D.C. United's dominating 4-0 victory against Celtic FC on Wednesday was met with joy by most of the 15,223 fans in attendance at RFK Stadium -- and shocked amazement from the Scottish journalists traveling with the Glasgow club.
But the most revealing reaction -- and a telling sign of D.C.'s sky-high confidence at the moment -- was the pleased but professional approach of United's players and coaches themselves.
"I'm not going to be jumping all around and being so excited right now," said head coach Peter Nowak when asked by a visiting scribe about the significance of the win. "It's a good result, and we have a league game on Saturday ... this kind of game is pretty good for us, for our confidence, but all that matters is what will happen on Saturday evening."
Nowak's charges controlled play from start to finish, dictating possession and outshooting the visitors 15-6, even after the former Chicago Fire captain emptied his bench to give his reserve players a taste of international action.
"The most satisfying part is that the young kids, they were really excited about this game, and they energized the game," he said.
The reserves demonstrated their hunger with well-taken goals from Jamil Walker and Andy Metcalf, while the team's veterans kept the evening in perspective.
"It's still a friendly," said midfielder Ben Olsen. "We're proud of this win. It's a good statement against a very good club. But, it's still a friendly. It's still preseason for them. It is what it is, but we'll take it. [A] 4-0 [score] sounds pretty good -- D.C. United over Celtic."
But there was no denying the palpable sense of satisfaction in the home side's locker room, owing as much to United's extended unbeaten streak and surging form as to the reputation of their vanquished opponents.
"We wanted to bring our 'A' game, to see how our 'A' game stacked up against this team," said Freddy Adu, who opened the scoring with a smooth breakaway finish in the 44th minute. "They're a big team -- they like to be respected. So you can respect them, but when you take it to them a little bit and be rough with them and get all up on them, they don't like it. And that's what we did, and it worked great."
Bhoys manager Gordon Strachan pulled few punches in evaluating his team's lethargic display, but had to concede that the sticky summer weather -- it rained heavily in the hours leading up to the match -- did a number on his squad.
"D.C. United's energy in the second half was excellent, and as long as the game went on, [our] players felt less energy and drained," he said. "The players feel very, very ragged and a bit tired, so that's disappointing. We're really disappointed for the Celtic fans that turned up tonight ... they'd like to see their team play a bit better."
That frustration led to a horror tackle that nearly marred what was otherwise a good-spirited evening, when Bhoys striker Kenny Miller used his legs as scissors to chop down John Wilson in the 65th minute. The challenge drew a red card, but after the match Wilson sympathized with the Scotsman.
"Anytime when you're playing in the heat and you don't have the ball, it makes it tough," said the D.C. left back. "Once you start chasing in this heat, if you're not fit it can wear on you. I think maybe that was a part of it. We tried to keep the ball as much as we could, keep them moving and try to break when we had chances."
Veteran Celtic midfielder Stilian Petrov was clearly dissatisfied with the performance, one that will likely do little to pacify his much-rumored desire to transfer to another club before the Scottish Premier League campaign begins next month.
"We need to keep working because the season is just two weeks away. We don't look the way we should to defend our title," Petrov said. "We're very far from the form we had last season -- too far. If we don't start playing well, it will be a very hard season."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
