D.C. United hopes to make a positive impression on the soccer scene in South Texas when it takes the field tonight in the first of its three matches at the Texas Pro Soccer Festival at Steele High in Cebolo, a suburb of San Antonio.
But with their first official game of the season exactly one week away, United is likely to use mostly reserves in its festival contests. The first team, meanwhile, will rely predominantly on training sessions to prepare for next Wednesday’s visit to Jamaica‘s Harbour View in the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup.
“I don’t think we’ll know entirely [how ready we are] until we get on the field at Harbour View,” said United head coach Tom Soehn. “When the lights come on, and there are consequences to your performance, everybody seems to step it up a little bit more.”
Concerns also have been expressed among the teams participating in the Texas tournament — United, Chivas USA, Houston and Toronto — about the host site, where teams were surprised to learn the width of the stadium field is well less than the FIFA standard 70 yards, and expansion is limited by the track surrounding it.
In such tight space, it is difficult to create an accurate Major League Soccer-game environment.
“Of course whenever you’re playing at a high school stadium, it’s not an MLS-type stadium,” said Steve Arters, one of the festival’s co-founders. “In the future, that’s one of the things that we’ll address.”
Arters hopes to draw as many as 5,000 fans per days for each of the festival’s three doubleheaders over the next five days. United opens with Chivas USA tonight, plays Toronto on Friday, and Houston on Sunday.
Note » D.C. United added former Georgetown and Chicago Fire defender Jeff Curtin via Tuesday’s waiver draft.
