WASHINGTON - D.C. United announced today the team's opening game in Copa Nissan Sudamericana, originally scheduled for September 15, has been moved to Tuesday, September 13. The game will still kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at RFK Stadium. Tickets for the game may be purchased by calling United at 202-587-5000, right here at dcunited.com or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
United, a member of CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football), is the first team to represent the U.S. in Copa Sudamericana. The Black-and-Red will enter the tournament in the round-of-16 and will likely face Universidad Catolica (Chile), who defeated Alianza Atletico (Peru) 5-0 in the first leg of their home-and-away series last night. The two teams will face each other on September 7 to determine who will advance. Alianza Atletico would need to win by a 6-0 scoreline to advance.
The Copa Nissan Sudamericana is part of CONMEBOL (CONfederación sudaMEricana de FútBOL), the South American Football Confederation, headquartered in Paraguay and created in 1916 by Uruguayan Héctor Rivadavia Gómez, with the intentions of uniting soccer in South America. United will compete in the Copa Nissan Sudamericana with teams from Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and Ecuador.
The Copa Nissan Sudamericana began in 2002 after the Copa Mercosur, originally created to provide the competing teams with money gained from television exposure, folded in 2001 after just four years of play. The competition feautured just five premier South American countries.
A few top scorers in competition over the years hace included German Carty (2003 top scorer from Peru), and Horacio Chiorazzo (2004 top scorer from Argentina). San Lorenzo De Almagro (Argentina) won the cup in 2002 followed by Cienciano (Peru) in 2003. Boca Juniors (Argentina) won the cup in 2004.
