By THOMAS FLOYD

With Thursday's acquisition of Albanian striker Hamdi Salihi as their second Designated Player, D.C. United is making one thing abundantly clear: After spending the past few seasons breaking down and rebuilding an aging roster, this team is once again ready to win now.

14. D.C. UNITED
The most successful franchise in the early years of MLS has struggled mightily to find a better stadium situation than it currently has at RFK, and the ongoing frustrations in the nation's capital have caused United to consider perhaps moving to Baltimore. Out-of-town owner Will Chang may or may not be committed for the long haul, and the club is trying to start over from scratch on the field under coach Ben Olsen.

Grant Wahl interviews the Don...

SI.com: What are the chances of D.C. United playing in Washington D.C. in 2012? Garber: Very strong. Very strong. I think my comments were misconstrued as if we're trying to move the team. That couldn't be further from the truth. We need to find a stadium solution there, and the folks we're trying to work with don't seem to understand how unfair it is for D.

This place just isn't working out for DC. (Getty Images)

Another bit of news I wanted but couldn't touch on yesterday.

DC United has been making news this week at a possible move to Baltimore. United's unhappiness with RFK Stadium is well documented over the last few years and only continues to get worse for the Black-and-Red.

File this under "This can't be good" for D.C. United fans: MLS has survey to gauge interest in Baltimore Craig Stouffer Cheers & Jeers Washington Examiner
I would guess the only thing worse than losing the most championed team in MLS history would be to have them move about an hour away to a rival sports city.

On the eve of the second leg of the conference semifinals, the league has stirred some intrigue around one of its teams not in the playoffs. According to Steven Goff of The Washington Post, soccer fans in the Baltimore, MD ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Kickoff for Sunday's game is now set for 5pm.

ESPN2 is broadcasting New York Red Bulls v LA Galaxy at 3pm, which pushes the kickoff of Sunday's Union v Houston game, which is also on ESPN2, up to 5pm. Why the start times aren't the other way around, given the fact that the Eagles are playing the Cowboys at the Linc at 8pm, the Giants are playing Miami at 1pm and the Jets have a bye, is beyond me.

Their Words Compared to the average team in our league, the combination of expenses and revenue, we're about $2.85 million worse per year: about $1 million more in expenses than the average MLS team and about $1.85 million less in revenue. It's a lot of money. DC United president Kevin Payne, speaking to The Washington Post's Steven Goff.

We know the DC United stadium situation isn't getting any better anytime soon but at least they're being blunt about trying to fix their current lease with RFK Stadium.

Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Union

Union

Peter Nowak on Thursday night's win: "It was a massive step forward toward the playoffs."

Match reports from the Philly Soccer Page, the Union website, the Daily News, the Inquirer, CSN Philly, the Washington Post, Soccer News, the AP, Black and Red United, MLS Talk.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Richie Williams is set to join some exclusive company at RFK Stadium.

The former D.C. United player will be inducted into the club's Hall of Tradition at halftime of the team's match against the Portland Timbers on Aug. 27. Williams joins John Harkes, Marco Etcheverry, Jeff Agoos, Raul Diaz Arce and Eddie Pope as players to earn the honor.

"We continue to work on this in both D.C. and Baltimore. We're looking at several sites in D.C. We've had several conversations with the District. There's no specific proposals being discussed at this time, but I believe there is a general consensus in the Wilson Building [city government headquarters] that they certainly want D.

D.C. United Women join USL W-League
Washington, D.C. (March 30, 2011) - D.C. United announced today the launch of D.C. United Women into the United Soccer Leagues (USL) W-League for the 2011 season. Under a partnership agreement with the Nothern Virginia Majestics, United Women will represent the Black-and-Red in the competitive Northeast Division of the league.

D.C. United Women join USL W-League
Washington, D.C. (March 30, 2011) - D.C. United announced today the launch of D.C. United Women into the United Soccer Leagues (USL) W-League for the 2011 season. Under a partnership agreement with the Nothern Virginia Majestics, United Women will represent the Black-and-Red in the competitive Northeast Division of the league.

Washington, D.C. (March 29, 2011) - Former D.C. United stars Eddie Pope and Earnie Stewart were elected to the 2011 National Soccer Hall of Fame. Announced earlier today by U.S. Soccer, Pope earned a spot on 74 percent of the ballots and Stewart on 71 percent of the ballots.
In response to Pope's announcement, D.

Washington, D.C. (March 29, 2011) - Former D.C. United stars Eddie Pope and Earnie Stewart were elected to the 2011 National Soccer Hall of Fame. Announced earlier today by U.S. Soccer, Pope earned a spot on 74 percent of the ballots and Stewart on 71 percent of the ballots.
In response to Pope's announcement, D.

Washington, D.C. (March 22, 2011) - D.C. United announced today the club will play an international friendly against English Premier League side Everton Football Club on Saturday, July 23 at RFK Stadium. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.

Washington, D.C. (March 22, 2011) - D.C. United announced today the club will play an international friendly against English Premier League side Everton Football Club on Saturday, July 23 at RFK Stadium. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.

D.C. United announced today the club will play an international friendly against English Premier League side Everton Football Club on Saturday, July 23 at RFK Stadium. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

"D.C. United takes pride in measuring our club against the best clubs worldwide," said United President & CEO Kevin Payne.

Before the MLS team that would play in the Nation's Capital had a name, Kevin Payne, Stephen Zack and Betty D'Anjolell sat in a lunch room discussing what the club's future name should be. Together, they had a vision that the club would pay homage to the grand traditions of our sport and that the team would galvanize a community that included DC, Maryland and Virginia, as well as the wide range of socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds of those that call this region home.

D.C. United announced today that they will play legendary Dutch side Ajax on Sunday, May 22 at RFK Stadium. Kick-off is set for 5:00 p.m. ET. Tickets will go on sale March 21st.

"We're excited to kick off our 2011 schedule of international games with one of the most honored teams in European soccer, Ajax of Amsterdam," said United President and CEO Kevin Payne.

Washington, D.C. (March 14, 2011) - D.C. United announced today plans for the club will play an international friendly against legendary Dutch Eredivisie side AFC Ajax on Sunday, May 22 at RFK Stadium. Though Ajax played a 1-1 draw against the U.S. Men's National Team at RFK Stadium on May 12, 1990, this will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.

As Kevin Payne, Dave Kasper, Ben Olsen and our technical staff have been working hard to put a top-quality product on the field for D.C. United this season and to continuing the rapid development of our youth Academy system, the rest of the front office has put in the long hours necessary to be sure all other elements of our business are tended to in advance of the 2011 MLS campaign ahead.

Washington, D.C. (February 16, 2011) - D.C. United announced today that the club has acquired forward Charlie Davies. The Black-and-Red have signed the striker to a loan deal from French side FC Sochaux for the 2011 season. The club used its position in the MLS allocation ranking to acquire the forward.