CONCACAF Champions Cup Preview : D.C. United, USA hosts Harbour View FC, Jamaica in Quarterfinal 1st leg
- By Joseph Schoenbauer Tue, March 8, 2005
DC United’s game against Harbour View FC, Wednesday, March 9th at 7:30pm in the CONCACAF Champions Cup Quarterfinals at the Maryland SoccerPlex will mark DC United’s famed return to competitive action since their unprecedented 4th MLS Cup title last November, when they defeated the Kansas City Wizards 3-2 on the back of a double strike from Alecko "Esky" Eskandarian.
History:
DC United knows the CONCACAF Champions Cup well as it has qualified for it in past years. In 1998 DC United defeated Toluca of Mexico to become champions of the competition for the first time. This year, the stakes are higher than ever as the winner of this year’s competition qualifies for FIFA’s newly revamped and supposedly revitalized FIFA World Club Championship (team earnings can reach $5 million), to be played in Japan this coming December.
Harbour View FC is relatively new to this competition and to their rival. No Jamaican football team has ever made it to the quarterfinal stage of the competition before, while they have never met DC United in the competition either.
How they qualified:
MLS has two teams that qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The two representatives are the previous seasons champion (DC United) and the loser of the final (Kansas City Wizards). Both teams received automatic passage to the quarterfinals of the competition.
Harbour View FC qualified by defeating league rivals Trivoli Gardens FC over two legs to become Caribbean champions. In the second game of the two legs, the game looked headed for extra time when second half substitute Jomo Gordon decisively pounced in stoppage time to give Harbour View FC a 2-1 victory for the game and 3-2 victory on aggregate.
Form Guide:
DC United is coming off a 6-1 preseason record, which included a 5-1 win over Real Salt Lake as well as the most recent 1-0 victory over the LA Galaxy in the Aloha Super Cup in Hawaii. While the 6-1 record looks impressive, it is important to remember that it is only preseason and throughout the games both DC United and their competition have been looking at a large numbers of newly acquired players and trialists.
Harbour View FC is currently tied for 3rd place in their league season after 20 games played. In their last fixture they defeated Rivoli United 2-1, with goals from Jomo Gordon and Clifton Waugh, the second a PK after Jomo Gordon was taken down in the box.
Key Matchups:
Ben Olsen vs. Jermaine Hue - Ben Olsen’s play over the past year in center midfield has earned him a recall to the national team. He’ll want to show Bruce Arena how far he’s come from his past injury plagued seasons. Jermaine Hue is the man in the center of the park for Harbour View FC who will look to disrupt the possession style game DC United plays, and to get forward when possible to help out in attack.
Alecko Eskandarian vs. Jermaine Taylor - Alecko Eskandarian is still dreaming of his MVP performance in last year’s MLS Cup final and will want to prove that the strides he made last year were only a sign of things to come. Jermaine Taylor, the leader at the back for Harbour View FC will look to neutralize Alecko’s speed and strong left foot.
Probable starting lineups:
DC United: (3-5-2) Rimando; Namoff, Petke, Stokes; Carroll, Olsen, Gomez, Gros, Quaranta; Moreno, Eskandarian
Coach: Nowak
Harbour View FC- TBA
Coach: Donovan Hayles
Other notes of interest:
Harbour View FC flew in last Thursday to get acclimatized to the weather here in DC. However, it looks as though the 1-3 inches of snow that fell last night may be a little more than they hoped for. The current temperature at the Germantown SoccerPlex is below freezing.
Prediction:
DC United may still only be in their preseason but they should be too strong at home in the freezing temperatures for Harbour View FC. DC United 3 Harbour View FC 0