This match up will be the first meeting between these two teams this season. In DC United’s last outing, they were weakened and then beaten by the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1. DC is able to regain some confidence and offensive firepower due to mostly everyone back to health. Still listed as questionable, according to the team’s website, are Fred and Gonzalo Peralta. I would suspect that they may make an appearance somewhere in this match against a struggling FC Dallas. Jaime Moreno should also be back from Bolivian National team duty for this match, but I only see him putting in around 60-70 minutes in this match.

FC Dallas, a team who has put out such great players as Jason Kreis, are having the hardest time this season. Early on in the season they let go of their coach, Steve Murrow. As of now, they are currently sitting tied for last place with David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy with 26 points and a 6-9-8 record. DC United is having a slightly better time with 32 points and sitting tied for 4th in the East with a 10-11-2 record. Though the stats show a difference, I think that this game is definitely going to be played close to the end with the game ending probably with an 0-0 or 1-0 score. DC is going to be looking for a win in this match due to their sad lost last week in San Jose.

The match up is Saturday, September 12 at 7:30pm on Fox Soccer Channel.

I just want to start off with the up for this week, DC United are the 2008 US Open Cup Champions! This is a huge win for DC this season since this opens up DC for playing international matches next season. I would have to give the Man of the Match to Fred for this match. He had the game winner in the 50th minute of the match. Emilio started the scoring in the 4th minute with an unassisted rebound goal. Sadly, he needed to be subbed out right after scoring due to a groin pain that he suffered the match before. Charleston responded not long after in the 10th minute, taking that score through to the half and up to Fred’s game winner. The team was relieved when the final whistle was blown and they could hoist their twelfth cup over their heads. DC United Owners Will Chang and Victor McFarlane, DC United CEO Kevin Payne, and DC United General Manager David Kaspar even went out to field to celebrate with the players.

From there it went down hill. DC United made the trip out to San Jose to take on the Earthquakes. The list of missing players was massive. The team played without Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio, Fred, Bryan Namoff, Ben Olsen, and Gonzalo Peralta. They went out with a 4-5-1 formation which to most saw DC going into this one hoping for a draw. Francis Doe, who was still a walking wounded, started off as the lone striker for this match. DC’s worries started in the 18th minute because of an Arturo Alvarez goal due to a nice pass from Darren Huckerby. In the 39th minute, it became evident that Doe was still too injured to play and subbed off for Craig Thompson. The 62nd minute brought on more bad news for DC United. Huckerby attacked again and scored the 2nd San Jose goal. Santino Quaranta brought United back a little with a goal in the 72nd minute. It wasn’t enough, though, as San Jose walked away with three points after this hard fought battle by a very young United squad.

Check out DC United take on the Charleston Battery right now on Fox Soccer Channel! Also check out my in game notes and thoughts and play by play at http://www.twitter.com/unitedram!

Currently the game is tied 1-1! Let’s see how this one turns out!

The third meeting this season for two big rivals. Each team is sitting with a win. DC has been slightly streaky as of late. This has been a bad season for injuries for United. New York has not been fairing any better than United. Both teams are currently sitting with 31 points in the Eastern Conference.

In their last outing, New York got in a lucky 4-1 victory against United in New York. Ironically, DC beat the Red Bulls 4-1 at R.F.K. Stadium.

The injury report is very one sided in this match up. Domenic Mediate (concussion), Gonzalo Peralta (hamstring), Fred (hamstring strain), and Zach Wells (sesmoiditis) are all out with injuries. Some good news are the players moved up to being questionable. Ben Olsen (ankle surgery), Francis Doe (foot infection), and Marcelo Gallardo (hernia surgery) are all listed as questionable for tomorrow night’s match up. Also something to note is that Tom Soehn had Ben Olsen listed on his 18 man roster against Colorado.

Even with this match being as big as it is due to the rivalry, don’t be surprised if players are pulled out for the second half of this match. The reason being is the fact that DC United is slated to try and win another championship. On Wednesday, September 3, DC United takes on the Charleston Battery for the final of the U.S. Open Cup at R.F.K. Stadium.

Remember, this game will be broadcasted on Fox Soccer Channel at 7:30pm on Saturday, August 30.

Mike Petke and Christian Gomez returned to RFK Stadium to see their former team march all over them. DC left that night with a 3-0 victory. Quavas Kirk and Joe Vide both saw the back of the net for the first time for both of their first MLS goals. Santino Quaranta also saw the back of the net for the first time. In post game comments, Santino said that night was special due to the fact that he has been clean for 10 months. Let’s hope Santino will continue to rise.

It was also good to see Ben Olsen in the 18 man roster for this match. This is the second time this season that he has been included in the roster. The last time he was on the roster was his first appearance against the dying LA Galaxy. We expect to see Gallardo to still be out for another couple of weeks. DC GM Dave Kasper has come out to say that Gallardo WILL be back before the end of the season.

The next DC United match is August 30 against the New York Red Bulls at RFK Stadium.

News coming from RFK is saying that Ben Olsen will be on Tom Soehn’s 18-man roster. This is the first time all season that he has been made available. He will be on the bench for this match even though his ankle is still sore.

DC United announced Thursday that they have released Argentian striker Franco Niell. Niell only made 7 league appearances for United, failing to find the back of the net. The 25 year old striker was signed from Argentinos Juniors earlier this season. This would seem to suggest that DC may have another player in mind, and released Niell in order to free up an international spot and cap space, what do you think?

The rescheduled match up between DC United and the Houston Dynamo, which was previously rained out, will be held Tuesday, July 22. The two teams actually meet up three days prior in the Superliga. This match is also 2 days before the MLS All Star game against West Ham United.

Here are just a couple news and notes coming from RFK…

DC United Striker Luciano Emilio, coming off of his first hat trick of his career, was being looked at by the head coach of the Mexican side Morelia. United has said that the club will not sell the striker. As a matter of fact, United has planned to rework Emilio’s contract this summer.

United has brought in Manuel Vallaurio, a goalkeeper on trial for this week from Monaco. If the club is satisfied with this 21 year old goalkeeper, United has the option to bring him in on loan as a low salary senior roster player.

In a brilant display of soccer, DC United walks away with three points after a huge 4-1 victory over New York. This was a very well played match for DC as they saw a couple of firsts in this match.

Luciano Emilio saw his first hat trick in his MLS career. Since his beginning of season scoring drought Emilio has been able to find the back of the net in the last 3 matches, two of which in stoppage time as game winning shots.

Clyde Simms was also able to find back of the net for his first goal of the season with a scorching shot off of a Jaime Moreno free kick. That goal is up for Goal of the Week honors which you can find here.

DC is still without a shut out this season. As Tom Soehn has said, “We’re working hard on getting a clean sheet, but we haven’t gotten a clean sheet yet and that’s troublesome.” Hopefully next Sunday Zack Wells and DC United will finally get a clean sheet as United hosts San Jose, who has only scored 9 goals all season. Kickoff for that match is at 3:00pm on Comcast Sportsnet.