The Kansas City Wizards will get their first taste of "Freddy-Mania" this weekend when they travel to RFK Stadium to face D.C. United on Saturday, May 15th. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. CT. Saturday's match is the first of two between the two sides in 2004 and will be the Wizards only trip to RFK this year. Adu will make his first trip to Arrowhead Stadium on July 10th.
D.C. United gave up a penalty kick in stoppage time to Columbus last weekend and settled for a 1-1 tie at home and surrendering the chance to move within a point of first place in the Eastern Conference. Instead, United sits in third place, three points behind first place Chicago. Kansas City suffered a similar fate last weekend as well, allowing a late equalizer and settling for a 2-2 tie with Chicago. A win last weekend would have moved the Wizards within a point of first place in the West, but instead they sit in a second place tie with Dallas, trailing Los Angeles by three points with LA having played one game more than Kansas City thus far.
Saturday's match will mark the Wizards first ever regular season appearance against fourteen-year-old soccer phenom Freddy Adu. Kansas City faced Adu and D.C. United in the preseason with the Wizards winning 1-0. While the media buzz surrounds Adu, he is quietly making a name for himself on the field, having appeared in all six matches for D.C. this year and earning a spot in the starting 11 in each of the past two matches. He registered his first career MLS goal on April 17th against the MetroStars.
Kansas City returns to RFK Stadium, site of their 2000 MLS Cup Championship victory over the Chicago Fire. Ironically, the Wizards have not posted a victory at RFK since that day in October 2000. Their last win against D.C. United at RFK Stadium was a 4-2 decision on August 4, 1996. Since then, the Wizards are 0-5-4 including ties in their last three straight trips to our Nation's Capital.
