D.C. United have been Major League Soccer's dominant side in 2006, and the capital city club's success has been duly recognized with a league-leading three players selected to the MLS All-Star First XI. For Christian Gomez, Jaime Moreno and Troy Perkins, the honor is not only a tribute to their sparkling season -- it's another chance to take on one of soccer's true world powers, Chelsea FC.
"These are opportunities that you only dream of, to play at a high level like Chelsea," said Gomez, speaking through an interpreter. "My goal is to go out there and represent D.C. United and the league in the best way possible."
Last July, United hosted the London club for an international friendly dubbed the "Clash of Champions," and the contest lived up to its billing as 31,473 spectators witnessed an entertaining, end-to-end match at FedEx Field that saw the Black-and-Red take an early lead only to fall 2-1 to the back-to-back Premiership champions.
But it's not easy for All-Star sides to mesh in their limited preparation time. Moreno was also a member of the ill-fated MLS Select team that lost 5-0 to Spanish giants Real Madrid in the Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu friendly match last August, though he's expecting better in this year's showcase against the English champs.
"Sometimes these things don't work out the way you would like," said the Bolivian legend. "But all you can do is work hard and try the best you can. It should be a great game and a weekend of fun."
Perkins was Nick Rimando's understudy last season, but he manned the D.C. net in the second half against Chelsea and expects to see even more class from Jose Mourinho's side this time around.
"They're not going to take us for granted this time," said the former University of Evansville star. "I think that they're going to come out firing a little bit more than they did [last year], and it will be interesting as well to see how we compare. Hopefully we can match up somewhat."
Perkins' rise from undrafted rookie to most dominating 'keeper in MLS has to rank as one of the league's more compelling stories this season. United signed the unheralded netminder as a developmental discovery player in the spring of 2004, and the down-to-earth Ohioan augmented his wages by moonlighting at a local sporting goods store.
He was thrust into the starting job when Rimando was sidelined by knee injuries that summer, and performed well enough to earn a senior contract -- but had to return to the bench when the veteran regained full fitness. Perkins saw limited time last year, but he kept plugging away and when Rimando injured his foot this preseason, he grabbed the chance and has not looked back, backstopping the league's stingiest defense and compiling a 0.78 goals-against average.
"It's just hard work, doing it every day and not taking anything for granted," said the soft-spoken Perkins of his success. "Getting a little luck on your side every now and then helps as well."
Gomez has taken on world-class opponents during a long career in his native Argentina, but he's nonetheless eager to share the field with the star-studded English champions again.
"When a team like Chelsea comes in, and they have players of the caliber of [Andriy] Shevchenko and Joe Cole and a lot of these guys that have just participated in the World Cup, it's a great opportunity for me, for us, to see how these guys do their business on the field," he said. "How they move, how they check into space, how they turn in certain situations. We get to measure ourselves against them and take a little bit of a learning experience out of it as well."
Gomez also pointed to the importance of representing MLS on the international stage.
"Regardless of what country we originate from," he said, "it's a good opportunity for us to show how the league has grown, how the league is developing."
The United contingent certainly stands to benefit from the selection of head coach Peter Nowak to lead the All-Star squad.
"It's special when your coach and your teammates are selected to the All-Star team, too," said Moreno. "Peter has done a great job."
Over the past three seasons, the former Polish international has stamped his style and personality on the Black-and-Red and his charges expect him to do the same at the helm of the All-Stars.
"I know what he'll ask of us. I know that we'll go out to win the game and play good, attractive soccer," said Gomez. "We are playing the top team in the world, so obviously we will come out and be competitive and try to win this game."
As a U.S.-born player, Perkins is especially keen to put on a strong display that could go some ways towards erasing the memory of the U.S. national team's first-round elimination in Germany last month.
"Definitely," he said. "I think that's the biggest goal now for this league, after the disappointment in the World Cup - showing ourselves that what we showed there, we're a lot better than that, and to really compete against these guys, show that we are capable of playing soccer."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
