In just a few hours D.C. United will take to the pitch with their CONCACAF Champions League life on the line. Honduran club Marathon is visiting Washington, fresh off a 7-0 humiliation against Toluca last week. Adding to their misery is the political unrest that forced the club to hop on a bus to El Salvador just to make the flight up.
With Toluca sealing their qualification spot last night with a win against San Juan Jabloteh, United and Marathon will now battle it out for the remaining spot. It's a shock that United is even in the running after dropping their first two games of the competition, but a win tonight would thrust them back into the thick of things.
Along with the necessity for a win, piling on a number of goals would be just as important. Both clubs are at a -3 on goal differential, so a United win by two or more goals would give them the advantage. United will have to win despite dealing with some defensive injuries — Bryan Namoff is out with a concussion, while Marc Burch remains sidelined after ankle surgery. Defender Dejan Jakovic is listed as probable, but it would be surprising to see him in the starting lineup seeing that he's still working his way back to fitness.
Think United can get the result tonight? Can they get the win tonight and even advance to the quarterfinals? Share your thoughts below.
A bit off-topic…
Jay Demerit may be out for a while… eye infection and facing possible surgery
http://tinyurl.com/ycf678f
Well, after losing 7-0 on the road, I’m not sure Marathon’s home game with Toluca is going to be any more favorable than United’s road game. Moreover, it’s tough to say whether that game will be played at home.
That said, my confidence in United’s ability to rise to the occasion is not high. Only the trauma and travel for Marathon will help DC, although the game in Honduras was much closer than the final score.
I don’t think goal difference matters. I think the first tiebreaker is head to head. Given that Marathon beat DCU in Honduras, it seems best result wold be to win tonite by at least two goals and not allow Marathon to notch any away goals. Marathon also had advantage that they already went to Toluca and have a home game left with them. DCU has lost at home to Toluca and must still travel there.
They had an 8-hour bus ride to Guatemala City.