# 1999 Major League Soccer season

The 1999 Major League Soccer season was the fourth season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 87th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 21st with a national first-division league. This was the last season which used the 35 yard line shootout rule to resolve tied games, and that of the countdown timer, with MLS Cup 1999 adopting the IFAB-standard running clock thereafter.
The Columbus Crew moved into the first soccer-specific stadium when Columbus Crew Stadium opened on May 15, 1999.
The regular season began on March 20, and concluded on October 10. The 1999 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 16, and concluded with MLS Cup 1999 on November 21. D.C. United won their second double by winning the Supporters' Shield and defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy in MLS Cup.

## Overview
### Season format

The season began on March 20 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 21. The 12 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 32 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their conference four times, for a total of 20 games. The remaining schedule consisted of two games against each team from the opposite conference.
The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The conference semifinals and finals were played as a best-of-three series, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken by penalty shootout if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.
The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield. The winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| Chicago Fire | Soldier Field | 66,944 |
| Colorado Rapids | Mile High Stadium | 76,273 |
| Columbus Crew | Columbus Crew Stadium | 22,555 |
| D.C. United | RFK Stadium | 46,000 |
| Dallas Burn | Cotton Bowl | 92,100 |
| Kansas City Wizards | Arrowhead Stadium | 81,425 |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | Rose Bowl | 92,542 |
| MetroStars | Giants Stadium | 80,200 |
| Miami Fusion | Lockhart Stadium | 20,450 |
| New England Revolution | Foxboro Stadium | 60,292 |
| San Jose Clash | Spartan Stadium | 30,456 |
| Tampa Bay Mutiny | Raymond James Stadium | 69,218 |

### Personnel and sponsorships

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Shirt sponsor |
| Chicago Fire | Bob Bradley | | — |
| Colorado Rapids | Glenn Myernick | | |
| Columbus Crew | Tom Fitzgerald | | Snickers |
| D.C. United | Thomas Rongen | | MasterCard |
| Dallas Burn | Dave Dir | | |
| Kansas City Wizards | Ron Newman | | — |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | Octavio Zambrano | | — |
| MetroStars | Bora Milutinović | Tab Ramos | |
| Miami Fusion | Ivo Wortmann | | — |
| New England Revolution | Walter Zenga | | — |
| San Jose Clash | Brian Quinn | John Doyle | Honda |
| Tampa Bay Mutiny | Tim Hankinson | | |

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| Kansas City Wizards | Ron Newman | Fired | April 14, 1999 | Ken Fogarty | April 14, 1999 |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | Octavio Zambrano | Fired | April 22, 1999 | Sigi Schmid | April 22, 1999 |
| Kansas City Wizards | Ken Fogarty | End of interim period | April 28, 1999 | Bob Gansler | April 28, 1999 |
| San Jose Clash | Brian Quinn | Fired | September 16, 1999 | Jorge Espinoza | September 16, 1999 |
| San Jose Clash | Jorge Espinoza | End of interim period | September 22, 1999 | Lothar Osiander | September 22, 1999 |

## Standings
### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | SOW | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | D.C. United | 32 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 65 | 43 | +22 | 57 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 2 | Columbus Crew | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 45 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 3 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 32 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 32 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 4 | Miami Fusion | 32 | 8 | 5 | 19 | 42 | 59 | −17 | 29 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 5 | New England Revolution | 32 | 7 | 5 | 20 | 38 | 53 | −15 | 26 | |
| 6 | MetroStars | 32 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 32 | 64 | −32 | 15 | |

### Western Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | SOW | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 32 | 17 | 3 | 12 | 49 | 29 | +20 | 54 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 2 | Dallas Burn | 32 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 54 | 35 | +19 | 51 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 3 | Chicago Fire | 32 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 51 | 36 | +15 | 48 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 4 | Colorado Rapids | 32 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 48 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 5 | San Jose Clash | 32 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 48 | 49 | −1 | 37 | |
| 6 | Kansas City Wizards | 32 | 6 | 2 | 24 | 33 | 53 | −20 | 20 | |

### Overall standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | SOW | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | D.C. United (C, S) | 32 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 65 | 43 | +22 | 57 | CONCACAF Champions' Cup |
| 2 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 32 | 17 | 3 | 12 | 49 | 29 | +20 | 54 | CONCACAF Champions' Cup |
| 3 | Dallas Burn | 32 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 54 | 35 | +19 | 51 | |
| 4 | Chicago Fire | 32 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 51 | 36 | +15 | 48 | |
| 5 | Colorado Rapids | 32 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 48 | |
| 6 | Columbus Crew | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 45 | |
| 7 | San Jose Clash | 32 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 48 | 49 | −1 | 37 | |
| 8 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 32 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 32 | |
| 9 | Miami Fusion | 32 | 8 | 5 | 19 | 42 | 59 | −17 | 29 | |
| 10 | New England Revolution | 32 | 7 | 5 | 20 | 38 | 53 | −15 | 26 | |
| 11 | Kansas City Wizards | 32 | 6 | 2 | 24 | 33 | 53 | −20 | 20 | |
| 12 | MetroStars | 32 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 32 | 64 | −32 | 15 | |

## MLS Cup Playoffs
### Bracket

| Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | MLS Cup | MLS Cup | MLS Cup |
| E1 | D.C. United | 2 | 0 (3) | x | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Miami | 0 | 0 (2) | x | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Miami | 0 | 0 (2) | x | E1 | D.C. United | 2 | 1 | 4 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | D.C. United | 2 | 1 | 4 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E2 | Columbus | 1 | 5 | 0 | | | |
| E2 | Columbus | 2 | 2 | x | E2 | Columbus | 1 | 5 | 0 | | | |
| E3 | Tampa Bay | 0 | 0 | x | | | | | | | | |
| E3 | Tampa Bay | 0 | 0 | x | | | | | | E1 | D.C. United | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | | | W1 | Los Angeles | 0 |
| W1 | Los Angeles | 3 | 2 | x | | | | | | | | | W1 | Los Angeles | 0 |
| W4 | Colorado | 0 | 0 | x | | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Colorado | 0 | 0 | x | W1 | Los Angeles | 2 | 2 (3) | 3 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Los Angeles | 2 | 2 (3) | 3 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W2 | Dallas | 1 | 2 (4) | 1 | | | |
| W2 | Dallas | 2 | 0 | 3 | W2 | Dallas | 1 | 2 (4) | 1 | | | |
| W3 | Chicago | 1 | 4 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
* Best of Three series winner will advance.

### Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference
* D.C. United advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.
* Columbus Crew advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.
Western Conference
* Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals.
* Dallas Burn advance 2–1, to the Conference Finals.

### Conference finals

* D.C. United advance 2–1, advance to MLS Cup '99.
* Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–1. advance to MLS Cup '99.

### MLS Cup
## Player statistics
### Goals

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Stern John | Columbus Crew | 18 |
| 1 | Roy Lassiter | D.C. United | 18 |
| 1 | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn | 18 |
| 4 | Joe-Max Moore | New England Revolution | 15 |
| 4 | Ronald Cerritos | San Jose Clash | 15 |
| 6 | Ante Razov | Chicago Fire | 14 |
| 7 | Raúl Díaz Arce | San Jose Clash, Tampa Bay Mutiny | 13 |
| 8 | Musa Shannon | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 12 |
| 8 | Jeff Cunningham | Columbus Crew | 12 |
| 10 | 5 players | 5 players | 10 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Club | Against | Result | Date |
| Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn | New England Revolution | 4–0 | March 20 |
| Stern John | Columbus Crew | Miami Fusion | 4–0 | August 1 |
| Stern John | Columbus Crew | MetroStars | 4–2 | August 18 |

### Assists

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Marco Etcheverry | D.C. United | 13 |
| 1 | Carlos Valderrama | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 13 |
| 3 | Steve Ralston | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 12 |
| 4 | Ben Olsen | D.C. United | 11 |
| 5 | Jeff Baicher | San Jose Clash | 9 |
| 5 | Mauricio Cienfuegos | Los Angeles Galaxy | 9 |
| 5 | Roman Kosecki | Chicago Fire | 9 |
| 5 | Eddie Lewis | San Jose Clash | 9 |
| 9 | Henry Gutierrez | Miami Fusion | 8 |
| 9 | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn | 8 |
| 9 | Brian McBride | Columbus Crew | 8 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Kevin Hartman | Los Angeles Galaxy | 11 |
| 1 | Matt Jordan | Dallas Burn | 11 |
| 3 | Ian Feuer | Colorado Rapids | 8 |
| 4 | Zach Thornton | Chicago Fire | 7 |
| 5 | Mark Dougherty | Columbus Crew | 6 |
| 6 | Scott Garlick | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 5 |
| 7 | Joe Cannon | San Jose Clash | 4 |
| 7 | Marcus Hahnemann | Colorado Rapids | 4 |
| 9 | Jeff Cassar | Miami Fusion | 3 |
| 9 | Garth Lagerway | Miami Fusion | 3 |
| 9 | Tony Meola | Kansas City Wizards | 3 |
| 9 | Tom Presthus | D.C. United | 3 |

## Awards
### Individual awards

| Award | Player | Team |
| Most Valuable Player | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn |
| Defender of the Year | Robin Fraser | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Kevin Hartman | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| Coach of the Year | Sigi Schmid | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| Rookie of the Year | Jay Heaps | Miami Fusion |
| Scoring Champion | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn |
| Goal of the Year | Marco Etcheverry | D.C. United |
| Fair Play Award | Steve Ralston | Tampa Bay Mutiny |

### Best XI

| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Kevin Hartman, LA Galaxy | Jeff Agoos, D.C. United Luboš Kubík, Chicago Robin Fraser, LA Galaxy | Chris Armas, Chicago Mauricio Cienfuegos, LA Galaxy Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United Eddie Lewis, San Jose Steve Ralston, Tampa Bay | Jason Kreis, Dallas Jaime Moreno, D.C. United |

### Player of the Month

| Week | Player | Club |
| March | Ante Razov | Chicago Fire |
| April | Musa Shannon | Tampa Bay Mutiny |
| May | Roy Lassiter | D.C. United |
| June | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn |
| July | Raúl Díaz Arce | Tampa Bay Mutiny |
| August | Matt Jordan | Dallas Burn |
| September | Ronald Cerritos | San Jose Clash |

### Weekly awards

Player of the Week :
| Week | Player | Club |
| Week 1 | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn |
| Week 2 | Ante Razov | Chicago Fire |
| Week 3 | Ante Razov | Chicago Fire |
| Week 4 | Matt Jordan | Dallas Burn |
| Week 5 | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn |
| Week 6 | Ivan McKinley | New England Revolution |
| Week 7 | Jeff Cunningham | Columbus Crew |
| Week 8 | Mark Chung | MetroStars |
| Week 9 | Roy Lassiter | D.C. United |
| Week 10 | Giovanni Savarese | New England Revolution |
| Week 11 | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn |
| Week 12 | Jaime Moreno | D.C. United |
| Week 13 | Joe-Max Moore | New England Revolution |
| Week 14 | Jorge Dely Valdés | Colorado |
| Week 15 | Stern John | Columbus Crew |
| Week 16 | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn |
| Week 17 | Chris Klein | Kansas City Wizards |
| Week 18 | Raúl Díaz Arce | Tampa Bay Mutiny |
| Week 19 | Luboš Kubík | Chicago Fire |
| Week 20 | Ariel Graziani | Dallas Burn |
| Week 21 | Ben Olsen | D.C. United |
| Week 22 | Manny Lagos | Tampa Bay Mutiny |
| Week 23 | Giovanni Savarese | New England Revolution |
| Week 24 | Eddie Lewis | San Jose Clash |
| Week 25 | Brian McBride | Columbus Crew |
| Week 26 | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn |
| Week 27 | Jason Kreis | Dallas Burn |

## Attendance

| Rank | Team | GP | Cumulative | High | Low | Mean |
| 1 | Columbus Crew | 16 | 283,129 | 24,741 | 13,891 | 17,696 |
| 2 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 16 | 282,113 | 60,433 | 4,825 | 17,632 |
| 3 | D.C. United | 16 | 278,711 | 35,167 | 10,846 | 17,419 |
| 4 | New England Revolution | 16 | 267,752 | 30,564 | 7,260 | 16,735 |
| 5 | Chicago Fire | 16 | 256,261 | 27,311 | 6,223 | 16,016 |
| 6 | San Jose Clash | 16 | 239,350 | 73,123 | 6,824 | 14,812 |
| 7 | MetroStars | 16 | 235,301 | 43,192 | 6,876 | 14,706 |
| 8 | Colorado Rapids | 16 | 224,459 | 51,025 | 4,746 | 14,029 |
| 9 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 16 | 209,700 | 20,976 | 8,264 | 13,106 |
| 10 | Dallas Burn | 16 | 195,387 | 17,621 | 7,237 | 12,212 |
| 11 | Miami Fusion | 16 | 139,021 | 13,648 | 5,862 | 8,689 |
| 12 | Kansas City Wizards | 16 | 130,924 | 15,509 | 4,631 | 8,183 |
| Total | Total | 192 | 2,742,108 | 73,123 | 4,631 | 14,282 |