga	D.C. United Chivas USA Houston Dynamo N.E. Revolution
Matches played	195
Goals scored	518 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorer	Luciano Emilio D.C. United Goals: 20
Biggest home win	CHV 4–0 RSL NY 4–0 CLB TOR 4–0 FCD
Biggest away win	CHI 0–4 HOU FCD 0–4 DCU
Highest scoring	NY 5–4 LA
Longest winning run	D.C. United Games: 6 (08/05/ – 09/01)
Longest unbeaten run	D.C. United Games: 13 (08/05 – 10/13)
Longest losing run	Los Angeles Galaxy Games: 6 (08/09 – 09/01)
Highest attendance	Los Angeles Galaxy Season: 363,782 Game Avg.: 24,252
Lowest attendance	K.C. Wizards Season:173,784 Game Avg.: 11,586
Average attendance	MLS Season: 3,270,210 Game Avg.: 16,770
← 2006 2008 →

The 2007 Major League Soccer season was the 12th season in the history of Major League Soccer. The season began on April 7 and concluded with MLS Cup 2007 on November 18, 2007 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C.

For the first time in MLS history, the same two clubs consecutively won the MLS Cup title and the MLS Supporters' Shield honor. The 2007 MLS Cup champions were Houston Dynamo who defeated New England Revolution in the final. D.C. United won the MLS Supporters' Shield edging Chivas USA by two points for the regular season honor.

New England, Houston, and D.C. United earned berths into the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League for their performances in the regular season and playoffs.

Changes from the 2006 Season[]

The 2007 season was often cited as the first season in the modern-era of Major League Soccer. Most notably, the regular season decreased from 32 matches to 30, emphasizing the importance of matches during this time window, as well as boosting the credibility for the MLS Supporters' Shield. This year marked the inaugural season for expansion franchise, Toronto FC who began play in the Eastern Conference.

For the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, the top two clubs in each conference automatically qualified for the playoffs, down from four. Additionally, the next four highest remaining point totals regardless of conference qualified via wild-card berth. The change allowed a single table to determine the entire playoff field.

Starting this season, MLS clubs were allowed to sell advertisements on the front of their jerseys. Six MLS clubs took advantage of the opportunity. Local corporations XanGo and Amigo Energy became the kit sponsors of Real Salt Lake and Houston Dynamo, respectively. More national brands such as BMO, Comex and Herbalife became the sponsors of Toronto FC, Chivas USA and Los Angeles Galaxy, respectively. The international recognized brand, Red Bull became the shirt sponsor of New York Red Bulls, whom they owned.

• The Designated Player Rule was implemented, permitting one big-ticket foreign player to play for each team without going against the team's salary cap.
  Six players were signed under the rule for the 2007 season:
  • David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy
  • Cuauhtémoc Blanco to the Chicago Fire
  • Juan Pablo Ángel to New York Red Bulls
  • Luciano Emilio to D.C. United
  • Denílson to FC Dallas
  • Guillermo Barros Schelotto to Columbus Crew

Two new soccer-specific stadiums opened this season. The Colorado Rapids moved into Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver-suburb of Commerce City, Colorado. Before the season began, BMO Field opened for expansion side, Toronto FC.

Competition format[]

The format for the 2007 season was as follows:

• The season ran from April 7 to November 18.
• The 13 teams were split into two conferences. The Eastern Conference had seven teams with the addition of Toronto FC, while the Western Conference had six teams. Each team played 30 games that were evenly divided between home and away games. Each team played every other team twice, home and away, for a total of 24 games. The remaining six games were played against six regional rivals, three at home and three away.
• The two teams from each conference with the most points qualified for the playoffs. In addition, the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, also qualified. In the first round aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The conference finals were played as a single match, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup 2007. In all rounds, draws were followed by two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.
• The team with the most points in the regular season won the MLS Supporters' Shield and qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09. The MLS Cup winner also qualified for the Champions League 2008–09. The MLS Cup runner-up qualified for the Champions League 2008–09. An additional berth in the Champions League was also awarded to the winner of the 2007 U.S. Open Cup. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions League, then additional berths were awarded to the highest overall finishing MLS team(s) not already qualified. Also, Toronto FC, as a Canadian-based team, cannot qualify through MLS for the Champions League, and must instead qualify through the Canadian Championship.
• The four teams with the most points in the regular season, regardless of conference, qualified for SuperLiga 2008.
• The three teams from each conference with the most points also qualified for berths into the 2008 U.S. Open Cup. The rest of the U.S.-based MLS teams had to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games.

Tiebreakers[]

1. Head-to-Head (Points only)
2. Overall Goal Differential
3. Overall Total Goals Scored
4. Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches on the road
5. Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches at home
6. Fewest team disciplinary points in the League Fair Play table
7. Coin toss

MLS Tiebreakers

Standings[]

Conference standings[]

Eastern Conference[]

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D.C. United	30	16	7	7	56	34	+22	55	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2008 U.S. Open Cup
2	New England Revolution	30	14	8	8	51	43	+8	50
3	New York Red Bulls	30	12	11	7	47	45	+2	43	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card), 2008 U.S. Open Cup
4	Chicago Fire	30	10	10	10	31	36	−5	40	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)
5	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	12	7	45	45	0	40
6	Columbus Crew	30	9	11	10	39	44	−5	37
7	Toronto FC[a]	30	6	17	7	25	49	−24	25

Western Conference[]

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chivas USA	30	15	7	8	46	28	+18	53	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2008 U.S. Open Cup
2	Houston Dynamo	30	15	8	7	43	23	+20	52
3	FC Dallas	30	13	12	5	37	44	−7	44	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card), 2008 U.S. Open Cup
4	Colorado Rapids	30	9	13	8	29	34	−5	35
5	Los Angeles Galaxy	30	9	14	7	38	48	−10	34
6	Real Salt Lake	30	6	15	9	31	45	−14	27

Overall standings[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	D.C. United (SS, E1)	30	16	7	7	56	34	+22	55	2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage 2
2	Chivas USA (W1)	30	15	7	8	46	28	+18	53	2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round 2
3	Houston Dynamo	30	15	8	7	43	23	+20	52	2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage 2
4	New England Revolution	30	14	8	8	51	43	+8	50	2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round 2
5	FC Dallas	30	13	12	5	37	44	−7	44	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs
6	New York Red Bulls	30	12	11	7	47	45	+2	43
7	Chicago Fire	30	10	10	10	31	36	−5	40
8	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	12	7	45	45	0	40
9	Columbus Crew	30	9	11	10	39	44	−5	37
10	Colorado Rapids	30	9	13	8	29	34	−5	35
11	LA Galaxy	30	9	14	7	38	48	−10	34
12	Real Salt Lake	30	6	15	9	31	45	−14	27
13	Toronto FC 1	30	6	17	7	25	49	−24	25

2007 MLS Cup Playoffs[]

	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
	E3	New York Red Bulls	0	0
	E2	New England Revolution	0	1
												E2	New England Revolution	1
												W2	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
	W3	FC Dallas	1	1
	W2	Houston Dynamo (AET)	0	4

¹ The Kansas City Wizards earned the eighth and final playoff berth, despite finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference.
They represent the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket, as only three teams in the Western Conference qualified for the playoffs.

Statistics[]

Golden Boot[]

Full article: MLS Golden Boot

Rank	Player	Club	Games	Goals	Asst.
1	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United	29	20	1
2	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls	24	19	5
3	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution	26	16	3
4	Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Wizards	24	15	6
5	Maykel Galindo	Chivas USA	28	12	5
6	Ante Razov	Chivas USA	26	11	8
7	Christian Gomez	D.C. United	27	10	9
8	Jozy Altidore	New York Red Bulls	22	9	4
9	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	24	8	13
10	Robbie Findley	Real Salt Lake	25	8	0

Goalkeeping Leaders[]

Rank	Goalkeeper	Club	GP	MINS	SHTS	SVS	GA	GAA	W-L-T	SHO
1	Pat Onstad	Houston Dynamo	27	2418	109	85	22	0.82	13-8-6	11
2	Brad Guzan	Chivas USA	27	2430	119	87	25	0.93	14-6-7	13
3	Bouna Coundoul	Colorado Rapids	30	2668	158	120	32	1.08	9-12-8	9
4	Jon Conway	New York Red Bulls	14	1143	79	57	14	1.10	6-5-2	4
5	Troy Perkins	D.C. United	29	2610	155	117	32	1.10	16-6-7	8

Individual awards[]

Player of the Week[]

Week	Player of the Week	Club
Week 1	Jeff Cunningham	Real Salt Lake
Week 2	Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Wizards
Week 3	Maykel Galindo	Chivas USA
Week 4	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 5	Dwayne De Rosario	Houston Dynamo
Week 6	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution
Week 7	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls
Week 8	Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Wizards
Week 9	Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Wizards
Week 10	Ben Olsen	D.C. United
Week 11	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United
Week 12	Brad Davis	Houston Dynamo
Week 13	Nicholas Addlery	D.C. United
Week 14	Stuart Holden	Houston Dynamo
Week 15	Juan Toja	FC Dallas
Week 16	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew
Week 17	Ante Razov	Chivas USA
Week 18	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United
Week 19	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls
Week 20	Jozy Altidore	New York Red Bulls
Week 21	Maykel Galindo	Chivas USA
Week 22	Ben Olsen	D.C. United
Week 23	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United
Week 24	Scott Sealy	Kansas City Wizards
Week 25	Ante Razov	Chivas USA
Week 26	Fred	D.C. United
Week 27	Abe Thompson	FC Dallas
Week 28	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew
Week 29	Scott Sealy	Kansas City Wizards

Player of the Month[]

Month	Player of the Month	Club
April	Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Wizards
May	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls
June	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls
July	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew
August	Troy Perkins	D.C. United
September	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United
October	Matt Pickens	Chicago Fire

Goal Of The Week[]

Week	Player	Club
Week 1	Sacha Kljestan	Chivas USA
Week 2	Herculez Gomez	Colorado Rapids
Week 3	Jozy Altidore	New York Red Bulls
Week 4	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution
Week 5	Chris Brown	Real Salt Lake
Week 6	Danny Dichio	Toronto FC
Week 7	Chris Gbandi	FC Dallas
Week 8	Jim Brennan	Toronto FC
Week 9	Danny Dichio	Toronto FC
Week 10	Ben Olsen	D.C. United
Week 11	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls
Week 12	Brad Davis	Houston Dynamo
Week 13	Maykel Galindo	Chivas USA
Week 14	Stuart Holden	Houston Dynamo
Week 15	Joseph Ngwenya	Houston Dynamo
Week 16	Dwayne De Rosario	Houston Dynamo
Week 17	Kerry Zavagnin	Kansas City Wizards
Week 18	Robbie Findley	Real Salt Lake
Week 19	Jozy Altidore	New York Red Bulls
Week 20	Cuauhtémoc Blanco	Chicago Fire
Week 21	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United
Week 22	Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Wizards
Week 23	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution
Week 24	Scott Sealy	Kansas City Wizards
Week 25	Chris Rolfe	Chicago Fire
Week 26	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United
Week 27	Paulo Nagamura	Chivas USA
Week 28	Edson Buddle	Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 29	Danny Dichio	Toronto FC

Team Attendance Totals[]

^[1]

Club	Games	Season	Game Avg.
Los Angeles Galaxy	15	390,132	26,009
Toronto FC	15	301,793	20,120
D.C. United	15	297,531	19,835
New England Revolution	15	263,706	17,580
Chicago Fire	15	255,511	17,034
Houston Dynamo	15	254,083	16,939
Real Salt Lake	15	242,690	16,179
New York Red Bulls	15	238,925	15,928
FC Dallas	15	195,356	15,145
Chivas USA	15	226,717	15,114
Columbus Crew	15	219,332	14,622
San Jose Earthquakes	15	416,258	13,875
Colorado Rapids	15	204,884	13,659
Kansas City Wizards	15	160,286	10,686
OVERALL	210	3,456,641	16,460

International competitions[]

CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2007[]

D.C. United
Defeated Club Deportivo Olimpia in the Quarterfinals
Lost Club Deportivo Guadalajara in the Semifinals.

Houston Dynamo
Defeated Puntarenas FC in the Quarterfinals.
Lost C.F. Pachuca in the Semifinals.

---

SuperLiga 2007[]

FC Dallas
Finished in fourth place and did not advance from
Group A after going 0-1-2 in group play.

D.C. United
Runner-up of Group B after going 1-1-1 in group play.
Lost to Los Angeles Galaxy in Semifinals.

Houston Dynamo
Winner of Group B after going 2-0-1 in group play.
Lost to C.F. Pachuca on penalty kicks in the Semifinals.

Los Angeles Galaxy
Winner of Group A after going 2-1-0 in group play.
Defeated D.C. United in the Semifinals
Lost to C.F. Pachuca on penalty kicks in the Final.

---

Copa Sudamericana 2007[]

D.C. United
Lost to Club Deportivo Guadalajara on away goals in the Round of 16.

---

Other competitions[]

2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup[]

Eight of the twelve U.S.-based MLS teams entered the tournament in the Third Round.

D.C. United
Lost to Harrisburg City Islanders in the Third Round.

Los Angeles Galaxy
Lost to Richmond Kickers in the Third Round.

Chicago Fire
Lost to Carolina RailHawks in the Third Round.

Houston Dynamo
Lost to Charleston Battery in the Third Round.

Chivas USA
Lost to Seattle Sounders (USL) in the Third Round

Colorado Rapids
Defeated California Victory in the Third Round.
Lost to Seattle Sounders (USL) in the Quarterfinals.

FC Dallas
Defeated Atlanta Silverbacks on penalty kicks in the Third Round,
Defeated Charleston Battery after extra time in the Quarterfinals,
Defeated Seattle Sounders (USL) after extra time in the Semifinals,
Lost to New England Revolution in the Final.

New England Revolution
Defeated Rochester Raging Rhinos in the Third Round.
Defeated Harrisburg City Islanders in the Quarterfinals.
Defeated Carolina RailHawks after extra time in the Semifinals.
Defeated FC Dallas in the Final.

---

All-Star game[]

The 2007 MLS All-Star Game was held at Dick's Sporting Goods Park
in Commerce City, Colorado, home of the Colorado Rapids on July 19.
The opponent was Celtic F.C. of the Scottish Premier League.

Final Score:
MLS All-Stars 2-0 Celtic F.C.

Coaches[]

Eastern Conference[]

• Columbus Crew: Sigi Schmid
• D.C. United: Tom Soehn
• Kansas City Wizards: Curt Onalfo
• Toronto FC: Mo Johnston

Western Conference[]

• Chivas USA: Preki
• Colorado Rapids: N/A
• FC Dallas: Steve Morrow
• Houston Dynamo: Dominic Kinnear
• Los Angeles Galaxy: Frank Yallop
• Real Salt Lake: John Ellinger and Jason Kreis

External links[]

• MLS 2007 Season Stats

References[]