MLS Cup 2010 was the 15th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top-flight soccer league in the United States and Canada. The match took place on November 21, 2010, at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario, the first Canadian city to host the league's championship. It was contested by the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas, both from the Western Conference, to determine the champion of the 2010 season. The 2010 edition was the fourth MLS Cup to feature finalists from the same conference.
Colorado won 2–1 over Dallas on an own goal in extra time, as a shot by Rapids forward Macoumba Kandji was deflected on goal by Dallas defender George John. The match kicked off at 8:30 pm EST, and was televised by ESPN and Galavisión in the United States, and by TSN2 in Canada.
As a result of their victory, the Colorado Rapids earned direct Group Stage berth in the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League. FC Dallas earned a preliminary round spot in the Champions League.
Road to the final
The MLS Cup is the post-season championship of Major League Soccer, a professional club soccer league based in the United States. The 2010 season was the 15th in the league's history and was contested by 16 teams organized into two conferences, each with 8 teams. The regular season ran from March to October with teams playing 30 matches in a double round-robin format with home-and-away series against the other 15 teams. The top eight teams advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs, a postseason tournament that determined the league's champion.
The 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs format was unchanged from the previous year, with the top two teams from each conference qualifying alongside four wild card slots for the next teams in the overall standings regardless of conference. It took place from October 28 to November 21 and was organized into three rounds: a home-and-away series in the Conference Semifinals, a single-match Conference Final, and the MLS Cup final. The Conference Semifinals was a two-legged series, while the Conference Final was a single match hosted by the highest-seeded team and MLS Cup final was a single match at a predetermined venue.
MLS Cup 2010 was contested by the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas, both Western Conference teams who qualified for the playoffs as wild cards. It was the first time that the finalists had been lower-ranked seeds in the playoffs and the fourth MLS Cup to be contested by two teams from the same conference. The eight-team playoffs had six teams from the Western Conference due to four wild-card teams earning a better record in the overall standings. As neither team had won an MLS Cup, the winner of the 2010 edition would become the league's ninth club to win a championship. The Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas had met twice during the regular season and drew both matches.
Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids were one of the ten founding clubs of MLS and debuted in the 1996 season, where they finished last in the overall standings. The team overhauled its roster and won several upsets in the playoffs to reach MLS Cup 1997, where they were defeated by D.C. United. The Rapids consistently qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs in later seasons and reached the Western Conference Final three times from 2002 to 2006; they failed to qualify for the playoffs from 2007 to 2009. Former Arsenal F.C. academy manager Gary Smith was hired as the head coach of the Rapids on November 11, 2008, after serving as the interim coach for several matches.
The team finished the 2009 season in ninth place with a 10–10–10 record, level on points with the lowest playoff seed but unable to qualify. For the 2010 season, the Rapids returned with most of its key players and also made several offseason trades with the New England Revolution and Toronto FC. In January, the team completed a four-player trade with the Revolution to acquire midfielders Jeff Larentowicz and Wells Thompson in exchange for backup goalkeeper Preston Burpo, defender Cory Gibbs, and a draft pick. The Rapids made three separate trades with Toronto FC, including sending midfielder Nick LaBrocca to acquire defender Marvell Wynne in late March.
The Rapids began the season with a 1–1–1 record as they dropped points to the Chicago Fire and Kansas City Wizards. The team's record improved to 6–3–2 in June and had a four-match unbeaten streak as the league took a three-weak break for the 2010 World Cup. The Rapids returned from the break and entered a seven-match winless streak with five draws that kept them third in the Western Conference standings, ahead of FC Dallas and Seattle Sounders FC. The team won five of their remaining twelve matches to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Forwards Conor Casey and Omar Cummings combined for 27 goals during the regular season, the most of any duo in the league.
As the fifth-place team in the Western Conference and seventh overall, the Rapids used a wild card slot for playoff seeding. Alongside sixth-place San Jose Earthquakes, they were moved to the Eastern Conference bracket for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Rapids faced the Columbus Crew, who finished second in the Eastern Conference but would play without starting goalkeeper William Hesmer after his injury in the final regular season match. The first leg, played in Commerce City, Colorado, was won 1–0 by the Rapids through a 23rd-minute goal from midfielder Pablo Mastroeni against a fatigued Crew team that had played three matches in eight days. The Crew tied the series on aggregate early in the second leg, played at their home stadium, with an Eddie Gaven goal in the 22nd minute. The hosts then took the lead in the 70th minute from Robbie Rogers's goal, which led to Gary Smith switching the Rapids to a 3–5–2 formation to provide attacking support. Casey scored in the 84th minute to tie the series at 2–2 on aggregate; the scoreline was unchanged through extra time and the result was decided by a penalty shootout. The Rapids made all five of their penalties against backup goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final after Crew midfielder Brian Carroll missed his penalty in the fifth round.
The team hosted the Eastern Conference Final against the San Jose Earthquakes, the eighth-seeded team who had defeated the conference-leading New York Red Bulls in an upset. The Rapids won 1–0 through a cross in the 43rd minute by midfielder Kosuke Kimura—the first Japanese player in MLS history—that went past Cummings and Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch into the goal. The team would play in their first MLS Cup since 1997 and became the first MLS team to win both conference championships.
FC Dallas
FC Dallas, formerly named the Dallas Burn, entered MLS as one of the ten original clubs in 1996 and consistently made the playoffs in their first years in the league. The club reached the Western Conference Final twice, where they finished as runners-up to the Rapids in 1997 and Los Angeles Galaxy in 1999, but had yet to appear in the MLS Cup final. The franchise was described as "broken" and "largely irrelevant" until the arrival of head coach Schellas Hyndman, who was hired in 2008 after a successful 24-year collegiate coaching career with Southern Methodist University. The team finished seventh in the Western Conference and eleventh overall in 2009 after rebounding from near the bottom of the standings, but fell short of the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
The team made several acquisitions during the 2009 season that led to an improved defense and the highest goal production in MLS by the end of the year. The four starting defenders for FC Dallas left the club and were replaced by younger players, including Ugo Ihemelu and George John; midfield positions were filled by Colombian playmaker David Ferreira, Daniel Hernández on his return from Mexico, and Atiba Harris after he was traded from Chivas USA. Forward Jeff Cunningham, who won the 2009 MLS Golden Boot with 17 goals, returned to lead the team's offense, which had the most goal scored and conceded during the season. Veteran goalkeeper Kevin Hartman was traded from the Kansas City Wizards to compete with Darío Sala for the starting role.
FC Dallas opened the regular season with a 0–1–4 record as they missed scoring chances and relied on penalty kicks and free kicks to prevent shutouts in all five matches. After Sala was replaced by Hartman, the team earned their first win of the season in May against the Houston Dynamo despite an ejection for defender Jair Benítez. After a 1–0 loss to the Galaxy, FC Dallas amassed a 19-match unbeaten streak that set a new league record for the longest run of its kind within a single season. Reigning Golden Boot champion Jeff Cunningham lost his starting role at forward to Milton Rodríguez early in the run, but regained form in September and scored seven goals in nine appearances to tie Jaime Moreno for the all-time MLS goalscoring record at 132 goals. The streak ended with two away losses to MLS Cup 2009 champion Real Salt Lake and runners-up LA Galaxy; FC Dallas finished the season with a 12–4–14 record (tied for the fewest losses in MLS history) and their first playoff berth since 2007. Ferreira, who had 8 goals and 13 assists, won the Most Valuable Player Award, while Hyndman was named the Coach of the Year.
The team finished third in the Western Conference standings and fourth overall to qualify for the playoffs as a wild card, but were seeded to remain in the West bracket. They benefitted from the return of captain Daniel Hernandez and defender Ugo Ihemelu from injuries late in the regular season, as well as goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who was injured in a September match against the New York Red Bulls in an incident involving Thierry Henry. FC Dallas opened the playoffs against second-seeded Real Salt Lake, who hoped to defend their MLS Cup title, with the first leg played at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. They conceded a goal to Real Salt Lake in the fifth minute, but equalized before halftime through Cunningham; both teams lost a player to red cards in the second half and played with 10 men each. FC Dallas won the match 2–1 through a goal by substitute midfielder Eric Avila in the 88th minute. Real Salt Lake hosted the second leg at Rio Tinto Stadium, where they had a 32-match unbeaten streak across all competitions. Dax McCarty scored in the 17th minute to give the visitors a lead, which was preserved by a series of saves by Hartman, but Robbie Findley equalized late in the second half to preserve the unbeaten streak with a 1–1 draw. FC Dallas advanced with their 3–2 aggregate lead and eliminated favorites Real Salt Lake.
FC Dallas advanced to the Western Conference Final, which was hosted at The Home Depot Center by Supporters' Shield champion and MLS Cup 2009 runners-up LA Galaxy. The visitors took the lead in the 26th minute, as Ferreira scored from a counterattack after the Galaxy had several shots saved by Hartman. After halftime, defender George John scored on a long cross from Brek Shea after an earlier corner kick was cleared out to double the lead. Another counterattack led by Ferreira resulted in a goal for Marvin Chávez to cap off the 3–0 victory and a clinch of the Western Conference title for FC Dallas. Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said that the team were "outplayed" and "out-coached", while also crediting Hartman's saves for having "won them the game". FC Dallas became the last of the still-active original MLS clubs to qualify for the MLS Cup.
Summary of results
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). Colorado RapidsRoundFC Dallas5th place in Western ConferenceRegular season3rd place in Western Conference Opponent1st leg2nd legMLS Cup PlayoffsOpponent1st leg2nd legColumbus Crew2–21–0 (H)2–1 (5–4 p) (A)Conference SemifinalsReal Salt Lake3–22–1 (H)1–1 (A)San Jose Earthquakes1–0 (H)Conference FinalLA Galaxy3–0 (A)