ALL grown up - East Bay Times

EARTHQUAKES

ALL grown up

Earthquakes celebrate 30 years of MLS with first-game rematch

Spartan Stadium at San Jose State hosts the first Major League Soccer game on April 6, 1996. The San Jose Clash beat D.C. United 1-0 on Eric Wynalda’s goal with 2:58 left in the match. The league has since grown from 10 teams to 30, many of which play in soccer-specific stadiums. PHOTO BY JOHN TODD

DC United’s Marco Etcheverry, left, keeps the ball away from San Jose’s Paul Bravo at Spartan Stadium on April 6, 1996, which marks the birth of MLS. DC United visits San Jose today, 30 years later. MERI SIMON — STAFF ARCHIVES

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By Cam Inman

cinman@bayareanewsgroup.com

SAN JOSE >> A total of 24,766 goals have found Major League Soccer nets since the league launched in 1996. Remember the first?

Eric Wynalda dribbled toward the box and curled a shot inside the far post for an 88th-minute goal, saving the league’s debut from scoreless ignominy and lifting San Jose’s club, then named the Clash, to a 1-0 win over D.C. United.

A Spartan Stadium crowd of 31,683 witnessed the birth of America’s latest pro soccer league, which since has grown from a 10-team circuit into a 30-club enterprise in its 30th year of existence.

To commemorate the 1996 launch party, the Earthquakes (2-3-1) are hosting D.C. United (1-2-3) this afternoon at PayPal Park, one of MLS’s 22 soccer-specific stadiums, which didn’t exist in the league until 25 years ago.

Bruce Arena was coach of that inaugural D.C. United squad, and he is now seven games into the Earthquakes’ rebuild. The Earthquakes are 2-3-1, and United is 1-2-3.

“I don’t think any of us thought that the league would expand to 30 teams and we’d have the kind of facilities we have today,” Arena said Thursday after practice. “It’s truly been remarkable.”

Several alumni from that April 6, 1996 debut are slated to return for today’s celebration on the same date, including Wynalda and Clash teammates John Doyle, Eddie Lewis, Altimont “Freddie” Butler, Troy Dayak, Tom Liner, Dave Gold and Dave Salzwedel. Representing that 1996 D.C. United team, besides Arena, will be Jeff Agoos (MLS Defender of the Year for San Jose in 2001), Shawn Medved, Marco Etcheverry, and John Harkes, whose son, Ian, is an Earthquakes midfielder.

“We know it’s an honor and a special occasion Sunday but we’re looking for three points,” Ian Harkes said. “Bruce said it’s almost a must-win to make sure we’re back on track and headed to where we need to be.”

When MLS debuted, Clash defender and Nigerian national team star Michael Emenalo called the league “an experiment, and a big one for that matter. … I’m glad to be part of this kind of adventure.”

Bigger names followed suit, from international icons David Beckham and Lionel Messi to Earthquakes stars Landon Donovan and Chris Wondolowski. Donovan helped lead San Jose to the 2001 and ’03 MLS Cup titles, and Wondolowski was the 2012 MVP en route to becoming MLS’s all-time leading scorer (171 goals, 2005-2021).

The MLS and San Jose’s franchise have evolved quite a bit since the 1996 christening, back when Jon Secada was signing the national anthem, “Melrose Place” star Andrew Shue was performing the coin toss, and a league got its start on South Seventh Street.

“The reasons we chose San Jose for the inaugural game,” MLS commissioner Doug Logan said back then, “were because of weather, the longstanding tradition of support of the greatest sport on Earth in this South Bay area and the proven track record of Peter Bridgwater,” who was the Earthquakes general manager and former chairman of the SF Bay World Cup bid.

Two years earlier, Bay Area fans filled Stanford Stadium during the 1994 men’s World Cup, highlighted by a Fourth of July knockout-round match between the United States and eventual champion Brazil. The region’s support of soccer didn’t go unnoticed when MLS sprang into action in spring 1996. But executives also wanted the first game to be played in a warm climate and stadium that wouldn’t look half-empty.

That 1996 crowd had reason to celebrate once Wynalda scored the league’s first goal, then he himself celebrated by pulling his jersey halfway off, sliding onto his knees, and pumping his fist to fans in Spartan Stadium’s northwest corner.

“That was probably not only the most important goal, but the best feeling I’ve ever had scoring a goal in my life,” Wynalda said postgame. “Emotions? I can’t really tell you. It was great seeing so many Americans out there today. American fans, Mexican-American fans, people from this town came out and supported us. We love ’em and I’m glad we were able to get a victory.”

Overall, it’s a big win for MLS to be so widespread and strong in season No. 30.

“We have a long way to go, but we’re headed in the right direction,” said Arena, noting that the World Cup is coming to North America next year.

“… Everything is improved and it’s only going to get better,” Arena added. “The American player is improving. The American coach is improving. The American league is improving. That’s part of the story as well. I do believe that our league wants to probably one day be similar to the NBA, where the best players all around the world come to our country to play. That’s probably going to be the ultimate goal.”

Staff editor Darren Sabedra contributed to this story.