D.C. United traveled yesterday to the club's Bradenton, Fla., headquarters at IMG Academy to open a two-week stay on the Gulf Coast in preparation for the club's CONCACAF Champions' Cup tie against CD Olimpia of Honduras. The team measured themselves early in their stay with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Denmark's Odense Boldklub in a 90-minute scrimmage Tuesday afternoon. Borring and Mads Timm tallied for the Danish side.
"It's good to get our feet wet with an early game," said United Head Coach Tom Soehn. "We were able to gauge our fitness level and get our kids a chance to play in a competitive environment. They now have an understanding for the pace of our game and what they need to do in order to get better."
United fared well early on in the match, holding possession and creating quality chances. Five minutes in, Christian Gomez found Luciano Emilio behind the Odense Boldklub backline. Arek Onyszho blocked Emilio's point blank blast. Minutes later, Emilio created havoc again, his deflected attempt landing at the feet of Justin Moose. Moose's long-distance bid forced a diving save from the Polish goalkeeper.
Stephen deRoux's defensive effort turned into a chance as the speedy midfielder pushed towards the end line. DeRoux found Emilio, whose shot again deflected to Moose, and again a long-distance attempt forced a diving save out of Onyszho. At the half-hour mark, crafty work by Jaime Moreno led to yet another chance for Emilio.
As the game wore on, United's fitness lagged and Odense Boldklub began to find opportunities. The Danish side cashed in with a ball over United's defense. Borring found himself on the end of the subsequent cross and calmly placed a right-footed shot into the side netting.
Troy Perkins performed admirably for United the rest of the way. He smothered a free left-footed shot by Borring 52 minutes in. He stoned a Timm breakaway a minute later. Borring again appeared headed for the score sheet before Perkins parried away a bending shot to the far post.
United's reserves brought energy back to the game, but the inexperienced crew found it difficult to link up consistently. Ricky Schramm intercepted a wayward pass and sped into Odense Boldklub's penalty area in the 81st minute. Free for a right-footed blast, the Georgetown product missed just wide of the far post. The Danish side took advantage of the missed opportunity and salted the game off with a Timm goal at the 84-minute mark. United nearly halved the score, but Kiki Willis' late shot was cleared off of the line, leaving the Black-and-Red with a 2-0 loss.
United's reserves will return to action Wednesday morning with a 10 a.m. scrimmage against the U.S. U-17 national team. United's full team will next play on Sunday against the Columbus Crew.
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