2002 жылғы MLS кубогы: «Лос-Анджелес Гэлакси» жеңісі

2002 edition of the MLS Cup

MLS Cup 2002 was the seventh edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), which took place on October 20, 2002. It was hosted at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and contested by the New England Revolution and the Los Angeles Galaxy to decide the champion of the 2002 season. The Revolution, who were named hosts before the season, were playing in their first MLS Cup; Los Angeles had lost in all three of their previous cup appearances. Los Angeles won their first championship 1–0 in the second overtime on a sudden death goal scored by Carlos Ruiz. The match was attended by 61,316 spectators, the largest figure for any MLS Cup until 2018. It was also the last MLS final to end with a golden goal.

CMGI Field in Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the New England Revolution and the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL), was announced as the neutral site venue of the MLS Cup on February 13, 2002. The new stadium was built to replace the former Foxboro Stadium, which had hosted the inaugural MLS Cup in 1996 and the 1999 edition. CMGI Field was later renamed Gillette Stadium in August after the naming rights were sold to Gillette. Approximately 20,000 tickets were sold by October 10, but sales reached 55,000 after the Revolution advanced from the Conference Finals, and were on pace to match or surpass the MLS Cup attendance record of 57,431 set in 1997. The stadium's capacity was restricted to 60,000 seats, excluding the box and club seats, and the field itself measured , wider than the configuration used in 1999 at Foxboro Stadium.

The MLS Cup is the post season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), a professional club soccer league based in the United States. The 2002 season was the seventh in the league's history and was contested by ten teams in two conferences following the folding of two teams in Florida and the reorganization of the Central Division. Each team played a total of 28 matches in the regular season, which ran from March to September, facing teams within their conference four times and outside of their conference two times. The playoffs ran from late September to October and was contested by the top eight teams overall, with the top two teams in each conference given a higher seed regardless of overall standing. The playoffs were organized into three rounds, the first two being a home and away series organized into a best of three format with the first team to earn five points advancing, and the single match MLS Cup final. MLS Cup 2002 was contested by the Los Angeles Galaxy, who also won the regular season's Supporters' Shield, and the New England Revolution, the highest ranked team from the Eastern Conference. The Galaxy and Revolution played each other twice in the regular season: a 3–2 victory for New England on May 25 and a 2–1 win for Los Angeles on August 10. The two teams also played each other in the 2001 U. S. Open Cup Final, where Los Angeles won 2–1 in overtime.

The Los Angeles Galaxy had qualified for the playoffs in each of the league's previous six seasons and were runners up at the MLS Cup on three previous occasions: losing to D. C. United in 1996 and 1999, and to in state rivals San Jose Earthquakes in 2001. Guatemalan forward Carlos Ruiz, who was acquired in the offseason, scored 24 goals in his first season with the Galaxy and was named the league's most valuable player (MVP). The Galaxy finished as Supporters' Shield champions with 51 points, while the remaining Western Conference teams all qualified for the playoffs. The Wizards won 4–1 in the second leg at Arrowhead Stadium, setting up a series deciding third match at the Rose Bowl. Los Angeles won the third leg 5–2, with two goals each for Jones and Ruiz, and advanced to the Conference Finals with six points. The Galaxy played against the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference Finals, held over the following week under the same format as the Semifinals. The team won 4–0 at the Rose Bowl and 1–0 at INVESCO Field in Denver, bringing the Galaxy to their fourth MLS Cup final.

The Revolution failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2001, following several years of poor on field performances that resulted in the worst winning record of the league's ten teams. Despite their league performance, New England finished as runners up to the Galaxy in the 2001 U. S. Open Cup. During the 2002 preseason, the club acquired several players from the Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion in trades and the Allocation Draft following the contraction of the two clubs, including league MVP Alex Pineda Chacón, forward Mamadou Diallo, midfielder Steve Ralston, and defender Carlos Llamosa. New England also drafted forward Taylor Twellman in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft following a successful college career and a return from TSV 1860 Munich. Head coach Fernando Clavijo was fired after the seventh match of the season, with the Revolution only winning two. New England finished the season with a six match unbeaten streak and a total record of 12 wins, 14 losses, and two draws, scoring a league high 49 goals. The team narrowly qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the season, with all three qualifiers from the Eastern Conference within one point of each other. The Fire won the second leg 2–1, setting up a deciding match at Gillette Stadium on October 2. The Revolution won 2–0 in the third match, clinching their first playoff series win and advancing to face the Columbus Crew in the Conference Semifinals. The first leg at Gillette Stadium was a scoreless tie and the Revolution won the second leg in Columbus 1–0 on an early goal scored by defender Jay Heaps, who was later ejected for an altercation with Freddy García. After earning a 2–0 lead in the third leg, New England conceded two late goals to draw 2–2 and force overtime. Neither team could score the golden goal needed to clinch a series win outright, leaving the Revolution with 5–2 in points and qualifying them for the MLS Cup final. The Revolution became the second team to play an MLS Cup final at their home stadium, following D. C. United in 1997, which also held the attendance record.

The MLS Cup final was televised in the United States on ABC in English and Spanish using secondary audio programming. English play by play commentary was provided by JP Dellacamera with color analysis by Ty Keough; the pregame and half time shows were hosted by Terry Gannon and Eric Wynalda, reprising their roles from ABC's coverage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The Spanish broadcast was handled by play by play commentator Ernesto Motta and color analyst Andres Rodriguez. The ABC broadcast was watched by an estimated audience of 1.2 million views, the lowest for an MLS Cup at the time.