How am I first on this thread?

A few things. 1) Those two goals were simply amazing. Two of the cleanest strikes we've had all year.

2) I love Burch but he needs to be smarter on his tackles. I was sure yesterday even before I got to the game that he was going to get one. And when I saw him sweep both legs from behind, I knew he was getting his first card. When you have one of those, be smart on your tackles, and he was late and reckless on the second. That said, it was a harsh, harsh second yellow. A big talking to would have gotten it done better, in my opinion.

3) Great job by all the supporters clubs. There was energy in that stadium tonight that was ... wow. I would love to see the Barra not throw things at the cops though. That was uncalled for. You could see the leaders, as they were escorting the guy off, trying to get them to cut it out. C'mon guys, you're better than that.

4) Why no love to Namoff on here? Yeah, he was hurting all game, but man, he blocked three or four shots, won every head ball in the back, and just played his heart out. He was a little frightening early, and I think his ankle is still feeling it from Sunday, but wow he looked good. And McTavish is one hell of a find.

5) If we're going to play with a high backline and try and trap, then we need to practice it. Namoff and Gros were consistently too deep and kept guys on the flanks onside.

6) Perkins has to be man of the match. Has to be. He won EVERYTHING in the air. It's special to have a keeper who dominates his box the way Troy does.

7) Man but that game was great.

Did the comments disappear?

Perkins was superb, but my MOTM is Big Ben, not just for the goal, but for the way he played the entire game -- tirelessly, relentlessly, fighting for every ball, winning most of them, and being an inspirational leader to his teammates by his performance.

I think one of the best things that has happened to DC United this year is the return to the 4-4-2 with Ben on the flank.

TRUTH, your comments will be off the site shortly. That's just lame. Those girls played their hearts out today, coach made some lame decisions, but we were beaten by a far better team. THAT'S the truth. and BTW ... put your comments in the correct thread.

I'm glad for the DC win. Historically however, we've shown that we lose big on Mexican soil. We'll have to see. Like Benny said, might as well be this time for a win. Vamos United!

Truth:

Last time I looked, 2-1 was a win, and if you were at the game or saw it, you would have seen a team with alot of heart and soul battle it out with 10 men. Ok, it wasn't pretty but two perfect strikes against a fast, skilled team and a brillant defensive effort in the 2nd half won the game. Sure with an 0-1 in Jalisco they advance but its not a forgone conclusion they will win.

With the return next Tuesday, in Guadalajara and a game on Sat. evening at home, I expect to see an "experimental" lineup against RSL. Even if we just get a point, that will help toward the Supporters Shield. Fantastic effort last night.

That is, wow, that is COMPLETELY uncalled for. You make me ashamed to be a fan of the same team as you.

Dude, your caps lock button is stuck. You must have spilled your "Misogyny in a Can" on your keyboard while you were masturbating furiously watching all those step overs on your Tivo.

Clean it up guys. Completely uncalled for, and risking things that we who read this religiously and post religiously have worked so hard to come up with. Eric and Truth, c'mon, be better than that. Family website and all.

Seriously Eric. Please don't use those sort of words, or we'll have to tase you, bro.

Don't tase him, bro!

DCU is going to gut it out and score in Chivas if we are to continue in this tournament. A tie we contininue!

Dan Steinberg:

Nobody... I mean literally NOBODY is answering their phone at the DCU front office today!! Are they all out playing hookie? What's the deal?!

Vasco, Arsenal de Sarandi, River Plate (the Gomez connection) AND DC UNITED . . . going against the best in the hemisphere!!

This has the potential to be David vs Goliath in the coming rounds . . . a trip to Argentina and maybe Brasil for club. . . keep it up!!!

Abajo con Chivas!! ABAJO!!!

DC UNITED . . .... DC UNITED ......

correction Gomez was from Arsenal . . anyone Buhler . . . Buhler . .

I'm available for weddings - find me at a tailgate.

What a game last night!

Reminded me a bit of USA v Italy at Germany '06. Playing short-handed and fighting hard for every ball.

Great atmosphere at the stadium! But the numbers don't add up for me. There were about 21,000 people there last night, and some would say the crowd split was 60% United, 40% Chivas. But that would mean only 12,600 United fans turned out. Seems low to me given that we were able to draw 14,600 against RSL on a Wednesday night. So I'm going to say it was closer to 30% Chivas fans (6,300 of them, and 14,700 of us).

Do you agree?

David: Most American team sports do not have these sorts of competitions running concurrently with the domestic league's regular season, so a lot of people don't appreciate their significance. That is a large part of why the U.S. Open Cup has never really caught on. It is also why it may be easier to get people to take an interest in an MLS match, even against lowly RSL, because the quest for first place in one's division and a top seed in the playoffs is something they understand from MLB/NHL/NBA/NFL/whatever.

From Tarik's Caps blog. Looks like a good opportunity to cross over and support another DC team. I'll post agin when a new thread opens.......

Also, I'm told that people who have a DC United ticket from this season, used or not, can redeem it at Verizon Center for a free ticket to Sunday's preseason game against the Sens. You don't actually have to hand over the ticket if you collect them for some reason. Just present it at the F Street box office and you'll be given a ticket for the game.

At last night's match I saw people in the Barra Brava section across from me waving various and sundry flags. A couple of them were District of Columbia flags. My initial reaction was to wonder whether such flags should be displayed only when the District government (Fenty and Co.) starts doing the right thing by us.

You can read my blog report for more (fischfry.blogger.com), but I'll just respond to comments here. I thought the crowd was predominantly Chivas supporters, but I couldn't see the crowd on the teams' sideline (lower deck) -- Chivas fans did outnumber the supporters clubs.

On the game, what a gutsy effort. I thought the D.C. defense was abused out on the wings -- first Burch and Namoff, and, later, McTavish. Namoff and Vanney both made fine plays in the interior, though. Gros, more or less held his own, but even he couldn't keep with the Chivas' runners. As Gros said, this was the fastest team he'd seen. It was amazing to see United pick up its own pace in the first half, and control much of the possession. They had Chivas on its heels for awhile.

Fantastic goals! I actually thought Moreno blew it on the first one, by trying to play Fred's cross. I thought there was someone (Emilio?) at the edge of the box who had a sure goal, if the ball had gone through -- but then it came out to Benny, and voila! Simms showed great hustle all game (though he made some incredibly dumb giveaway passes), and that hustle sure paid off on his goal!

Perkins has to get man of the match (despite the worst goal kicks you will ever see), but I thought Fred had a fantastic first half -- he kinda disappeared when he had to fall back in Burch's spot, but he was giving the defense fits until then. Burch also terrific with his crosses, as ever. If he can learn to play defense against guys that can run like Chivas, he would be a great addition to the national team -- right now, he'd be a liability, though.

On the women's team -- Marta has got serious chops -- the first gal I've seen that could put a lot of top men to shame with her ball skills. What a coming out party for her! Maybe well see her in a Freedom uniform someday?

Chivas fans outnumbered the supporters groups...are you serious? Not from where I was sitting...

I was sitting in the last rows of 335 and I've never seen more DCU supporters cheering/standing/singing than any other game I've been to. The "chivas" cheers seemed to dwendle as the game went on.

I was in the Upper deck, opposite Brra Brava, and with a view of La Norte. I'd agree that I've never seen so many in the supporters clubs.

On the other hand, when Chivas scored, I took a look around. It seemed that there were at least as many cheering the goal, as dressed in black on the Barra Brava side, and La Norte was way outnumbered in their section...and that's not even counting the folks up where I was -- mostly there for Chivas.

Just my impression, but I oculd be wrong.

On the women's team -- Marta has got serious chops -- the first gal I've seen that could put a lot of top men to shame with her ball skills. What a coming out party for her! Maybe well see her in a Freedom uniform someday?

Posted by: FischFry | September 27, 2007 07:38 PM

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Uh, coming out party for Marta? She's the reigning FIFA world women's footballer of the year and has been in the top three for the last three years. Maybe you're just discovering her talents, but she's widely recognized as the best women's player in the world.

And I have to also disagree with the assertion that Wednesday's crowd was predominantly Chivas supporters. I'd say it was close to 50-50...if Chivas supporters did outnumber us, it was more like 60-40.

Chivas' coach got fired after the loss to DCU! Here's the link in Mexico City press:

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/451777.html

Adios, De la Torre!

ummm... has anyone tazed Eric yet?

I caught up with my buddy who was with me at the game on Wed. We both agreed that was one of the most exciting United games in a while. I've been in my share of debates on how many folks were there for DC vs. Chivas. As a matter of fact I gave Goff some flack that aspect of his report from the March game (and got plenty from folks as a result) All that said, last night's crowd was most certainly more pro-DC than the game vs. Chivas in March.

Heck, I even threw my beer up on the second goal. Ok, so it was only a quarter full but i threw it. :)

Vamos United

correction Wednesday night's crowd.

Given that there's a DCU game in about half an hour, how about some info? Such as, where should people out of town find a video feed? It doesn't seem to be on TV or the mls.com sites.