Well, at least we know D.C. United isn’t the worst team of all time, and the few people at RFK Stadium tonight certainly had more fun than those watching hockey downtown. The nuts and bolts of D.C. United’s 4-2 win over FC Dallas: D.C. has advanced to the second round of the MLS portion of qualifying for the proper 16-team Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – that’s mighty mouthful, and remind me again why MLS has its own qualification thingamajig – and so United will host Real Salt Lake the week of May 19 somewhere in the greater Washington area. Given only 2,804 showed up at RFK tonight, it would seem likely it’ll be someplace else.
“I’m pleased with the result,” said United head coach Curt Onalfo, who spent barely a half hour on the sideline before getting ejected after disputing a call. “It’s something the group needed. It’s been a trying month, both mentally and physically. We’re dealing with a lot of injuries, but the important thing is, we found a way to be successful, and it’s something we need to build on as we play against the first place team in our division, New York, on Saturday.”
Onalfo played down the fact that he had to watch from the mezzanine as United, forced to play mostly starters out of desperation and necessity due to injury, earned their first victory with him as head coach. Onalfo also smiled nearly from ear to ear – easily his biggest grin of the season thus far – when he started talking about Andy Najar’s performance in a more advanced attacking midfield role, where he delivered his first goal and assist as a professional and was pretty much the best player on the field. Yeah, I said it.
“I told our staff after the [Chicago] game where we really kind of forced him to play more a holding midfield role based on injuries and lack of bodies, and I thought he did a really solid job there,” said Onalfo. “But if you notice, every time he got the ball, he would take a player on and beat him 1-v-1 and all of sudden, there’s somebody else. The biggest thing I took from last game is can I get him farther up the field, and if we can, he’s going to cause issues, and he was dangerous all night. That’s a 17-year-old kid that put on a pretty darn good show, and that’s very impressive.”
But the heartwarming story of the night was Adam Cristman, who made his first start for United and had a pair of strikes and an assist four days after giving birth to his first child, a baby girl.
“Actually, my wife had her,” corrected Cristman. “It was impressive. Certainly, there’s a lot of motivation there, and going through an experience like that and seeing what my wife can do in terms of giving birth, and the baby’s awesome and everything, and so all just added to the motivation. And I finally get a chance to start and have more of an impact on the team. I’ve just been trying to work hard on the team so that can translate into what it can on the field.”
In the opposite corner, Kevin Hartman had a shocker in the net for Dallas, getting chipped twice and then fumbling a Christian Castillo free kick, a fluke goal that surely made D.C. goalkeeper Troy Perkins feel better because it was far worse than his gaff against the Fire.
“For us, getting points and a victory is important for our self-confidence,” said Onalfo. “They come hand in hand. When you’re breeding that confidence, it usually comes from winning games, and it’s something we have to build on. It’s one game, but it’s something that we needed, and it’s something that is going to give us a bounce in our step.”
Some reaction to the return of Luciano Emilio and the Josh Wicks story coming…
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