Expansion team has worst record in league D.C. United knows exactly how the Vancouver Whitecaps feel. Last year, they were the ones desperate for respect and destined for the bottom of the standings.
It’s the unenviable role this season for the Canadian expansion team, which will host United on Wednesday with a chance to avenge a 4-0 loss at RFK in August and derail D.C.’s increasingly tenuous playoff aspirations.
“We were in that spot in a lot of ways last year,” said United coach Ben Olsen. “You don’t have anything to lose, you play free, and you’re also playing for jobs. You know that their season will end, and a lot of times the last couple games really stick into management and coaches’ brains. It’s a dangerous team to play against.”
| Up Next |
| United at Whitecaps |
| Where » BC Place Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia |
| When » Wednesday, 10 p.m. |
| TV » Comcast SportsNet |
D.C. United (9-10-11) also is in a dangerous spot, no longer with a margin for error despite still having played fewer games than any other team in MLS. Although it can’t yet be eliminated from the playoff race with a loss, three victories in its final four regular-season games are likely needed to reach the postseason.
“We know we control our own destiny, which is the easy part,” United forward Charlie Davies said. “The hard part is going out there and getting the result.”
Coming off its second two-game losing skid of the year, United expects to begin that effort without leading scorer and league MVP candidate Dwayne De Rosario (14 goals, 12 assists). The United forward played with the Canadian national team in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday in Toronto — where his United teammates connected from Washington on Monday for a 2,000-mile flight to British Columbia. With three home games in eight days to close the regular season, Olsen needs to preserve as many bodies as possible.
After serving as the U.S. national team’s backup against Honduras in Miami last weekend, goalkeeper Bill Hamid has rejoined United, and center back Brandon McDonald has also returned after missing the previous match due to yellow-card accumulation.
The Whitecaps (5-16-10), with former D.C. United coach Tom Soehn at the helm, have struggled to make an impact. They snapped a three-game losing streak last week with a 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake for its first win at newly renovated BC Place Stadium, which has a retractable roof and a full capacity of over 54,000 that is reduced to 21,000 for soccer thanks to a draping system that covers and encloses the stadium’s lower bowl.
The stadium also features the latest in artificial turf, Polytan, which has a FIFA 2-star rating, the highest possible from the sport’s ruling body.
“They’ve played well up there,” United forward Josh Wolff said. “They’re a good team, it’s just that when they lose their way in a game, they really lose their way so it’s important for us to go in with the right mentality, right approach and be ready for a battle.”
