D.C. United's U-17 side opened play in the Mundialito de Clubes U-17 tournament Friday with a 1-1 draw against Dutch side Feyenoord in Ciudad Real, Spain. Eber Martinez struck early in the second half for United to grab a share of the points.
"It was a tough first game, but we stepped up," said Martinez. "We have to win the next game and hopefully we'll go on to win the tournament."
Feyenoord had some chances in the early part of the game, including a shot just over the crossbar. However, United pushed forward as well and had a goal called back for offsides in the 12th minute. As the half wore on, the momentum shifted towards the Black-and-Red. While both teams had several opportunities to score, D.C. held the ball in Feyenoord's end for the majority of the first stanza.
D.C. United struck first in the second half through the hard work of Martinez, who scored on a volley while on the ground. The Dutch team did not back down and equalized just eight minutes later when Nayib finished from a cross just inside the 18-yard box. The rest of the game was a stalemate, except for some late chances by Feyenoord, which were stopped by United goalkeeper Justin Epperson, who played very well throughout the match.
"Our first game was good because we got to see what the level of play was going to be like in this tournament," said forward Jose Colchao-Arnillas. "Having a game under our belts will help us relax more in the future."
"We turned some heads and played well," added forward Joseph Barnd. "We have a very hard group and got a good result."
United traveled after the game to Miguelturra for Saturday's matchup with Argentina's Boca Juniors and will finish opening-round play on Aug. 28 in Puertollan against Spain's Real Madrid. Should the team advance out of group play, the quarterfinals begin on Aug. 30 with the semifinals set for Sept 1. The tournament concludes on Sept. 3 with the finals in Albacete.
Notes:
Friday's lineup included: Justin Epperson; James Lofton, Michael Purdy, James Ramadan (Derek Markheim-30); Joe Crowley, Martinez, Jonathan Werth, Alec Mclean; Colchao (Benjamin Fuentes-70), Uchenna Onyeador (Steven Duran-73), Barnd.
