It's been 10 years since D.C. United solidified itself as the first (and still only?) true dynasty in MLS history, but MLSnet.com's Jeff Bradley remembers it like it was yesterday, with Jaime Moreno and Marco Etcheverry still in full uniform more than two hours after their 2-0 win over L.A. in the 1999 MLS Cup, both with an unbridled joy that resembled "the look of little kids who'd just won some all-day tournament."
That win over the Galaxy marked the third MLS title in the league's first four years, and their second championship win over their West Coast rival (the comeback win in the 1996 MLS Cup being "one of the all-time classic games in MLS history," according to Bradley. After taking their lumps from the league's outset, Bradley recalls that "from the midway mark of the inaugural season, it was apparent that Bruce Arena, Kevin Payne and Co., had put together a side that was going to win and entertain."
And that they did, following with a '97 season in which they "were the favorites and handled the target on their back from start to finish with skill and confidence," and suffering a tough loss in the '98 MLS Cup to the more destined Chicago Fire, but constructing a 1999 campaign that included a whopping 23 wins and perhaps the greatest MLS team ever put on the field.
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