2010 Major League Soccer season
The 2010 Major League Soccer season was the 98th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 32nd with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada, and the 15th in MLS history. It began on March 25 at Seattle's Qwest Field with Seattle Sounders FC defeating the expansion Philadelphia Union, 2–0. The 2010 MLS All-Star Game was played at Reliant Stadium, hosted by the Houston Dynamo on July 28 as the MLS XI fell 5–2 to visiting Manchester United. The regular season concluded on October 24, with Los Angeles Galaxy winning  the Supporters' Shield by one point over Real Salt Lake. Upon the completion of the regular season the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs culminated on November 21 with a 2–1 victory by the Colorado Rapids over FC Dallas at Toronto's BMO Field. It was the first time the MLS Cup final was played outside the United States. The expiration of and failure to sign a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union threatened the season. Negotiations resulted in a new contract being agreed to on March 20, 2010. Changes from 2009. Collective Bargaining Agreement. After two  extensions to facilitate additional talks, the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union expired February 25, 2010. The league had said that it would not lockout the players. The union had voted in favor of a strike if a new deal was not reached before the beginning of the season. Players were seeking free-agent rights and more guaranteed contracts from the league. On March 20, 2010, MLS and the Players' Union agreed on a new, 5-year collective bargaining agreement that allowed the season to start on time. Competition format. The format for the 2010 season  was as follows: If more than two clubs are tied, once a club advances through any step, the process reverts to Tiebreaker 1 among the remaining tied clubs recursively until all ties are resolved. Statistical leaders. Statistics current as of October 24, 2010 Related Competitions. International competitions. CONCACAF Champions League. The Columbus Crew continued their 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League campaign that began during the previous season. They were defeated by Mexican club Toluca in the quarterfinals, 5–4 on aggregate. Seattle Sounders FC became the first team to qualify for the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League by winning the 2009 Lamar Hunt  U.S. Open Cup. The Columbus Crew qualified next by winning the 2009 MLS Supporters' Shield. The Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake also qualified by being the two 2009 MLS Cup finalists, while Toronto FC took the Canadian berth by virtue of their Canadian Championship win. Los Angeles, Seattle, and Toronto entered the competition in the preliminary round, while RSL and Columbus were seeded directly into the group stage. Seattle and Toronto won their preliminary round ties, beating Isidro Metapán of El Salvador and Motagua of Honduras, respectively. Los Angeles crashed out of the preliminary round after losing their  home match 4–1 to the Puerto Rico Islanders of the USSF D-2 Pro League and failing to make up the deficit in the away leg. The group stage was held August 17 – Oct 21. Real Salt Lake won Group A with 13 points over Cruz Azul, Toronto, and Arabe Unido of Panama. Toronto finished in 3rd place with 8 points. Columbus finished 2nd in Group B behind Club Santos Laguna but ahead of C.S.D. Municipal of Guatemala and Joe Public F.C. of Trinidad. Seattle finished 4th in Group C with 3 points behind C.F. Monterrey, C.D. Saprissa of Costa Rica , and C.D. Marathón of Honduras. On November 1, the draw for the Championship round was held. Real Salt Lake will face Columbus in the quarterfinal in February/March 2011, immediately prior to the 2011 MLS Regular Season. SuperLiga. As was the case for the 2009 SuperLiga, the top four overall finishers in MLS in 2009 that hadn't already qualified for the Champions League qualified for SuperLiga. This year's competition was contested by the Houston Dynamo, the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, and the New England Revolution from MLS. The four Mexican teams were Pachuca, Morelia, Puebla, and UNAM. New  England, Houston, Morelia and Puebla advanced from their groups, with the Revolution beating Puebla on penalties in one semifinal, and Morelia defeating Houston in the other. Morelia defeated New England 2–1 in the final at Gillette Stadium on September 1. Domestic competitions. Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The top six overall teams from the 2009 MLS season (Columbus, Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, Chicago, and Chivas USA) received automatic berths into the Third round of the 2010 U.S. Open Cup, while the eight remaining U.S.-based MLS teams and the expansion Philadelphia Union competed in a single-elimination qualification tournament to determine  the MLS's final two official entrants into the competition. Teams were seeded one through nine, with the seventh-place MLS team from 2009 earning the first seed (and would play the winner of the eight v. nine play-in game), while each following team would receive its respective seed. The New York Red Bulls and D.C. United earned the final two MLS spots in the Third round. For the first time since 2006, the semifinals were contested exclusively by MLS teams, with Seattle beating Chivas USA and Columbus defeating D.C. United. The final was played October 5 at Qwest  Field in Seattle with the defending cup holders, the Sounders, defeating the Crew 2–1. The Sounders became the first MLS team ever to successfully defend the U.S. Open Cup, and the first team from any league to do so since New York Pancyprian-Freedoms in 1983. Canadian championship. Toronto FC, as a Canadian-based MLS team, is not eligible to compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and instead contested the Canadian Championship with the two Canadian-based teams in the Division-2 Pro League, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact. Toronto FC won the tournament, claiming the Voyageurs Cup and  Canada's entry into the Preliminary Round of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League.