Seattle, Washington
D.C. United 1 (Eskandarian, 25th minute)
Real Madrid 1 (Cassano, 22nd minute)
Real Madrid opened the scoring in the 22nd minute as Antonio Cassano nailed a 17 yard strike just out of goalie Troy Perkins reach and off the inside of the left post. D.C. United's goal was a thing of beauty. Freddy Adu crossed the ball from the right side to midfielder Josh Gros, who passed it to Christian Gomez. Gomez found Jaime Moreno, who dropped the ball backward into the path of an advancing Alecko Eskandarian who blasted his shot into the lower right corner. Beautiful!
These are my two favorite teams. I have seen ten Real Madrid matches at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid over the years and have followed D.C. United since its beginning in 1996. I have been waiting for these two teams to play for a long, long time. I was bummed out that this match couldn't be played in Washington, DC but was happy these two were playing. While I love Real Madrid, I was rooting hard for D.C. United to win this. One, they are my hometown team. Two, they were clearly the underdog. Real Madrid's payroll is over $200 million dollars while D.C. United's is not even $2 million. David Beckham, who grosses a reported $30 million a year, $2 million dollars is probably used as tip money. Real Madrid's starting goalkeeper Iker Casillas is 25 and a member of Real Madrid's two European Cup championship teams. D.C. United's goalkeeper Troy Perkins is also 25. He works a part time job at a mortgage banking company. Yes I want Real Madrid to win La Liga in Spain and the European Cup, but I had to put my loyalty to them aside for this game.
Recaps of the game:
United Passes Test
D.C. United.com
Recap in El Pais (Spanish)
Highlights
More highlights
Some other observations:
D.C. United coach Peter Nowak had one of the greatest sideline interview quotes ever:
Comcast Sports Color commentator Garth Lagerway: “So Peter, are you going to keep the stars in and try to win or are you going to sub some people in?"
Peter Nowak: "We're playing Real Madrid for Christ’s sake!"
Not a bad week for Peter Nowak, who coached the MLS All Stars to a 1-0 win over English Premier League champion Chelsea last Saturday in Chicago.
Kudos to whoever brought the large Screaming Eagles banner to the game. It was prominently displayed and got a lot of tv time. For those who don't know, the Screaming Eagles have provided passionate support for D.C. United and have promoted Major League Soccer through their contributions in the community since the club's inception in 1995. Your's truly is the SE Treasurer.
For more info on Real Madrid, check out this article in the Post:
Real Madrid Reigns in Spain -- and Beyond
1 comment:
D.C. United should be proud after this effort. They took it to Real Madrid and held their ground. Hope this carries over when their MLS campaign resumes. They are making a name for itself with by playing these friendly matches and the fact they are playing competitive and attractive soccer, the world will definitely notice.
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