The Bolivian Still Has It

(Photo courtesy of Goal.com)

While Mark’s away sipping Mai Tais poolside in 95°F weather -- it’s a dry heat! -- I’m taking over the blog this week. And not a better time for a Monday recap for me as I just saw D.C. United in person for the first time this year over the weekend.

No press credential for me, my attendance was merely as a fan. And it’s always nice to be able to drink a beer or two and clap rather than be serious and avoid annoying reporters in the press box. Plus, when tickets are free and you have a bird’s eye view of all three goals, things can’t get much better. Well, I guess the beer could’ve been free too, but that’s asking a bit much.

As I predicted last Thursday, United won. The goal they gave up was completely against the run of play, though a nice set piece from a corner kick. I jokingly wondered if Tom Soehn would blame Milos Kocic -- seeing his first MLS action in the nets -- for not coming off the line quicker.

But the story of the night was a virtuoso performance by 35-year-old Jaime Moreno. He was honored before the game for becoming the first 100-assist, 100-goal man in MLS history. Showing deft skills on both second half scores it would be hard to say when Moreno will be stop adding to those numbers.

A beautiful long ball from Bryan Namoff set up the first goal. The first touch by Moreno was magnificent, taking the ball down and allowing him to finish the play on his second. That’s a skill that is too often lacking in MLS as your typical striker at this level in that position would see the ball go anywhere except where he wants it.

If the first goal was masterful, the second was sublime. Christian Gomez, who entered the game minutes before, slotted a perfectly weighted pass for Moreno who only needed one touch to score again. The one touch was a deft chip of an onrushing Ray Burse Jr. and showed the poise of a veteran who was in that position for the 124th time in his MLS career.

Of course the porous back line of Dallas allowed Moreno to find those gaping holes and easily score. But the two goals weren’t the entire night for United’s captain as he also hit the post in the first half and nearly set up several other goals. Looking sharp a week after not even traveling to New York due to a heel injury, times will be tough for Soehn choosing his starting eleven every week.

The odd man out should everyone be healthy will likely be Santino Quaranta, who was not at his best Saturday night. The positive is no one can be complacent in his starting spot, a factor that seems to have plagued United in years past. Without the reserve division, these tough training sessions will have to serve as pseudo games for United’s bench players, unless more frequent loans can be worked out.

Overall it was a good night at RFK Stadium. Or “RKF” if you work for Goal.com. Details, details. With United now atop the East thanks to goal differential over Toronto -- or maybe it’s alphabetical, who knows in this league -- things are looking up for a team that was expected to miss the playoffs for the second straight year. Granted, that road would be a lot easier if they could play Dallas every week.

Other thoughts:

- I didn’t get to see the Freedom game -- more on that in a second -- but apparently I missed an entertaining 3-3 tie. The Freedom came from behind to earn the draw in the 90th minute, but the real story in the game was Abby Wambach’s tackle on Daniela just seconds after Washington pulled within one. From the replays it certainly didn’t look malicious, just a late tackle that wasn’t helped by the rainy conditions. Yellow to A-Dub seemed appropriate, and it was unfortunate Daniela was stretchered off. But from a physical player like Wambach, these types of tackles should be expected. It will be interesting to see if a suspension will be meted out on a foul that was dealt with on the field.

- The reason I didn’t see the Freedom’s game was because I was watching the Real Madrid - Barcelona game I didn’t get to see on Saturday. Wow! What a game!!! Madrid scored first and then Barça tore them a new one. I’m not sure that Pepe would have helped Real’s back line, or if he would’ve been so frustrated by the end that he kicked anyone in sight. But that’s the type of performance I expected against Chelsea last week in Champions League action, and after this showing even more kudos to the Blues for keeping the clean sheet. For all casual observers, though, an early goal from Barcelona will really make that an interesting game. With Henry and Messi scoring twice, should we expect Samuel Eto’o to be the hot one in the midweek game? It’s like throwing darts for fantasy purposes.

- After listening to GolTV’s broadcast, it’s apparent that if ESPN really wanted soccer to work in this country, they need a way to hire Andy Gray and Ray Hudson. Enough with trying to lure in casual fans by dumbing down broadcasts. Listening to Hudson, and Phil Schoen who is head and shoulders above anyone FSC throws out, made “El Clásico” that much more entertaining. Bring in those two colorful guys along with Derrick Rae and J.P. Dellacamera and they’d have two excellent broadcast teams. One of those two would become soccer’s version of John Madden and my bet would be on Gray while Hudson became soccer’s version of Harry Caray. And, yes, I know that the chances of Gray leaving England are as slim as Bushman being sober by lunch, but with enough money it could happen.

- Elsewhere around MLS I was spot on in two games (Chicago and Seattle drawing at 1 and Chivas winning 1-0) and completely missed the boat in the others. Typical. I need to see L.A. sometime soon and how that defense is coming together. That’s just two goals conceded in four league games. But more importantly to Bruce Arena, they picked up their first win of the season. Granted it was against New York, who didn’t wait until second half stoppage time to give the game away this week, but a win is a win. And another may not come for the Gals until a trip to Dallas in three weeks.

- Finally, have to finish with the Caps. I didn’t see the whole game, but the last two periods were entertaining stuff from. There were plenty of Caps jerseys at the D.C. game Saturday night -- not a bad day for Washington sports fans as long as even the Nats won to improve to 6-17 -- and with the crossover between hockey and soccer you have to think that bodes well for the city as a whole. Now if the D.C. government could sugar coat a deal for United’s owners like Abe Polin got, we’d really be on to something. Game 2 is tonight, so keep on rocking the red!

- Pat Walsh