D.C. United 3, AC Milan 2
Of course D.C. United upset the most storied team in Italian soccer.
That’s what was expected from the last place team in Major League Soccer, one that has managed just four goals in nine MLS matches this season.
No, not exactly.
But with AC Milan looking a little more like a group of distracted European tourists than a squad that finished third in Serie A – at least, until midway through the second half – D.C. rode a uplifting first-half display for a 3-2 exhibition victory that the team hopes will inspire a similar turnaround when it counts in league play.
“Winning breeds confidence, and that’s important,” said United head coach Curt Onalfo, whose squad is 1-8 in MLS. “We need that. We needed that win to get ourselves over the hump, to feel a little bit better about ourselves. To play well and to get success, those are good things that we can build on, and we’re going into the game this weekend, It’s a crucial game.”
Unfazed by the opponent, United’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, Bill Hamid, set the tone in the first minute by stifling 20-year-old star-in-waiting Alexandre Pato and making a courageous kick save in the 23rd minute as well. Pato played the entire match but was held scoreless along with former two-time FIFA player of the year Ronaldinho.
While Milan’s two key Brazilians – a major part of the draw for the 30,367 in attendance at RFK – nor heralded Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf weren’t able to make their way onto the scoresheet, D.C. United’s resident Brazilian, Luciano Emilio, put the home team surprisingly in front the in the 20th minute, scoring his first goal since being re-signed by the club last month.
“I’m back again, RFK, and starting again,” said Emilio. “Pato and Ronaldinho are players that always play for the national team of Brazil. For me, it was a great opportunity to play against them, and I think that’s an opportunity we only have one time in our life so I enjoyed this game a lot. For me to score a goal against AC Milan was very exciting.”
Stephen King started the sequence with a curving ball from the right. Chris Pontius raced to the end line and nodded it back across the goal where Emilio got behind his Italian defender to poke it home.
Ten minutes later, Pontius used his head again, this time doubling the lead by putting away Santino Quaranta’s corner kick.
Pato and Ronaldinho still combined for the evening’s best highlight, with Ronaldinho flicking Pato’s short pass up to himself and hitting the post with a beautifully executed bicycle kick in the 53rd minute.
But it was D.C. United that made it 3-0 when goalkeeper Christian Abbiati’s clearance deflected off D.C. forward Danny Allsopp and trickled back into the goal.
Defender Massimo Oddo pulled AC Milan back, beating Troy Perkins, who replaced Hamid at halftime, with a penalty kick in the 71st minute and and a deflected long-range blast in the 74th. But the goals came only after United had been reduced to ten men in the 65th minute, when midfielder Brandon Barklage went off with a serious left knee injury and couldn’t be replaced because there were no more players left on the bench. Barklage is scheduled to have an MRI on Thursday.
Milan, which was without seven players who are on international duty for the upcoming World Cup, pressed for the remainder of the match but could not find an equalizer.
“It’s normal that there’s not the same motivation as in a normal [League] game,” said Seedorf. “We’re still very professional and we performed our best possible today. I think we started out very well – our first 15 minutes we created three chances, and that’s the name of the game. If you don’t score, that’s when they score. After one-nil, of course, they got excited and got their wings. They played well. I think it was a good exhibition game.”
“We wanted to enjoy it,” said Onalfo. “It’s a lot easier to enjoy things when you win, that’s the business we live in. I’m not really in a jovial mood. I am a little bit, but I haven’t been for the last eight weeks and certainly the last two weeks even more so. Honestly, I really wasn’t crazy about the focus on fun because we have a job to do. We have fans who came out tonight to support us, and we owe them, and we’re going to find a way to get ourselves back in the standings and continue to move up so that we get this club where it needs to be.”
Note
D.C. United’s next international friendly could come in July. Portsmouth FC, which finished in last place in the English Premier League this season, said on its website that it will play against D.C. at RFK Stadium on July 24.
