The MLS All-Star Game will return to Colorado next week for the first time since 2007, building on a tradition of memorable soccer events in the Centennial State. As part of the lead-up to Wednesday’s 2015 AT&T MLS All-Star Game (9 pm ET; Fox Sports 1, UniMás, TSN, RDS), we count down at five of the most memorable events in Colorado soccer history.
5. Laying the foundations
The Colorado soccer landscape was all but barren for most of the pre-MLS era, but that all changed in the early 1990s when the Colorado Foxes burst onto the scene.
Playing in the American Professional Soccer league, the first truly national outdoor soccer league since the North American Soccer League folded in 1984, the foxes quickly established themselves as one of the powerhouse teams in the league.
With Balboa on the roster, along with other US national team players and future MLSers such Robin Fraser, Ted Eck and Mark Dodd, the Foxes captured APSL titles in 1992 and 1993 and also reached the 1994 final, laying giving Colorado soccer fans something to cheer about after over a decade of failed pro franchises.
4. 1997 Playoff Run
Prior to their 2010 MLS Cup win, the closest the Rapids had come to a title was way back in the second season of MLS. Much like the 2010 run, they were not expected to be contenders, finishing seventh in a 10-team league where the top eight teams made the playoffs.
Behind the talents of 1994 World Cup veterans Marcelo Balboa and Roy Wegerle, Uruguayan playmaker Adrian Paz and other notable American talent, including Paul Bravo, Chris Henderson and Peter Vermes, the Rapids upset the No. 1-seeded Kansas City Wizards before dropping Dallas in two games, setting up an MLS Cup date with defending champs D.C. United.
Though the Rapids would drop the result at RFK Stadium, 2-1, the run remains a touchstone moment in the history of a team fighting for recognition in one of America’s top sports cities.
3. The Rapids get a stadium
The Colorado Rapids were an MLS original franchise, but it was not until their 12th season in the league that they had a stadium to call their own.
Opened ahead of the 2007 MLS season, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is an 18,000-seat stadium that anchors a 24-field soccer complex. It allowed the franchise a much more intimate venue than the team’s previous homes at the cavernous Mile High Stadium and Invesco Field and marked the start of a new era in team history that also saw changes in the team’s crest and color, which remain to this day.
2. Let it snow
In a game that will go down as an all-time USMNT classic, Jurgen Klinsmann’s men met Costa Rica at DSG Park in late March 2013, needing a win after a rocky start to the Hexagonal.
Greeting the teams on the field was a ferocious snowstorm that did not let up as the game went on. The grounds crew worked tirelessly to keep the lines on the field visible, but the game on the field was like very few we’ve ever seen:
A 16th-minute finish from Clint Dempsey decided the game, which the Costa Ricans would later protest to no avail as the US got back on track on their road to the 2014 World Cup.
1. We are the champions
Colorado had experienced soccer success before, but entering the 15th season of MLS, the ultimate title remained elusive for the Rapids. Even as they made the 2010 MLS Cup playoffs, nobody gave them much of a chance.
Drawn into the Eastern Conference bracket, the Rapids upset perennial Eastern Conference powers Columbus Crew, who were led by 2008 MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto, before dispatching another unlikely Eastern Conference finalist, the San Jose Earthquakes.
The final test came at a frigid BMO Field against Western Conference champions FC Dallas. The favored FCD side got a first-half lead from recently-crowned league MVP David Ferreira, but Conor Casey managed to stick in an equalizer during a goalmouth scramble and the Rapids held on for extratime.
The goal that secured Colorado’s placed in the history books came just two minutes into the second period of stoppage time as substitute Mac Kandji put in a cross that Dallas defender could only deflect into his own night. Kandji paid a big price for his title-winning effort, tearing his ACL on the play, but it was enough to secure a first title for the Rapids.
