D.C. faces Marathón in CONCACAF play
For the math to work out, D.C. United needs to find the net — more than once.
A victory against Marathón won’t be enough to get United into to position to advance in the CONCACAF Champions League.
When the two teams met in Honduras in August, D.C. lost, 3-1. It will need to win by that margin or more Thursday because while the first tiebreaker in the tournament’s group stage is head-to-head, the second is head-to-head goal-differential.
“What it looks like it’s going to come down to is us or Marathón,” said United head coach Tom Soehn. “I think Toluca’s put themselves in a spot where they’re home free … We need the result, and we have to score some goals.”
Halfway through the six-game round-robin, United is in third place in Group B, behind Toluca and Marathón, which endured an 8-hour bus ride into Guatemala in order to catch a flight to Washington, as all major airports in Honduras are closed to both inbound and outbound flights due to the political situation in that country.
Meanwhile, D.C. is coming off a nine-day break following its first victory in 11 Champions League matches. The 1-0 win over San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad on Sept. 15 also concluded a stretch of 15 matches in 51 days.
“The result in Trinidad changed everything,” said United midfielder Santino Quaranta, who despite a quad strain is one of four United players listed as probable for Thursday. The group also includes Dejan Jakovic (bi-lateral sports hernia surgery), Boyzzz Khumalo (broken wrist) and Fred (calf bruise), the latter who also said he was stricken with swine flu last week but has recovered.
United will be without Bryan Namoff, who was diagnosed with a concussion suffered Sept. 8.
“You’re always concerned,” said Soehn regarding Namoff’s status. “We’re best when Bryan’s on the field. When he’s not, we miss him. The faster we can get him back, the better off we are.”
