On This Day in 1996, a Shot That Started It All: the Striker and the Goal That Launched American Soccer's New Era
The most significant moments in sports come when they're needed most. "I wouldn't have dared to write a script that had that kind of a corny ending," MLS Chairman Alan Rothenberg would later reflect. As Major League Soccer's inaugural match between the San Jose Clash and D.C. United ticked into its final minutes at Spartan Stadium, the sellout crowd of 31,683 and league officials alike faced the one outcome no one wanted to see: a scoreless draw. After all, this was Major League Soccer's debut – the new dawn of professional soccer in America, a league the country had been without since the North American Soccer League folded in 1984.
The path to this historic moment began with a promise. One of the stipulations for the United States being granted the 1994 World Cup was that the US Soccer Federation establish a new Division One league. When Major League Soccer presented its proposal in December 1993, it outlined a single-entity structure that would oversee all teams and focus on domestic player development. The plan won the backing of USSF president Rothenberg, securing 18 votes compared to the American Professional Soccer League's five and the innovative but radical League 1 America's zero.
The early days were humble. Deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis described arriving at World Cup offices only to find "there was no banner that said Major League Soccer; nobody knew what that was. I had a desk in a corridor of the main thoroughfare – I didn't have a telephone or a computer." Despite the World Cup's success, American sports fans had seen soccer booms before. The NASL had exploded in the mid-70s only to collapse under the weight of rapid expansion and unsustainable spending on aging foreign stars. MLS faced the challenge of convincing fans this league was built to last.
To ensure sustainability, MLS implemented strict cost containment through a salary cap reported between $1.1m and $1.3m. George Steinbrenner, principal owner of the New York Yankees, was said to have described the model as "communism one minute and brilliant the next." The league also emphasized bringing home American talent playing abroad while attracting international stars like Carlos Valderrama, Jorge Campos, Roberto Donadoni and Hugo Sanchez.
"The move to Major League Soccer was so important to so many people," Eric Wynalda, who played for VfL Bochum in Germany then, said. "It would have been wrong if I didn't come home." Wynalda joined other American internationals, including Alexi Lalas, Jeff Agoos, John Harkes and Tab Ramos, in returning to establish the foundation of the new league. By February 1996, most allocated players were in place, and teams had about two months to prepare for the season's launch.
MLS introduced several innovations to make the game more entertaining: a countdown clock instead of the traditional format, shootouts to decide drawn matches, and expanded substitution rules. There would also be a playoff system familiar to American sports fans. "This is poised to become the fifth major sports league in the United States," San Jose Clash coach Calloway declared before the inaugural match. "We can honestly call it major league. You don't have Eric Wynalda playing in a minor league. You don't have Donadoni playing in a minor league or Valderrama."
As the sun set on April 6, 1996, the atmosphere at Spartan Stadium crackled with anticipation. "The atmosphere was fantastic," Wynalda, who won 106 caps for the United States, recalled. "I had experience of playing in a World Cup and had already seen an environment like that. But it had a big effect on some of my teammates, who were perhaps experiencing an atmosphere like that for the first time."
With the game in its final embers and the clock showing just three minutes remaining, the ball ping-ponged around in the Clash's half before arriving at the feet of Nigerian midfielder Ben Iroha on the left. Iroha cut inside, ghosting into the opposition's half, easily eluding a late tackle attempt by D.C. United's Thor Lee. He played the ball to Wynalda, whose first touch took him towards the edge of the box as defender Jeff Agoos – his U.S. teammate – backpedaled. The decibel level rose slightly.
Wynalda had faced United goalkeeper Jeff Causey in a similar position during a pre-season friendly weeks earlier, missing the chance at the near post. "All of that went through my head when I took the shot," Wynalda said. "I remembered the play, I remembered the way he read it, and I remembered the way he addressed the position."
On the sideline, Clash general manager Peter Bridgewater was already making his way down to the field in anticipation of a penalty shootout. MLS deputy commissioner Gazidis, also expecting a shootout to end what he described as a "total disaster" of a game, was returning from the bathroom. Sunil Gulati, who had overseen the league's development from the start, watched anxiously from the stands.
Remembering his previous encounter with Causey, Wynalda juked past Agoos and unleashed a curling shot with the inside of his foot. "The truth is, I just tried to hit it hard with the inside of my foot and inside the far post," Wynalda said. "I missed it to a certain extent. I caught it a little underneath because the grass was a bit longer than most fields we played on – but it ended up looking great."
The ball soared into the top corner of the net, causing the crowd to erupt. Wynalda rushed to the sideline and slid to his knees – a defining moment for a league under the microscope. The Clash fans, clutching the Eric Wynalda posters they'd been given upon entering the stadium, roared their approval.
"My comment at the time was: 'Thank God for Eric Wynalda,'" Gulati, later the USSF president, recalled. "I don't think anyone in the world would have believed if we had told them it was a 0-0 draw, that it was an exciting game and that it was a great weekend. What they would have written was that it was 0-0 on July 17, 1994 [in the World Cup final between Brazil and Italy] and 0-0 again today, and nothing has changed."
The game finished 1-0 minutes later, with Calloway "dancing up and down like a man possessed" when the final whistle sounded. "Well, you know, Waldo [Wynalda] is Waldo, isn't he?" Calloway said afterward. "He gets sort of frustrated on a number of occasions. He was a little disturbed at halftime, which is not unusual that he wasn't getting enough of the ball. I told him he had to be patient and that things would come. He's too good a player to hold down for 90 minutes. They started pushing forward a little bit, he got that couple of yards that he needs and what a goal. He bent it in past the keeper's left hand. Eric Wynalda is Eric Wynalda. He's won so many games like that for the teams he's played for."
The impact of that goal extended far beyond the three points it secured for San Jose. D.C. United would struggle initially, losing their first four matches, but eventually found their footing to win the inaugural MLS Cup, beginning a dynasty that would reach every MLS Cup final until 2000. As for the Clash, they qualified for the playoffs despite a sub-.500 record but fell to the LA Galaxy in the first round.
"I don't think we could have written a script with a better ending," Rothenberg said. "To end up with a dramatic goal by the leading goal-scorer in American soccer history before a home crowd – what else could you ask for?"
MLS's average attendance over its inaugural season exceeded expectations at 17,406. The league would face challenges in the years ahead. Still, that single moment—Wynalda's strike—provided the perfect launching point for what would become a sustainable, growing force in American sports.
"Over the years, so many people have come up to me and had their say about where they were when it happened; I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a game-changer in my career," Wynalda reflected years later. "So many people were positively affected by that goal, and it's a moment in time that you just always associate with Major League Soccer, so I'm extremely proud of that. It's a great little piece of history."
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