2004 D.C. United season

D.C. United
2004 season
Owner	D.C. United Holdings
Head Coach	Piotr Nowak
MLS	4th
MLS Cup	Champions
U.S. Open Cup	Fourth round
Atlantic Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: ; All: Eskandarian (14)
Home colors	Away colors

The 2004 D.C. United season was the eighth season of the club's existence. It was highlighted by winning their first MLS Cup championship since 1999.

The season was hallmarked by United winning their fourth Major League Soccer championship, winning MLS Cup 2004 3–2 over Kansas City Wizards. To date, this was the last time in franchise history that the team has won an MLS Cup title. Additionally, by winning the championship, some cite that it marked a "second golden age" in United, as the United matched their late 90s dynasty by doubling their trophy case. Following the 2004 title, United would go on to win two MLS Supporters' Shields, to claim the most in the league, as well as their second U.S. Open Cup title.

In terms of player and manager transactions, the offseason saw English head coach Ray Hudson end his two-season stint with the club, as United management fired him out of dissatisfaction with his results as a manager. Early in January, United signed retired MLS star Piotr Nowak to the helm of head coaching duties. The hiring of Nowak was unprecedented at the time, as no other head coach was a former MLS player in league history. However, the signing of Nowak marked a new trend of first generation MLS players assuming coaching duties for second generation MLS players.

United made national, and international, headlines this year by drafting then 14-year-old prospect Freddy Adu as the first pick of the MLS SuperDraft. Although United did not have worst record in 2003, and in fact, made the playoffs, MLS orchestrated a series of negotiations between United and Dallas Burn, who originally had the first overall selection. Since Adu signed with the league, per Adu's request, the league led a series of agreements between the two sides to give Dallas additional allocation from United so that Adu could play for his local club, as he grew up near Potomac, Maryland.[1]

Review and events

Preseason

January

Freddy Adu signs with D.C. United[1]

February
March

Regular season

April
May
June
July
August
September
Early October

Playoffs

Late October
November

United deft. NE Revs in the 2004 Eastern Conf. championship to go to MLS Cup 2004. Considered best match in MLS history[2][3][4][5][6]
United win their first MLS Cup title since 1999 with a 3–2 win over the Kansas City Wizards at the Home Depot Center[7]

Match results

Lists of matches, featuring result, attendance (where available) and scorers, grouped by competition (league, cup, other competition). Do not include friendly matches.

Legend

Win	Tie	Loss

Major League Soccer

Home team's score listed first.

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers
April 3, 2004	San Jose Earthquakes	H	2–1	Moreno, Eskandarian
April 10, 2004	Los Angeles Galaxy	A	1–1	Cerritos
April 17, 2004	MetroStars	A	3–2	Olsen, Adu
April 24, 2004	Chicago Fire	H	0–1
May 1, 2004	San Jose Earthquakes	A	1–1	Kovalenko
May 7, 2004	Columbus Crew	H	1–1	Kovalenko
May 15, 2004	Kansas City Wizards	H	1–0	Moreno
May 19, 2004	Los Angeles Galaxy	H	2–4	Cerritos, Adu
May 22, 2004	Colorado Rapids	A	2–1	Gros
May 29, 2004	New England Revolution	A	0–1	Kamler (o.g.)
June 5, 2004	Chicago Fire	A	3–0
June 12, 2004	Colorado Rapids	H	0–0
June 19, 2004	Columbus Crew	H	3–1	Moreno, Eskandarian (2)
June 26, 2004	Dallas Burn	A	1–1	Eskandarian
July 3, 2004	MetroStars	H	6–2	Nelsen, Moreno, Eskandarian (2) Stewart, Olsen
July 10, 2004	Kansas City Wizards	A	1–0
July 17, 2004	Los Angeles Galaxy	H	1–1	Nelsen
July 24, 2004	Dallas Burn	A	5–1	Gibbs (o.g.)
August 7, 2004	San Jose Earthquakes	A	2–0
August 11, 2004	Colorado Rapids	H	3–1	Adu, Stewart, Kotschau (o.g.)
August 14, 2004	New England Revolution	H	2–2	Moreno (2)
August 21, 2004	Columbus Crew	A	2–2	Eskandarian, Moreno
August 28, 2004	New England Revolution	A	0–0
September 4, 2004	Chicago Fire	A	3–1	Stewart
September 8, 2004	Dallas Burn	H	3–0	Eskandarian (2), Adu
September 18, 2004	Chicago Fire	H	3–1	Gomez, Eskandarian, Olsen
September 25, 2004	Columbus Crew	A	1–0
October 2, 2004	MetroStars	A	0–1	Adu
October 9, 2004	New England Revolution	H	1–0	Gomez
October 17, 2004	MetroStars	H	3–2	Gomez (2), Petke

Source: RSSSF

MLS Cup

Home team score listed first

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
October 22, 2004	C-SF, First Leg	MetroStars	A	0–2	11,161	Stewart, Eskandarian
October 30, 2004	C-SF, Second Leg	MetroStars	H	2–0	15,763	Moreno, Namoff
November 6, 2004	C-F	New England Revolution	H	3–3 (4–3 p.k.)	21,201	Eskandarian, Moreno, Gomez
November 14, 2004	F	Kansas City Wizards	N	3–2	25,797	Eskandarian (2), Zotinca (o.g.)

C-SF = Conference Semifinals
C-F = Conference Finals
F = Finals

U.S. Open Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
June 30, 2004	R3	Richmond Kickers	A	1–2	8,776	Kuffour

QR1 = First round Qualification
QR2 = Second round Qualification
R1 = First round proper
R2 = Second round proper
R3 = Third round proper
QF = Quarterfinals
SF = Semifinals
F = Final

MLS

Eastern Conference Standings

Eastern Conference regular season champion¹
Qualify for 2004 MLS Cup Playoffs

Pos	Club	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Columbus Crew	30	12	5	13	40	32	8	49
2	D.C. United	30	11	10	9	43	42	1	42
3	MetroStars	30	11	12	7	47	49	−2	40
4	New England Revolution	30	8	13	9	42	43	−1	33
5	Chicago Fire	30	8	13	9	36	44	−8	33

¹Earns top-seed in MLS Cup Playoffs

Overall Table

  MLS Supporters' Shield, Eastern Conference regular season champion¹
  Western Conference regular season champion²
  Qualify for 2004 MLS Cup Playoffs

Pos	Club	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Columbus Crew	30	12	5	13	40	32	8	49
2	Kansas City Wizards	30	14	9	7	38	30	8	49
3	Los Angeles Galaxy	30	11	9	10	42	40	2	43
4	D.C. United	30	11	10	9	43	42	1	42
5	Colorado Rapids	30	10	9	11	29	32	−3	41
6	MetroStars	30	11	12	7	47	49	−2	40
7	San Jose Earthquakes	30	9	10	11	41	35	6	38
8	Dallas Burn	30	10	14	6	34	45	−11	36
9	New England Revolution	30	8	13	9	42	43	−1	33
10	Chicago Fire	30	8	13	9	36	44	−8	33

¹Earns top-seed in the Eastern Conference bracket of MLS Cup Playoffs

²Earns top-seed in the Western Conference bracket of MLS Cup Playoffs

MLS Cup Playoffs Bracket

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

MLS Cup 2004

E1

Columbus Crew

0

1

E4

New England Revolution (wins 2–1 agg.)

1

E3

New England Revolution

E3

Eastern Conference

E2

D.C. United (wins 4–3 on PK's)

3*

E2

D.C. United (wins 4–0 agg.)

2

E3

MetroStars

0

E2

D.C. United

3

W1

Kansas City Wizards

2

W1

Kansas City Wizards (wins 3–2 agg.)

0

3

W4

San Jose Earthquakes

2

0

W1

Kansas City Wizards

2

Western Conference

W2

Los Angeles Galaxy

0

W2

Los Angeles Galaxy (wins 2–1 agg.)

0

2

W3

Colorado Rapids

1

0

Club

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	USA	David Stokes
3	FW	USA	Jason Thompson
4	DF	USA	Brandon Prideaux
7	DF	NZL	Ryan Nelsen
8	MF	USA	Earnie Stewart
9	MF	USA	Freddy Adu
11	FW	USA	Alecko Eskandarian
12	DF	USA	Mike Petke
13	MF	ARG	Christian Gómez
14	MF	USA	Ben Olsen
16	MF	USA	Brian Carroll


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	MF	USA	Joshua Gros
18	GK	USA	Nick Rimando
21	MF	UKR	Dema Kovalenko
22	GK	USA	Troy Perkins
23	FW	SLV	Eliseo Quintanilla
24	MF	GHA	Nana Kuffour
25	MF	USA	Santino Quaranta
26	DF	USA	Bryan Namoff
27	FW	USA	Tim Lawson
99	FW	BOL	Jaime Moreno

Statistics

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition[8][9]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Major League Soccer		MLS Cup		U.S. Open Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Doug Warren	1	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF		David Stokes	11	0	3+8	0	0	0	0	0
3	FW		Jason Thompson	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF		Brandon Prideaux	23	0	16+7	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF		Ezra Hendrickson	2	0	0+0	0	1+1	0	0	0
6	MF		Kevin Ara	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
7	DF		Ryan Nelsen	17	2	17+0	2	0	0	0	0
8	MF		Earnie Stewart	26	3	23+3	3	0	0	0	0
9	FW		Freddy Adu	34	5	14+16	5	3+1	0	0	0
11	FW		Alecko Eskandarian	28	14	19+5	10	4+0	4	0	0
12	DF		Mike Petke	26	1	23+3	1	0	0	0	0
13	MF		Christian Gómez	13	5	8+1	4	4+0	1	0	0
14	MF		Ben Olsen	25	3	25+0	3	0	0	0	0
16	MF		Brian Carroll	30	4	26+4	4+0	0	0	0	0
17	DF		Joshua Gros	33	1	21+8	1	1+3	0	0	0
18	GK		Nick Rimando	13	0	13+0	0	0	0	0	0
21	MF		Dema Kovalenko	28	3	25+0	3	3+0	0	0	0
22	GK		Troy Perkins	16	0	16+0	0	0	0	0	0
23	FW		Eliseo Quintanilla	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF		Nana Kuffour	6	1	1+4	0	0	0	1+0	1
25	MF		Santino Quaranta	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
27	FW		Tim Lawson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
99	FW		Jaime Moreno	31	9	27+0	7	4+0	2	0	0

Transfers

In

Date	Player	Position	Previous Club	Fee/Notes	Ref
July 14, 2004	Nana Kuffour	DM	Super Rainbows	Free transfer, developmental contract	[10]

SuperDraft picks

Round	Selection	Player	Position	School	Status
2004 D.C. United SuperDraft Class
1	1	Freddy Adu	MF	Heights School (MD)	Signed with first team
3	24	Kevin Ara	MF	Harvard	Signed with first team
5	44	Kevin Hudson	MF	SMU	Unsigned draft pick

Out

Sourced list of players sold or loaned out during the season

Awards

Only official awards regarding individuals associated with the club

FA Premier League Player of the Month (January): Patrick Scorer
FA Premier League Manager of the Month (January): Lucas Boss

References

"14-year-old signs with MLS". Deseret News. November 23, 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
Dure, Beau (November 11, 2004). "Harkes keeps both feet in the soccer world". USA Today. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
Dell'Apa, Frank (July 26, 2005). "10 of the best... MLS games". ESPN. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
Goff, Steven (November 3, 2006). "Revolution Ready to Take Another Shot". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
"D.C. United & Comcast SportsNet to launch 'Brunch with D.C. United'". Major League Soccer. January 25, 2006. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
Lifton, David (May 11, 2005). "Looking back: Unforgettable in every way". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on April 7, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
Goff, Steven (November 15, 2004). "United Captures 4th Title". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
"Statistics: 2004 Regular Season". D.C. United. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
"Statistics: 2004 Postseason". D.C. United. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
"Kuffuor put on D.C. United developmental roster". Ghanaweb.net. July 14, 2004. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[adu_signing-1] "14-year-old signs with MLS". Deseret News. November 23, 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2011.

[USAToday-2] Dure, Beau (November 11, 2004). "Harkes keeps both feet in the soccer world". USA Today. Retrieved June 19, 2007.

[ESPN-3] Dell'Apa, Frank (July 26, 2005). "10 of the best... MLS games". ESPN. Retrieved June 19, 2007.

[WashPost-4] Goff, Steven (November 3, 2006). "Revolution Ready to Take Another Shot". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2007.

[MLS-5] "D.C. United & Comcast SportsNet to launch 'Brunch with D.C. United'". Major League Soccer. January 25, 2006. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2007.

[DCU-6] Lifton, David (May 11, 2005). "Looking back: Unforgettable in every way". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on April 7, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2007.

[7] Goff, Steven (November 15, 2004). "United Captures 4th Title". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 10, 2011.

[2004_regular_season_stats-8] "Statistics: 2004 Regular Season". D.C. United. Retrieved June 18, 2011.

[2004_postseason_stats-9] "Statistics: 2004 Postseason". D.C. United. Retrieved June 18, 2011.

[kuffuor_transfer_in-10] "Kuffuor put on D.C. United developmental roster". Ghanaweb.net. July 14, 2004. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011.