Meeting the Standard

By: jon | August 5th, 2009

If you’ve been following me in the past week or so, or are a poster on BS or BTB, you might know that I was a tad infuriated with the team selection last Tuesday at RFK against Firpo. I thought that it was pure evidence that the team didn’t take the tournament seriously, despite lip service to the contrary. I thought it showed arrogance on the part of Soehn et al if they thought that the lineup they put on the field could possibly win.
All week, amidst a deluge of Real Madrid advertisements, fans wondered if DC would give the away leg the attention it deserves. After the Houston game, it appeared as if Soehn ran the players you’d hope to have in the CL 90 min in Houston.
I was angry. Really angry.

Last night, DC United made me forget I was angry. They made the words about “respecting international competition” that sounded so hollow the week before seem real. They met the standard that the DCU teams of the past had set. And I couldn’t be more pleased.

There are a number of words to describe last night’s game against Firpo. Sloppy. Choppy. Average. I’d rather look at the game from an emotional and mental standpoint than a technical one. Aside from Gomez, most of the players didn’t show well. Fred especially was poor in the midfield. However, after 90 minutes on Saturday, a majority of the team showed what they could do with their backs against the wall. Some, like Ben Olsen, a guy I thought had to be on his last leg, gut through 120 minutes, and score his penalty. Heart of a lion, indeed. Gomez was brimming with confidence all night, and as many people said before, raises his game when DC plays internationally. That will be key in the upcoming games. You hope that in the league games when we have to play 4-4-2, we could rest Gomez, but we’ll see.

DC was determined last night, and it showed. And I’m proud of every one of them. And now, I’ll even allow myself to be a little excited about the Real Madrid game on Sunday.

What did you all think?