Their team won the MLS Supporters' Shield, beat its biggest rivals in the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs and now host the Eastern Conference Championship on its home ground. But make no mistake: D.C. United's fans are anxious and apprehensive.
The regular season champs stumbled their way past the New York Red Bulls last week with what coaches and players admit was a "strange" and disappointing performance at RFK Stadium, giving some observers little reason to believe that they can halt the momentum of an inspired New England Revolution side this weekend.
But the Black-and-Red say that they've learned from their first-round struggles, and are eager to put things right when they meet their old nemesis again on Sunday.
"We got a wake-up call last week, really," said Freddy Adu. "We were surprised at how well New York played. We've played them four, five times this season and they haven't played that well yet. I think it's going to do us a whole bunch of good, because we're going to come out ready to play right from the beginning. We're not going to let the other team dictate the play of the game."
D.C. coach Peter Nowak was unrepentant in his postgame remarks last Sunday, noting that his team had advanced and that the rest "doesn't really matter." But following Wednesday's practice, he offered a more nuanced take on the 1-1 draw.
"I think the whole game was very strange," he said. "I'm sure there were doubts about the game because of what happened the year before [D.C.'s 4-0 loss to Chicago]. You always have, 'what will happen if ... ?'
"Even though we had a difficult day on Sunday, I think it's going to make us stronger as a group. It's easy when you don't lose for 14 games straight, and everything goes smooth and everyone is happy," he continued. "But if you struggle and have difficult times, and actually go through this, then the group is going to be stronger. It's like normal life -- sometimes you have difficult times, but you have to fight through."
Ben Olsen believes that the nature of the aggregate goals format contributed to a dangerous mental outlook for his team.
"The second leg is always kind of tough -- how do you go into the game, how do you approach the game," he said. "We went into it a little bit defensive-minded -- of course we wanted to play and get at them and get the first goal, but within our players' mentality, we knew we had a lead, and we knew it was more playing safe, in our minds, throughout the game, and that really hampered what we wanted to do."
United's central midfield linchpin anticipates much more from Sunday's match with the Revs.
"Now in this series, there is none of that," said the nine-year veteran. "It's a one-off shootout, and you've got to go win the game. Everybody knows about their offensive power, and ours is pretty solid as well, so hopefully expect some fireworks."
Nowak has closed most of this week's training sessions to media and other observers, as United looks to sort out the defensive lapses that nearly derailed their championship ambitions against the Red Bulls.
"Right now we have to concentrate on ourselves," said the third-year boss. "We have to concentrate and focus on what we need to do better in practice without having any distractions. It's not too many surprises -- it's going to be a very intense and competitive game, like it always is between us and New England. In these kind of games, one mistake will cost you the finals."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
