DC United clinched the true championship of Major League Soccer, the Supporters' Shield, on Sunday, after Chivas USA lost to Colorado and fell out of contention for the regular season crown. It is the first time an MLS club has won back-to-back Shields.
The Supporters' Shield affords the regular season champion with the same rights and priviledge as the MLS Cup, which the league considers the official championship, despite the fact that regular-season point totals decide the champion in leagues all over the world. As winners of this year's Shield, United will represent MLS in 2008 CONCACAF Champions' Cup and SuperLiga tournaments.
"For me, it's a special thing," said head coach Tom Soehn of the Supporters' Shield. "It's one of the things you pride yourself on at the beginning of the season, the [international] tournaments which are so important to me -- knowing that we're going to be back in there, that was probably my No. 2 goal on the list. So we're all excited about that. It's a situation where we've controlled our own destiny the whole time, and that makes you pretty proud as a coach as well."
DC United's stellar season stands at 55 points, with a single game left to play (Saturday, vs. Columbus). Having clinched the Eastern Conference in MLS's ludicrous divisional format, United will have home-field advantage if they reach the conference final. They can also look forward to home field if they reach the Cup final, as MLS Cup 2007 will be played at RFK Stadium on November 18.
But the double would be icing on the cake.
"We've won the table," said United general manager Dave Kasper. "In our case, the table is two conferences, but still, when you're looking at the regular season, the championship is the Supporters' Shield. The table doesn't lie and it's something that we're very proud of."
It's fitting that this is my 201st post since I have to eat a bit of crow on this one for trashing Soehn at the beginning of the season. But, c'mon, even the most diehard of United fans had to admit that they were worried the way the season began. He proved me wrong, what can I say. Congratulations, United!
Here's a DC-Crew preview from Access United
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