You’re on the MLS Multiplex here on the FanSided Network, and we continue our look back at the past 19 MLS Cup finals leading up to the 2015 Major League Soccer season. In this segment, we look at the 2004 MLS Cup final between Piotr Nowak’s D.C. United and Bob Gansler’s Kansas City Wizards (now known as Sporting Kansas City). 2004 would be a significant season for D.C. United, who signed then-14-year old prodigy Freddy Adu, who made history as the youngest player in North American sports history. In addition, the prominence of San Jose’s Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson of the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas), saw them share the Golden Boot.
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While Freddy Adu was, without a doubt, a main attraction for D.C. United, there were other players that made an impact for D.C., who saw a managerial change after Ray Hudson’s stint went sour. Jaime Moreno remained the centerpiece of D.C. United’s attack. Midfielder Ben Olsen would remain with the club as the current manager after concluding his playing career.
Goalkeepers Nick Rimando and Troy Perkins are currently playing their trade at Real Salt Lake and the Montreal Impact, respectively. Defender Mike Petke is now the man in charge of the New York Red Bulls. Midfielder Earnie Stewart is the Director of Football for AZ Alkmaar. And forward Alecko Eskandarian is an assistant manager to Giovanni Savarese of the New York Cosmos.
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D.C. United finished the 2004 regular season with a record of 11-10-9 (42 points), good for second place in the MLS Eastern Conference. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals, they defeated the MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls) 4-0 on aggregate. Stewart (67′) and Eskandarian (88′) scored in the first leg, which Moreno (85′) and Bryan Namoff (89′) scored in the second leg. In the Eastern Conference Championship, D.C. United defeated Clint Dempsey and the New England Revolution 4-3 on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Eskandarian (11′), Moreno (21′) and Christian Gomez (67′) scored in the match, while Santino Quaranta, Adu, Eskandarian and Brian Carroll converted their penalties.
The Kansas City Wizards had a number of key players as well, including goalkeeper Tony Meola; defenders Jose Burciaga, Jr. and Jimmy Conrad; midfielder Predrag “Preki” Radosavljevic, Chris Klein, Jack Jewsbury and Khari Stephenson; and forward Davy Arnaud. Preki would go on to a career as a club manager and he is currently the man in charge at Sacramento Republic. As for Klein, these days he plies his trade as president of the Los Angeles Galaxy.
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Kansas City finished the 2004 regular season with a record of 14-9-7 (49 points), good for first place in the MLS Western Conference. In the Western Conference semifinals, the Wizards defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 3-2 on aggregate. After losing the first leg 2-0, Kansas City rebounded with goals from Stephenson (26′), Brian Ching on an own goal (48′), and Jewsbury (90′ + 2′). In the Western Conference Championship, Arnaud came up huge with goals in the 24th and 68th minutes to give the Wizards a 2-0 win over the Galaxy.
Once again, StubHub Center (then known as the Home Depot Center) in Carson, Calif. was the site for the MLS Cup final. MLS Cup 2004 was unique in that this was the first final in which a player was sent off. D.C.’s Dema Kovalenko was given his marching orders in the 57th minute for a handball in the box. However, Alecko Eskandarian’s heroics in the 19th and 23rd minutes along with an Alex Zotinca own goal in the 26th minute of play was enough for D.C. to come away winners, 3-2. Burciaga, Jr. (6′) and Josh Wolff (58′) scored for Kansas City.
The championship was D.C.’s fourth MLS Cup, and it was a record would not be surpassed for another decade. In addition, as of this article date, this would be the last MLS Cup that D.C. United would win in their history.
There is a sad afterstory to all this. Despite being the youngest player to ever win MLS Cup, Freddy Adu was never the same player after that. With the lack of a proper academy to keep Adu focused to perform in MLS, he ended up becoming a journeyman that lacked the right skill set and maturity to compete internationally, and even though he continues to play to this day, his star faded faster than John Wayne riding into the sunset. The mandate of installing academies at all of the MLS clubs would soon take place years later.