The 2004 Major League Soccer season culminated with

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

winning its fourth

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

championship. The biggest news in the beginning of the season was the signing of 14-year-old prodigy

Freddy Adu Fredua Koranteng Adu (born June 2, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder. The last club he played for was Ettan Fotboll club Österlen FF. From before the time of his signing with D.C. United at ...

, who made his debut as a substitute in United's season opener and scored his first goal several games later against the rival MetroStars. Adu contributed as a substitute on D.C.'s championship team, scoring five goals as the youngest player in North American sports history. The season saw the emergence of forwards

Brian Ching Brian Ching (born May 24, 1978) is an American former professional soccer player who played for twelve years in Major League Soccer and represented the U.S. national team for eight years. Ching's professional career began when he was the 16th ...

( San Jose) and Eddie Johnson (

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

) as formidable forwards, not only for their MLS teams, but for the United States national team as well. The two shared Golden Boot honors. The

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

emerged as a dominant team in the second half of the regular season, running off an MLS-record 18-game unbeaten streak en route to the Supporters' Shield title, won after finishing level on points with Kansas City.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Overall

Playoffs

In the playoffs, the Crew were taken down by the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

, who ended the Crew's streak in the opening leg, and goalkeeper

Matt Reis Matt Reis ( ; born March 28, 1975) is an American former soccer player and coach who played as a goalkeeper. A long-time Major League Soccer mainstay, he has served as goalkeeper coach for LA Galaxy and the United States. Youth and college R ...

, who saved two penalty kicks in the second leg. United cruised past the rival MetroStars (and league MVP

Amado Guevara Amado Guevara (born 2 May 1976) is a Honduran former professional footballer and manager. He was the coach of Puerto Rico from 2018 to 2019. A former midfielder, he is the second all-time cap leader for the Honduras national team seconded by M ...

) 4–0 on aggregate in the other Eastern Conference semifinal. In the Western Conference, Kansas City rallied from a 2–0 first-leg deficit for a dramatic 3–0 win in stoppage time over the defending MLS Cup champion San Jose Earthquakes in their conference semifinal. The

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

used a 2–0 home victory in the second leg to overcome the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

and goalie Joe Cannon, who had led the Rapids to a 1–0 victory in the opener. In the conference finals, Kansas City used two goals from unsung forward

Davy Arnaud Davy Arnaud (; born June 22, 1980) is an American soccer coach and former player. During his professional career, he played for Sporting Kansas City, Montreal Impact, and D.C. United, and served on the coaching staff of D.C. United and Houst ...

, who enjoyed a breakout season, to beat the Galaxy and return to the final for the first time since 2000. D.C. United and New England hooked up in the Eastern Conference final in one of the best games in MLS playoff history. Playing at home, D.C. United took three different leads, only to see New England recover each time to tie the match 3–3 in a game full of highlight-reel goals. The match was finally decided by the first conventional shootout in MLS history, with

Nick Rimando Nicholas Paul Rimando (born June 17, 1979) is an American retired soccer player who last played as a goalkeeper for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer and the United States national team. He holds the Major League Soccer records for career ...

saving the first 'sudden death'

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

from Rookie of the Year

Clint Dempsey Clinton Drew Dempsey (; born March 9, 1983) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward and midfielder. During his career, he played in the Premier League for Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur and in Major League Soccer ...

to send D.C. to the championship. In the second consecutive final held at the

Home Depot Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

, D.C. rebounded from an early

Jose Burciaga Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

goal by scoring three goals in eight minutes, including two from

Alecko Eskandarian Alecko Eskandarian (born July 9, 1982) is an iranian American retired soccer player,He is the son of Andranik Eskandrian, a former player of the Iranian national team and the Esteghlal team . He is a former assistant coach for New York Cosmos ...

to take a 3–1 lead. In the second half,

Dema Kovalenko Dmytro "Dema" Kovalenko ( uk, Дмитро (Діма) Коваленко; born 28 August 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent the majority of his playing career in the United States after moving there i ...

became the first player to be sent off in an MLS Cup final after knocking a shot off the goal line with his hand. Although

Josh Wolff Josh Wolff (born February 25, 1977) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of Austin FC in Major League Soccer. Playing career College Born in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Wolff played three years of colle ...

converted the penalty kick, D.C. United held on with only 10 men to win its fourth championship in the nine-year history of MLS.

Play-off Bracket

MLS Cup Playoffs

Conference Semifinals

advance 2–1 on aggregate. ---- ''

advance 4–0 on aggregate.'' ---- '' Kansas City Wizards advance 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''

advance 2–1 on aggregate.'' ----

Conference finals

---- ''

advance 4–3 on penalties (3–3 after full time).'' ----

MLS Cup 2004 MLS Cup 2004 was the ninth edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), which took place on November 14, 2004, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. It was contested between D.C. United and the Kansas ...

wins the MLS Cup
Kansas City Wizards and

earn MLS berths to
CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2005.

Team Awards

–

* U.S. Open Cup – Kansas City Wizards *

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since ...

–

Individual awards

Top goal scorers

Goal-Scoring Totals

Team Attendance Totals

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Piotr Nowak Piotr "Peter" Nowak (; born 5 July 1964) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. He was most recently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok. Nowak played in Europe for Polish clubs such as Zawisza Bydgoszcz ...

Western Conference

: Colin Clarke * Kansas City Wizards:

Bob Gansler Bob Gansler (born July 1, 1941) is a Hungarian-born American soccer player and coach of German descent. He coached the U.S. National Team at the 1990 World Cup, the team's first appearance at the tournament since 1950. Playing career As a pl ...

* San Jose Earthquakes:

Dominic Kinnear Dominic Kinnear (born July 26, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former player. On January 18, 2022, he was named an assistant coach by FC Cincinnati, his first coaching role since serving as the interim head coach of the LA Galaxy. As a p ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2004 Major League Soccer Season Major League Soccer seasons 1