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D.C. United downs FC Dallas in U.S. Open Cup opener

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Defending U.S. Open Cup champions D.C. United began defense of its title on Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory vs. FC Dallas at RFK Stadium. Fred and Brandon Barklage scored the goals for D.C., which move on to play the winner of the New York Red Bulls/San Jose Earthquakes play-in match (set for April 29th).

In case you missed the match (and chances are you did since fewer than 6,000 attended and there was no TV), You can see the highlights on DC United's website.

What did you think of D.C. United's performance? Impressed with United's rookies? Hoping for a D.C.-New York play-in game in May? Think D.C. can repeat as Open Cup champions?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I’m from VT and was in DC with the family doing the sight seeing thing – I only stumpled across this game by accident – almost nothing in the local papers leading up to it. But took my daughter and her friend – met someone on the metro – invited us to their box – had a great time – everyone was nice, loved seeing the whole field as opposed to TV – I thought Boyzz was terrific for someone with so few minutes..very entertaining – It was sort of wierd for a 55,000 seat stadium with less then 6,000. If anyone on here was from box 456 – THANKS! It was the best part of my trip!!! Now I can say – DC United is my MLS team 🙂

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  2. Nick: you’re forgetting Pontius and Jackovic, who have started every game, plus mctavish and quaranta who would have been starters but for injury (mctavish to the head and Tino to the hammy)

    Reid: I wish the open cup would sell out, maybe then there’d be decent prize money and teams would care?

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  3. “Its cheaper to play at RFK than at Germantown” Huh….

    That I find hard to believe. Heck RFK Hotdog $4.00. Germantown $1.50….

    I was at the game also, but I have to disagree about the DCU Reserves > Dallas Reserves. As far as I could tell virtually Dallas’s entire starting team except for Cooper played most of that game. And even Cooper came in as a second half sub.

    In contrast, DC started with only Namoff and Burch who have played significant minutes this year. Despite the lack of minutes I would also classify Fred as a starter, but not Quaranta. That was a very, very young team out there and they absolutely dominated Dallas.

    I have to agree that Dallas needs to make some significant changes, because that Dallas team is going nowhere but the cellar of MLS.

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  4. “It was odd that DCU’s game last night was at RFK”

    DC United has a new lease that makes it cheaper to play at RFK than in Germantown — It’s mainily the extras you have to pay for in Germantown.

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  5. Dave — maybe this is a dumb question, but why would NYRB need to play such games at Giants Stadium? It was odd that DCU’s game last night was at RFK — usually, most USOC matches that United hosts are held in Germantown, at the Maryland Soccerplex main field (capacity of ~4000). That changes for the last couple of rounds (semifinals and finals, on the occasion DCU makes it that far). Past USOC matches against Chicago and Rochester (last year), Dallas (2005), etc. all got played out there. Does NYRB not have access to some small facility for matches they want to play, but understandably don’t want to spend huge bucks renting out Giants Stadium for?

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  6. also, to be fair, the Nationals were playing, the Capitals were on TV in the playoffs, and it was ass-cold last night. I was there with my Dad, but all in all, that number isn’t bad considering the circumstances.

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  7. Ives: “fewer than 6,000 attended”

    That’s a great crowd for a midweek Open Cup game.

    In fact, it’s near or better than many of this season’s Saturday league games, including the disgraceful “8,500” at Giants Stadium against RSL on Saturday or any of Dallas’ home games this year.

    Decent video production by United’s front office too.

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  8. Brandon Barklage was the man of the match. He’s a solid box-to-box midfielder. He controlled the pace of the game, and had a very nice 20 yard goal. I can’t wait to see him against tougher competition to see how he really matches up.

    After seeing DC’s youth, I think they have the depth to go very deep in this competition. My only concern is getting the right starting XI.

    Dallas didn’t show up for the match, they are a terrible team.

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  9. jon q- Definite not a good looking crest, but atleast its respectable in that its named after a great man of US soccer instead of maybe the Frito Lay US Open Cup… or maybe US Open Cup presented by Fannie Mae. Its nice to see they havent sold their soul yet.

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  10. I guarantee it’ll be D.C. v. San Jose. RBNY has never cared about the Open Cup, because it doesn’t make financial sense to rent out Giants Stadium for a game in which less than 6,000 people will show up.

    This should change when Red Bull Arena opens, but until then, RBNY will treat the Open Cup like Aston Villa treated the UEFA Cup this year — toss out the reserves, take the L, go home and focus on “more important things.”

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  11. Some pretty good performances last night — mainly from Fred and Tino. Of course, it was just the qualifying rounds of the Open Cup, so I don’t think too much can be taken from the match — but it was still a good performance.

    Also looked like Cooper does not understand the rules of the game. He looked a bit shocked when the ref blew the whistle on his goal, but it was always the right call.

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  12. I was there. Barklage was very good. Quaranta was quite good, too. Dallas, on the other hand, was not very good. In the end, we learned that DC’s reserves > Dallas’ reserves.

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  13. In terms of posession, style of play and attractive soccer, this might have been United’s best match of the year. And there were 5 players making their first start of the season (and 3 who either haven’t played a minute or barely played: Kocic, Barklage and Khumalo).

    You have to wonder just how many losses FCD has to have before they pull the plug on the Schellas Hyndman project (sounds like something Dr. Evil would just love “Schellas Hyndman Project”).

    Also, the latest speculation is that former RedBull Francis Doe is likely to be cut by United with the acquisition of of Avery John.

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  14. our young doodes are rough around the edges, but look with in and you’ll find a gem of a team.

    compared to the team used in the early rounds of the 2008 Open Cup, I think we are better in 2009…

    It is quite possible DC will repeat

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