Season 2008 Goals scored 591 | Start date 2008 Matches played 210 | |
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MLS Cup Columbus Crew (1st title) Supporters' Shield Columbus Crew (2nd shield) Champions League Columbus CrewNew York Red BullsHouston DynamoD.C. United SuperLiga Chicago FireN.E. RevolutionChivas USAKansas City Wizards Top goalscorer Landon DonovanLos Angeles GalaxyGoals: 20 Similar 2012 Major League Soccer se, 1996 Major League Soccer se, 2015 Major League Soccer se, 2014 Major League Soccer se |
The 2008 Major League Soccer season was the 13th season in the history of Major League Soccer. The season began on March 29 and ended with MLS Cup 2008, on November 23 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
Contents
Changes from the 2007 season
Competition format
The format for the 2008 season was as follows:
Tiebreakers
- Head-to-Head (Points-per-match average)
- Overall Goal Differential
- Overall Total Goals Scored
- Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches on the road
- Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches at home
- Fewest team disciplinary points in the League Fair Play table
- Coin toss
NOTE: 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.
MLS Tiebreakers
Standings
For an explanation of the playoff qualifications, see Competition format.
Overall standings
If they had qualified for an automatic berth into the U.S. Open Cup, the next highest placed team not already qualified would have qualified.
If they had qualified for the Champions League through MLS, then the highest placed team not already qualified would have qualified.
2008 MLS Cup Playoffs
1 The New York Red Bulls earned the eighth and final playoff berth, despite finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference. They represent the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket, as only three teams in the Western Conference qualified for the playoffs.
CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2008
The Houston Dynamo and D.C. United earned berths in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup by virtue of their MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield wins, respectively. Houston and D.C. were both victorious in their quarterfinal ties and advanced to the semifinals. For the second straight year, however, both lost their respective semifinals, and were eliminated.
SuperLiga 2008
D.C. United, Chivas USA, the New England Revolution, and the Houston Dynamo were MLS's entrants into SuperLiga 2008, based on their top-four finish in the 2007 regular season.
Following the Group Stage, which took place from July 12 to July 20, Houston and New England each won their respective groups to advance to the Semifinals, where they faced 2007 champion Pachuca on July 29 and Atlante on July 30, respectively. D.C. United finished last and Chivas USA finished third in their respective groups and failed to advance.
Both MLS teams were victorious in the Semifinals, setting up a rematch of the 2006 and 2007 MLS Cups in the Final on August 5 at Gillette Stadium.
The teams played to a 2-2 draw after extra time. New England eventually defeated Houston 6-5 on penalty kicks.
CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09
The Houston Dynamo (MLS Cup winner), D.C. United (Supporters' Shield Winner), the New England Revolution (U.S. Open Cup winner and MLS Cup runner-up), and Chivas USA (Supporters' Shield runner-up) were the representatives in the rebranded successor to the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
New England and Chivas USA entered at the Preliminary Round, and were eliminated over two legs by Joe Public of Trinidad and Tobago and Tauro of Panama, respectively.
D.C. and Houston were seeded into the Group Stage as the top seeds in Groups A and B, respectively.
D.C. was eliminated from Group A with two games remaining in group play, while Houston qualified for the Championship Round with a 1-0 win in their last match against Luis Ángel Firpo on November 26, which was postponed from Matchday 1 due to Hurricane Ike.
Houston was eliminated in the Quarterfinals over two legs by Atlante.
2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
MLS awarded the top three finishers in each conference last season automatic berths into the 2008 U.S. Open Cup's Third Round. D.C. United, the New England Revolution, and the New York Red Bulls qualified from the Eastern Conference while Chivas USA, the Houston Dynamo, and FC Dallas qualified from the Western Conference. The rest of MLS's U.S.-based teams would have to compete for the final two berths into the Third Round via a seven-team playoff. Eventually Chicago Fire and the Kansas City Wizards qualified by beating the Columbus Crew and the Colorado Rapids respectively.
Each of the qualified MLS teams was matched up against the winner of a Second Round game, all of whom came from either one of the USL's three divisions or the USASA, in the Third Round on July 1. Three MLS teams were eliminated by these lower division clubs. Chivas USA was eliminated by USL-1's Seattle Sounders, the New York Red Bulls were upset by Crystal Palace Baltimore of USL-2, and the Houston Dynamo lost a penalty shootout to the USL-1's Charleston Battery.
In the Quarterfinals on July 8, FC Dallas and the Kansas City Wizards were eliminated by the Charleston Battery and the Seattle Sounders, respectively. This meant an MLS team, either D.C. United or the New England Revolution would face a USL-1 team in the final.
In the Semifinals on August 12, D.C. United upset the Open Cup holding Revolution by a score of 3 to 1. This earned United a berth in the final against the USL-1's Charleston Battery on September 3 at RFK Stadium.
In the Final on September 3, D.C. United won their second U.S. Open Cup in a 2-1 win over the Charleston Battery.
2008 Canadian Championship
Due to the fact that none of the Canadian teams playing in the American soccer pyramid can qualify for Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League through their leagues or the U.S. Open Cup, the Canadian Soccer Association was forced to develop a tournament to determine the country's representative in the Champions League. The country's top three teams, MLS's Toronto FC and the USL-1's Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC were entered into the inaugural Canadian Championship. The tournament was played as a double round robin group from May 27 to July 22. The Montreal Impact finished first, claiming the Canadian berth in the Champions League.
All-Star game
The 2008 MLS All-Star Game was held at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, home of Toronto FC, on July 24. The opponent was West Ham United, of England's Premier League. It was the first time that the game was played outside the United States.
The game was won by the MLS All-Stars by a score of 3-2. Cuauhtémoc Blanco was named MVP of the game after assisting the All-Stars' first goal and scoring their second.