In theory, the inaugural SuperLiga tournament between Major League Soccer and the Mexican Primera Division is a perfect way to extend the massive international soccer rivalry between the United States and Mexico down to the club level.
In practice, it’s an awkwardly timed tournament pitting four MLS teams, in midseason form, and four Mexican teams, in preseason form, against each other.
However, with $1 million on the line for the winner, the lure is strong for D.C. United, which opens Group B play tonight against Monarcas Morelia.
“Anything extra in the summer is bad timing, for my money,” joked D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen. “It is a great opportunity, I really do believe that. This Mexican/U.S. rivalry, there’s a lot to it. A lot of fight, and it’s a competitive rivalry that is much needed in this league.”
The top two teams from Group B, which also includes Club America and the Houston Dynamo, advance to meet two semifinalists from Group A, made up of CD Guadalajara (Chivas), CF Pachuca, FC Dallas and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The players expect tonight’s atmosphere to have an added edge not often found during MLS regular season games.
“You’ve got to make all the right moves and all the right decisions,” said Olsen. “It’s got to be 11 guys on their game playing good for 90 minutes. Just like any international game, the margin for error is so slim. If you screw up or you have a guy off, you’re going to get punished.”
Morelia doesn’t have quite the cache of Chivas, which drew nearly 27,000 fans to RFK on a cold, rainy weeknight in March during the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
“The guys said it was awesome,” said D.C. defender Marc Burch, who was acquired in April. “And it kind of stinks that we don’t get to go down [to Mexico], but on the other hand, hopefully we bring in a good crowd. People know how important this is.”
United officials said around 15,000 are expected tonight. Sunday’s match against Club America is likely to garner around 20,000 fans.
Tactically, United is still missing Jaime Moreno, Bryan Namoff and Guy-Roland Kpene — all out with hamstring injuries.
