DC United wins 2007 Supporters' Shield; Legend Marco Etcheverry to be Honored

With the first goal of clinching a spot in the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs behind them, both DC United and Chivas USA, the top two teams in Major League Soccer this season , fought hard for their second goal: the 2007 MLS Supporters Shield--the award given to the team that ends the regular season with the most points. Even though both teams have one more match left to go, DC United was able to capture it early.



Despite a scoreless tie against the Chicago Fire on Saturday , DC United still managed to clinch this award for best regular season record after Chivas USA's loss to the Colorado Rapids on Sunday evening.

By winning this award, DC United has made Major League Soccer history in more ways than one. In addition to being the the first club to win it in back-to-back seasons, this is the club's fourth Supporters' Shield title and their 11th major domestic or international title in club history.

Now, DC United focuses on the big prize: the 2007 MLS Cup trophy. Although the Supporters' Shield winner is typically teh favorite going into the MLS Cup Playoffs, DC United does not want to make the same mistakes as last season-losing to the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference final and therefore missign their chance to play for the cup trophy.

DC United has one more match to play before the regular season offciially comes to a close this month. DC will complete their MLS schedule playing host to the Columbus Crew, which just came off a 2-1 win against Chivas USA in a match that caused Chivas USA to lose to DC United in the race for the Suppoerters' Shield. However, for Columbus, it is a case of "too little too late" as they have already been eliminated from playoff contention despite their win.



DC United will officially be presented with the award at the same game at which
the club's 1997 MLS Cup championship squad will be honored. In addiiton, a pre-game tribute match celebrating the playing career of DC United legend Marco Etcheverry, a Bolvian player that signed with the club fort the first season of Major League Soccer in 1996, is set for 5:30 pm on the same day. Etcheverry is also considered the best Bolivian player of all time and led DC United to three MLS Cups and was the 1998 MLS MVP. In his eight years with the team, Etcheverry played 191 league games in which he scored 34 goals and 101 assists. He retired at the end of the 2003 season. In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI. DC United also honored this player on September 23, 2006 at a home game against Interstate 95 rival New York Red Bulls.



With a record of 16 wins, 6 losses, and 7 ties and 55 points with only one mroe match left in their regular season. DC United is currently running on a 13-game unbeaten streak. The most impressive fact regarding this season's DC United teams was that they started the season with a terrible 0-3 record in their first three games, but first year head coach Tom Soehn was able to spark an immediate turn-around that led DC United to the top of the MLS standings. United conitnued the season with only three more losses.

Below are the previous winners of the MLS Supporters' Shield award since the inaugral season of MLS in 1996:

1996: Tampa Bay Mutiny
1997: D.C. United
1998: Los Angeles Galaxy
1999: D.C. United
2000: Kansas City Wizards
2001: Miami Fusion
2002: Los Angeles Galaxy
2003: Chicago Fire
2004: Columbus Crew
2005: San Jose Earthquakes
2006: D.C. United