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MLS Cup 2000 / Wizards 1, Fire 0WASHINGTON, D.C. – Wizards goalkeeper Tony Meola capped off a remarkable season by making 10 saves as Kansas City downed Chicago 1-0 at MLS Cup 2000 Sunday afternoon at RFK Stadium. Miklos Molnar scored the game-winning goal 11 minutes into the contest and the league's best defense made it stand up from there. Meola was named the Most Valuable Player of MLS Cup, after he earned MVP, Goalkeeper and Comeback Player of the Year awards for a stellar regular season. The 31-year-old, who set an MLS record with 16 shutouts in the regular season, set a new mark with five postseason shutouts as well. "We came here believing that we could win this thing, we knew we could win it all," Meola said. "This is the greatest soccer moment in my life, what a feeling." Kansas City took advantage of an early breakdown by Chicago to net the game's only goal. Wizards midfielder Chris Klein stole the ball from Chicago's Diego Gutierrez near midfield and stormed down the right flank toward the box. Klein sent a cross into the box that eluded several defenders. Fire midfielder Jesse Marsch failed to clear the ball, allowing Molnar to pounce on it and roll the opening goal past Fire 'keeper Zach Thornton in the 11th minute. "I saw it go in, just barely over the line, but that's all that matters," Molnar said. "We knew if we scored the first goal it would be a very difficult game for them." Molnar's goal was his fifth of the playoffs and seventh in his last 10 games. The Wizards finished the season with a 14-0-1 record in games that 'Danish Dynamite' scored a goal. For Klein, the assist was his second in the postseason. Kansas City also went 19-2-1 when scoring first in all games including playoff contests. "Tony was magnificent today and Miklos came through with the goal we needed, just as they both have all season long," Wizards captain Mo Johnston said. The 39,159 fans at RFK Stadium were treated to exciting soccer after Molnar's goal, with MLS' best offense hunting for an equalizer against the league's best defense. Meola ensured the Wizards would capture the first MLS Cup title in club history with several spectacular saves in the second half. The last 45 minutes was much more physical than the opening half, with the team combining for five yellow cards.
Meola's best sequence came after the 80th minute, when the All-Star made several diving stops from close-range in the box. The veteran goalkeeper turned aside quality chances from striker Josh Wolff (82nd minute), midfielder Dema Kovalenko (83rd minute) and forward Hristo Stoitchkov (86th minute). "It was incredible, it was so surreal. I thought last week felt good, it wasn't even close to this feeling," Meola said. "Thankfully, I was able to come up a few times with some big saves when they had chances in the box. We held up defensively and really deserve this."
Both teams had excellent chances to score throughout the first half, which was played at a faster pace than the second half. The Wizards almost made it 2-0 in the 14 minute, with Preki launching a rocket over the crossbar with his potent left foot from just outside the box. Chicago was able to string together some passes and create chances over the next few minutes. Rookie of the Year Carlos Bocanegra worked a nice one-two with striker Hristo Stoitchkov at the top of the box, only to shoot high over the bar in the 19th minute. Meola came up with six solid saves in the half, with a pair of close-range stops on Fire midfielder Dema Kovalenko in the 30th and 40th minutes his best efforts. Stoitchkov rang a shot off the left post from 12 yards out on the wing.
"We came to win a championship and are surely very disappointed," Fire Head Coach Bob Bradley said. "I felt we had a pretty good start, but then they scored in their first trip to our end. After that, we had so many chances but didn't shoot very well." The Wizards had another shot at getting a second goal in the first half. Klein again came down the right wing with the ball and eluded Gutierrez to get deep in the box. Klein's driven cross just eluded Wizards forward Mo Johnston, who almost had a tap-in at the back post in the 34th minute. Kansas City becomes the third club to claim an MLS Cup championship. D.C. United has won MLS Cup three times, while Chicago earned the title as an expansion team in 1998. "We said we wanted to use this game as an exclamation mark on our nine month trek and we did that," Wizards Head Coach Bob Gansler said. "We feel very much satisfied with our accomplishments." After the game, Wizards forwards Molnar, Johnston and Alex Bunbury all announced their retirements. Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruyff made an appearance at MLS Cup 2000. Cruyff coached Stoitchkov at Barcelona in Spain and the pair remain friends.
Scoring Summary: CHICAGO FIRE--Zach Thornton, C.J. Brown, Carlos Bocanegra, Tenywa
Bonseu, Peter Nowak (Lubos Kubik 83), Diego Gutierrez (DaMarcus Beasley
70), Chris Armas, Jesse Marsch (Josh Wolff 59), Dema Kovalenko, Hristo
Stoitchkov, Ante Razov KANSAS CITY WIZARDS--Tony Meola, Chris Klein (Francisco Gomez
89), Nick Garcia, Peter Vermes, Brandon Prideaux, Preki (Uche Okafor 74),
Matt McKeon, Kerry Zavagnin, Chris Henderson, Mo Johnston, Miklos Molnar Referee: Paul Tamberino; Referee's Assistants: Craig Lowry,
George Vergara |
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