D.C. United's players and coaches are undoubtedly eager to kick off their regular season campaign with Saturday's MLS First Kick showdown with the Kansas City Wizards. But with the next step of their international odyssey looming just beyond the weekend in the form of Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinal first leg at Mexican side Pachuca, the Black-and-Red could be forgiven for being a bit more preoccupied than most other MLS squads at the moment.
United will travel directly from Kansas City to Mexico, then return to RFK Stadium for a shortened work week before their home opener, a Saturday night match against Toronto FC.
The crowded schedule forces head coach Tom Soehn to ponder considerations most of his league counterparts only have to consider come midsummer, if at all. United's current lineup has barely completed two games together, but tactical rejiggering and squad rotation seem inevitable -- the question is merely when and how.
"It's very different," said Soehn in comparing the two competitions. "Harbour View play a totally different style than we'll find in Kansas City, and then Pachuca plays a totally different style from what we'll experience in Kansas City. So it'll be a difficult weekend in the fact that we have to switch gears and we have to manage our roster and make sure we're prepared for both games."
Saturday's match in Kansas City offers an opportunity for a small bit of payback against a conference foe. A year ago, United played host to the Wizards in their home opener at RFK Stadium and were carved open at will in a 4-2 setback, one of several early losses that prompted Soehn to shuffle his lineup and change to a 4-4-2 formation.
Though the squad was able to rebound and eventually claim the MLS Supporters' Shield, the Black-and-Red hope to begin the 2008 campaign in a much more positive fashion.
"It's good, we're glad to get the MLS season started," said defender Marc Burch. "We started out slow last year, and I think it's a big thing to really get started on the right track, to not let it come down to our last game to find out if we win the Supporters' Shield or not, to get out there in front and start playing well."
But in this case, United's long-unfulfilled quest for international glory seems to be a more pressing factor. Having claimed the Champions Cup in 1998 with a victory against CD Toluca, the club has been unable to return to the final of an international tournament, with a particularly painful record on Mexican soil.
D.C. reached this point last year and came within inches of knocking off Chivas of Guadalajara, only to be denied by a few cruel twists of fate. Current holders of the Champions' Cup, Pachuca promise to offer a similar challenge, with an effervescent attacking style, an in-form goalkeeper in the shape of Miguel Angel Calero and an imposing home-field advantage in the lofty mountains of Hidalgo state.
Having grown accustomed to regular season excellence, the first chapter in a six-month-plus regular season simply cannot offer the same urgency.
"The season, you know, it's the first game and we have 30 games to see where we're at with that," said midfielder Clyde Simms. "But we're only playing, potentially, four more games in the CONCACAF. So I think we're putting a lot of attention into that. Being away in Mexico, [where] we haven't done well in the past, and then the altitude, we definitely have to have the right mindset. But we're still taking Kansas City serious, because they're a good team."
Soehn rarely discusses lineup specifics. But he'll be watching his impact players closely on Saturday, and will likely make some relatively early substitutions to keep legs fresh for Tuesday. Midfielders like Simms and Marcelo Gallardo will need to cover plenty of ground in Pachuca, and crucial scoring threat Luciano Emilio is still working his way up to top form.
But Emilio's strike partner, team captain Jaime Moreno, could well jump back into the side ahead of schedule. The Bolivian veteran is traveling with the team with an eye towards the CONCACAF match, where any sort of appearance would mark a rapid return from his hamstring injury.
But first United will help the Wizards -- who, with strikers Ivan Trujillo and Claudio Lopez, are welcoming two South Americans of their own into the fold -- inaugurate their new temporary home, CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Having just concluded a two-year cohabitation with the Washington Nationals at RFK, the irony of opening their season at a converted baseball stadium is not lost on the capital club.
"It is what it is and both teams have to play on it," said Simms of the playing surface. "Hopefully it'll be as good as RFK was last year, because I still don't think it was that bad. I'd still rather play there with the diamond than a lot of MLS fields. So hopefully it'll be in good shape. We just can't really think about it that much."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
