A Delayed 2004 Season in Review In American Soccer

By Antony Lin
Sports Editor

The year has come to an end and it is time to reflect on what happened throughout American soccer.

Major League Soccer
- The 2004 MLS season saw DC United taking the Cup title over Kansas City Wizards by the scoreline of 3-2. DC United head coach, Peter Nowak, win his first title in his first year as head coach after getting off to a slow start in the season. Young soccer phenom, Freddy Adu, became the youngest player in all of professional sports to win a title at the age of 15.
- U.S. Soccer Player of the Year, Landon Donovan, appears to be headed back to Bayer Leverkusen of the German Bundesliga. Donovan on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, led the San Jose Earthquakes to MLS Cup titles in 2001 and 2003.
- Former Dallas Burn, now Real Salt Lake forward Jason Kreis becomes the all-time leading scorer in MLS.
- MetroStars midfielder, Amado Guevara, was named MVP for the season.
- Midfielder, DaMarcus Beasley leaves the Chicago Fire and heads off to PSV Eindhoven of the Dutch League and makes immediate impact.
- All-time New England Revolution goal-scorer and 3rd all-time US National Team goal scorer, Joe-Max Moore announced his retirement.

U.S. Men’s National Team
- The US Men’s NT finished the year with an impressive record of 8 wins, 1 loss, and 6 ties. Currently the team is on a record 13-game unbeaten streak. The Nats stayed unbeaten and finished in first place of the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying.

U.S. Women’s National Team
- Came away and took home the gold in the Olympics the past summer in Greece. U.S. got its revenge
on Germany by defeating them 2-1 in the semifinals and took the gold by defeating Brazil with thesame scoreline.
- Pioneers and legends, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, and Joy Fawcett ended their remarkable careers.
Hamm and Foudy played their last emotional match on Dec. 8th and defeated Mexico 5-0, while Fawcett sat out for the match.
- Head coach, April Heinrich inks a three-year contract to remain as coach.
A lot has happened in 2004. 2005 looks to have another exciting year in American soccer, aside from World Cup qualifying.
- Two expansion teams in MLS, Club Deportivo Chivas USA based in Los Angeles and Real Salt Lake will make its debut.

- FC Dallas, formerly Dallas Burn, will open in their newly built soccer-specific stadium with a capacity of 21,000, known as Frisco Soccer and Entertainment Center.
- Former MetroStar striker Clint Mathis returns to MLS, this time for Real Salt Lake, after a successful stint at Hannover 96 of the German Bundesliga.
- After labor conflicts between the U.S. Soccer Federation and the Player’s Association, a deal has finally been reached, but only for a year.

- The final round of the World Cup qualifying hex schedule for the US is as follows:

Feb 9 @ Trinidad &Tobago 2-1 W
Mar 27 @ Mexico 1PM ET ESPN2/Telemundo
Mar 30 vs. Guatemala 8PM ET ESPN2
Jun 4 vs. Costa Rica 7:30PM ESPN2
Jun 8 @ Panama TBA
Aug 17 vs. Trinidad & Tobago TBA
Sep 3 vs. Mexico TBA
Sep 7 @ Guatemala TBA
Oct 8/9 @ Costa Rica TBA
Oct 12 vs. Panama TBA

Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts

USA 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3

Mexico 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3

GUA 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

Panama 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

CRC 1 0 1 0 1 2 -1 0

T&T 1 0 1 0 1 2 -1 0

Top three teams qualify automatically, fourth-place team will have two-game playoff vs. Asia team for final spot