This was a fun match to watch, as I felt like both teams really wanted the win. And after 210 minutes of action, penalty kicks was the only way to separate two evenly matched sides. We may be regretting it in October and November since we now have six more matches added to our schedule, but right now, I'm really happy to be in the next round. The group stage will be tough, but this team has so much more pride than last year's, so I'm hoping for better results.
1. We would not be playing any further CCL matches, were it not for another beautiful free kick and a converted fifth penalty from Christian Gomez, who should be our undisputed MVP at this point in the season.
2. This was the first match where Rodney Wallace was trusted with the true CDM role, and he turned out to be a really good ball winner.
1. Shouts out to Chris Pontius, Danny Szetela, Ben Olsen, and Marc Burch for all converting their penalty kicks. Going five for five with that kind of pressure is impressive.
I'm going to say None because I'm in a good mood, but if not for his converted PK, Burch would have found himself down here for his handball in the box. Which is the second time a United player has done that in the past month. What is Tommy teaching these kids?
This victory is going to make the Real Madrid match on Sunday feel like a party. Gomez, Moreno, Emilio, and Olsen won't be asked to play more than 45 minutes at most. And then it's back to reality with a visit to Toronto the following Saturday.
Before I get some much needed sleep, I just wanted to throw some props over to FSC. Besides some typically inane Bretosisms, I thought they put on a really nice broadcast, with good audio and video. The crowd in Cuzcatlan sounded awesome. If not for the horribly repititive and obvious diving, I could grow to like this Firpo team because their crowd was so entertaining. But that doesn't change the fact that we won. Good night :)
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3 comments:
Yes, Wallace may win balls in the Simms role, but then he gives them right back with some pretty awful passing.
I'm not sure anybody really did enough for us to be considered "Top Shelf," though Gomez would probably be the closest, even if only for the 3 to 4 moments when he really sparkled. And Burch, Fred, Wicks, and probably Moreno would all be at or near "Rail" for my money. But then, I'm a miserable troll of a blogger who can't seem to enjoy my team's success ;-).
If we took this performance and replayed it in an MLS match, I might agree with you. But it's been so damn hard for this DC United team to do anything substantial on the road in an international tournament over the years. This felt more like a landmark win, and the resiliency that our guys showed in this match may also have skewed the ratings higher. Hopefully we'll continue to see that from this team as they move on in the CCL.
Top site you have here. Really enjoy reading your stuff. Nothing like a penalty shoot out win for excitement is there?
I actually have something I would like to run by you. Would you be able to email me when you get the chance?
Thanks a lot,
Thomas
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