DC United v. CD Olimpia (The Game I Didn't See)

"Didn't see" isn't totally accurate - I did catch, oh, 20-25 disjointed minutes of the first half - but it's fair to say I can't legitimately add to the commentary on this game. Consider this more a commemoration, a celebration more of the manner of the achievement than the achievement itself. After all, what else can be said about a 7-3 aggregate score-line and the fact that DC won the second leg, 3-2, and looked better tolerably well doing it.

From around the media and the 'sphere:

Washington Post Report
Washington Times Report
An American's View Recap
DCenters Recap

For those of you who didn't see the game, An American's View once again unearthed video highlights - and these are worth watching to see the two goals Luciano Emilio scored, if nothing else.


I note the goals because, watching as little of the game as I did, I caught the first in real time - and it was that good. I'm not talking about the finish either - though that was fine too - but the touch that set up the goal. What has most impressed me with Emilio so far is his awareness of pressure and where the defenders are and where they're going. Maybe it's a function of familiarity with his former teammates - and, writing as a New England fan, I'm hopeful - but, if it's not, this cat will be slippery and dangerous. I think it was Marc Connolly who put himself on record as expecting 14-15 goals out of Emilio, but a few more besides wouldn't surprise me in the least.

I've got one final point to add based on my stop-n-go viewing experience: when I did catch sight of the game, DC had the ball in their possession as often as not; and, as An American's View emphasized, this not infrequently went across the backline, which helped DC kill off the game. That's a major contrast to what I saw in the Houston game...more on that later.

But the take-away here, DC looks the more composed team and that bodes ugly for the season. While it's certainly fair to argue that DC had the lighter opposition, as well as the better first-leg set-up, it's also worth noting that they played above Olimpia over both legs; in other words, you can assume Olimpia is weak opposition, but, the flip side of that is that DC handled them up to, if not above, expectations.