For D.C. United, their 2-0 season-opening loss to the Kansas City Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark was simply a matter of minutes.
Managing player minutes with a big international game following was one thing. United is facing the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinal against Pachuca of Mexico on Tuesday. And then there was the fateful 61st minute.
United had what appeared to be a goal in the 61st minute. It was disallowed on an offside call. The Wizards went down the field and Claudio Lopez scored an insurance goal for a 2-0 lead.
"It's always big when you think you're up one and you give one back," said United coach Tom Soehn. "It's a two-goal swing and it's disappointing."
Said United forward Santino Quaranta: "That would have changed the whole dynamic of the game."
The Wizards successfully used a multifaceted attack, switching sides on attacks and taking advantage of their newly acquired forwards. Forwards Lopez and Ivan Trujillo provided all the scoring for the Wizards.
"We can't get ourselves in those predicaments," Soehn said. "We have to be a little tighter to make sure that doesn't happen in the future."
Perhaps United was a little eager in the first minutes of the game. Maybe they were looking ahead to a short turnaround before facing Pachuca in Mexico.
"We were trying to win the game in the first 15 minutes," Quaranta said.
The first half was scoreless, and United appeared frustrated by misplays. United switched gears in the second half by spreading the field.
"We tried to get wide more, getting more balls to the outside," Quaranta said. "I thought in the first half we were trying to put too many balls down the middle. We weren't keeping the ball enough."
The second half started a series of events for the Wizards that put the game out of reach. The game turned around in 14 minutes.
"We had a couple of lapses and we were punished for it," said United goalkeeper Zach Wells.
Wells thinks that the key for United is to stay organized defensively and to take advantage of the chances they get this season. But it's going to take a little bit of shared experience on the field -- and the meshing of a new cast of characters.
"We're all learning to play with each other," Wells said. "It's going to take a little time."
Thomas Foote is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
