Historical Moments:
1998: In front of a national television audience on March 20, the Fusion played their inaugural
game as host to DC United and dropped a 2-0 decision. The Fusion picked
up Colombian star Carlos Valderrama shortly after that. As the team struggled
midway through the season, coach Carlos Cordoba stepped down and was replaced
by Ivo Wortmann. Under Wortmann, the Fusion would improve and make the playoffs
with a record of 15-17. In the playoffs, the Fusion would easily be swept by DC
United.
1999: Similar to their previous year, the Fusion would struggle out of the gate before
catching fir in the middle of the summer. In the end, the Fusion would make the
playoffs again with a less than impressive 13-19 record. Again, the Fusion would
easily be swept by DC United.
2000: In Ivo Wortmann's final season as coach, the Fusion would do better than the previous
year, but miss the playoffs with a record of 12-15-5.
2001: New head coach Ray Hudson would bring a spark to the Fusion as they would dominate
the league and sit in first place in the entire league for much of the season.
After the September 11 attacks wiped out the final two weeks of the season, the
Fusion claimed the Supporter's Shield with a record of 16-5-5. In the playoffs,
the club would dispatch the defending champion Kansas City Wizards in three
games, 6 points to 3 for their first playoff series win. The next round would
see the Fusion give the San Jose Earthquakes all they could handle before falling
to a Troy Dayak overtime goal in a series tiebreaker, Little did anyone realize
this would be the Fusion's final game ever. In December, rumors began to fly
that the Fusion and the Tampa Bay Mutiny would become disbanded. That would become
reality on January 8, 2002. After only four years as a team, the Fusion ceased
operations because of low attendance and a bad stadium deal.
|
