The MLS Multiplex on FanSided continues its series of looking back at the past MLS Cup finals leading up to Major League Soccer’s 20th season. In this segment, we take a look at the 1998 MLS Cup between Bruce Arena’s D.C. United and Bob Bradley’s Chicago Fire. Chicago was one of two expansion teams to enter the competition, alongside the Miami Fusion.
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The 1998 Major League Soccer season saw Chicago and D.C. rise to the cream of the crop in the league. The Fire were led by the likes of Piotr Nowak, Jerzy Podbrozny, Zach Thornton, Roman Kosecki, Lubos Kubik, Josh Wolff and Frank Klopas. After their player careers were over, Nowak and Klopas would go into coaching. D.C. United, oh the other hand, were led by their core players of Jaime Moreno, John Harkes, Roy Lassiter, Eddie Pope and Marco Etcheverry.
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D.C. United finished with a record of 24 wins, seven shootout wins, seven shootout losses and eight losses (58 points). United opened their postseason run with a series sweep of the expansion Fusion in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. D.C. won the first match 2-1 before prevailing 3-2 in the second match’s shootout. In the Eastern Conference Championship, United defeated the Columbus Crew two games to one, defeating the Crew 2-0 and 3-0 while dropping a 4-2 result to Columbus in the second match of the series.
The Fire opened up their postseason campaign with a series sweep of the Colorado Rapids. In the Western Conference Semifinals, Chicago swept the Rapids two games to none with 2-1 and 1-0 victories. In what would be considered the biggest upset of the season, the Fire swept the high-scoring Los Angeles Galaxy in the Western Conference Championship two games to nil with a 1-0 victory followed by a 2-1 shootout win after a 1-1 draw.
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MLS Cup ’98 took place at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif. on Oct. 25, 1998. It was the first time the final took place at this venue, which would host a monumental FIFA Women’s World Cup final one year later. Podbrozny scored in the 29th minute and Diego Gutierrez slammed the door shut in the 45th minute to give the Fire a 2-0 shutout win and their first-ever MLS Cup. Nowak was named MLS Cup MVP for his two assists.
With the victory, Chicago also made history as being the first-ever MLS expansion club to win the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup double in the same year. Chicago also became the second MLS club overall to accomplish this feat. The game was a battle of two future U.S. Men’s National Team coaches. Bruce Arena would take the reins for the following FIFA World Cup cycle, while Bob Bradley would succeed Arena after the 2006 FIFA World Cup.