IT'S HARD TO BE HOTTER than D.C. United's Luciano Emilio, who has left his indifferent start in the dust with seven goals in his past five games.
And yet that still likely wouldn't be enough to guarantee a starting spot for the Los Angeles Galaxy, who have lived up to the hype and come into Sunday afternoon's showdown at RFK Stadium boasting MLS' two leading scorers and its most prolific offense.
In addition to U.S. national team star Landon Donovan (11 goals in 10 games) and the resurgent Edson Buddle (nine in 10), the West-leading Galaxy (6-4-3) features a David Beckham who, this season, has been just as good as advertised.
Now healthy after an inaugural MLS campaign that was plagued by injury, the English icon has been at his active and incisive best. He has four goals and six assists, and still can turn any possession into a scoring opportunity with his accurate and timely passes.
Continue Reading "Out of This World: United Has the Tough Task of Stopping Galaxy" »
IT TAKES A LOT OF CONFIDENCE for a player with two career goals to ask the league's all-time leading scorer to pass up an uncontested shot from a free kick and lay the ball off.
But D.C. United's Clyde Simms' stature is not measured in the box score. He is a former minor leaguer who beat the odds to establish himself as an MLS regular, United's only holdover from 2007 in either central defense or midfield and its only member to play every minute this MLS season.
So, when Simms asked for the ball last Saturday, Jaime Moreno respected that and slid it to him. The midfielder hit a thunderous shot that broke New York's back, won the league's Goal of the Week award and helped rebounding D.C. (5-7-1) to a second straight win.
"It's my fourth year playing with Jaime, and I knew that he saw me. I didn't want to make too big a deal of it. If I attract attention to myself, the other team will notice," the unassuming North Carolina native said. "It's just another weapon our team has."
THOUGH D.C. UNITED coach Tom Soehn warned that his club "still has a lot of room to make up" following its miserable start, prospects have brightened considerably following a 2-0-1 stretch that concluded with United's first road victory in nine months.
For starters, last weekend's 2-1 win at arch-nemesis Chicago lifted United (4-7-1) out of the Eastern Conference cellar. It also featured the rebirth of 2007 MLS MVP and 2008 bust Luciano Emilio, who seems to have rediscovered how to play soccer.
After weeks of listless and ineffective play, the Brazilian once again is a force. He has goals in three straight games and was critical against the Fire, setting up Jaime Moreno's opener and scoring the stoppage-time winner with a run that revealed his renewed confidence. Playing down a man following Bryan Namoff's late ejection, D.C. could have stayed conservative and held on for the draw. Instead, Emilio raced down the left, took on two defenders and slipped a shot just inside the post.
"He's a lot sharper right now. ... He's following up plays and trying to create things himself, showing signs of what made him an MVP," Soehn said. "I don't think he came in as fit as last season, and it took him a little bit to get it together."
IN AN EFFORT to keep D.C. United from seeking a new home in the Maryland suburbs, members of the D.C. Council are crafting a plan to let Mayor Adrian Fenty spend $150 million in public money to subsidize a new stadium in Southeast.
Reports The Post's David Nakamura this morning:
Under the plan being developed by Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), the 27,000-seat stadium would be included in a larger, mixed-use development at Poplar Point, a 110-acre swath of parkland along the Anacostia River. The site is across the river from the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium.Nakamura reports that the council could take up the plan as early as Tuesday. WUSA-TV's Bruce Johnson says council members might hold a press conference on the topic this week.The city would finance construction bonds with excess tax revenue being collected by the District to pay for the baseball stadium. D.C. United would be responsible for paying for any costs above $150 million, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan is still being finalized.
Continue Reading "D.C. Council Preps $150M Soccer Stadium Plan" »
THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT 1-0 LOSS in Toronto was D.C. United's seventh setback of the season. That's as many league defeats as it suffered all last year, and it's only May.
There is no more waiting for new players to gel and no more counting on a forgiving MLS format that sends eight of 14 teams to the postseason. D.C. (2-7-0) has lost four straight (scoring one goal), is ensconced in the Eastern cellar and is a long way from playoff consideration. It's nearing panic time on East Capitol Street.
"It seems as if it's going to be one of those years we're going to have to fight against everything," captain Jaime Moreno told reporters on Wednesday.
The fight to save the season, and perhaps coach Tom Soehn's job, continues Saturday night in a must-win return engagement against Toronto (4-2-2) at RFK. The ensuing schedule, which features games at New England and Chicago (D.C. hasn't won on the road in nearly nine months) and a home date with two-time defending champ Houston, makes Saturday's result all the more crucial.
Continue Reading "Watch Out: Panic Time Approaching for United" »
D.C. UNITED HAS PROVEN IT CAN SCORE. Twice this season it has feasted on visiting opposition, scoring eight goals combined against Toronto and Salt Lake — clubs that don't exactly represent the highest echelon of MLS competition.
The problem is that those games appear to be anomalies. D.C. has managed just one additional league goal this year and sits last in the Eastern Conference at 2-4-0.
"We are not clicking this year," midfielder Santino Quaranta told reporters following Sunday's embarrassing 2-0 defeat in Denver. "Everything has been put into place, [but] we keep getting let down by each other. There is no fighting — it's a good group here. We just can't figure it out."
The defense continues to struggle somewhat, but the problems really begin up front. Coach Tom Soehn has called United "an easy team to play against," and much of that is due to a predictable, deliberate attack that doesn't seem to know what to do with the ball when it has it.
Continue Reading "Blanked Slate: D.C. United Has No Attack Left in It" »
SANTINO QUARANTA IS 23 years old.
That may seem like an ideal age for someone whose pro soccer career appears to be getting off the ground, but the D.C. United attacker will tell you it's about time. After all, he's in his eighth MLS season.
Quaranta was the first Freddy. A teenage phenom from Baltimore, he was drafted by United in 2001 and showed promise as the youngest player in league history, tallying five goals in 16 appearances. He represented the U.S. in the Under-17 World Cup that fall, and the sky was the limit.
Then the injuries started. A hernia, a hurt knee and a string of other ailments limited him to just 28 games over the next three years. By 2006, Quaranta, who wasn't known for his work ethic, had worn out his RFK Stadium welcome. He was traded to Los Angeles, dealt again to New York, then waived four months ago after injuring his foot.
Continue Reading "Second Prime: Prodigy Quaranta Is Back With United" »
D.C. UNITED IS IN LAST PLACE. The club is 1-3-0 in the month-old MLS regular season, sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and even trails Western cellar-dweller Houston on goal difference.
But, especially inside United locker room, few think that will last. The fact that last year's MLS Cup (Houston) and Supporters Shield (United) winners are propping up their respective divisions likely is more related to their participation in the CONCACAF Champions Cup than a lack of talent. D.C. has plenty of time to get its act together.
"This league is pretty forgiving in terms of slow starts and slow middles and everything else. All that matters is how you finish," said goalie Zach Wells, who was with Houston in 2006 and 2007 when the Dynamo got hot late and won consecutive championships. "We've got a lot of soccer ahead of us, and, each game, we learn something about ourselves and we learn how to tinker with the team."
Continue Reading "Still Early: For United, It's About Timing" »
A YEAR AGO, A HEARTBREAKING SEMIFINAL LOSS in the CONCACAF Champions Cup sent D.C. United on a three-game MLS losing streak, its longest of the season. On the surface, Wednesday's elimination by Pachuca had all the right ingredients to knock United for a similar loop — a late comeback falling just short, controversial refereeing, an angry coach and little time to get ready before Saturday's game in Salt Lake City.
"You have to fight through these. It's disappointing, but tomorrow's another day. Saturday is another game," coach Tom Soehn said. "We have to move on, and we have to move on in a hurry."
The 2-1 win over the reigning regional champs wasn't enough to overturn a 2-0 loss in Mexico. Luciano Emilio missed a couple of sitters, an obvious penalty kick foul on Fred went uncalled, and, after blasting the ref in his postgame comments, Soehn took a shot at MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who had lamented United's first- leg performance.
IN ADDITION TO BEING a tired sports cliché, D.C. United's 2008 slogan — "Welcome to Our House" — is sadly ironic. Since winning the MLS title in 2004, United has been unable to match its fans' intensity on the field and has been eliminated from the playoffs by lower-seeded visitors in three consecutive seasons.
That consistent inability to protect its house resulted in an offseason of changes. Finally convinced United was missing a championship ingredient (it's failed to reach the final of any of its past 11 competitions), management set out this offseason to acquire talented players with a bit of savvy. And while the past two matches, 2-0 defeats at Kansas City in the MLS opener and at Pachuca in the Champions Cup semis, do not represent the most auspicious beginning, the pedigree of D.C.'s new players is not in doubt.
"Two Supporters Shields [best regular season record] in a row is not easy to do, but because we didn't step it up and because expectations were so high here, they thought it'd be good to bring in some guys who are a little bit more seasoned and hopefully big-game players," midfielder Ben Olsen said.
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