Our friends at BehindTheBadge have notified us that Argentine playmaker, Marcello is back from rehabilitation of a groin injury in Argentina and making the interview rounds as seen above.

What we are wondering is will his return be enough to galvanize a team which has looked out of sorts for the better part of their last 5 matches and plagued with injuries and suspensions. Click to continue reading...

Marcelo Gallardo is back in the district after about two weeks of rehab in his native Argentina. Media spoke with United's #10 and here's a few excerpts, via translation and my poorly written notes:

"I feel a lot better and I hope to finish the season on a positive note... The most important thing was to get rid of the pain I was feeling all the time.

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D.C. United faces Club Deportivo Marathon for the first time in its history tonight at Estadio Olimpico in a game that will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel (10 p.m. ET). The Black-and-Red hope to rebound from a Group A opening 2-0 loss to Deportivo Saprissa last week at RFK Stadium. Cruz Azul, who lost to Marathon in Honduras last week 2-0, defeated Saprissa 4-0 last night in Mexico.

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Soccer America points out today that Columbus is the first team to qualify for this seasons MLS playoffs! See more in Columbus Crew section.

~and~

Which big money MLS player has been a bigger disappointment this season: Dulio Davino, Marcelo Gallardo or Claudio Lopez?

~and~

A TV pundit in Germany has referred to Juergen Klinsmann as "the white Barak Obama". Click to continue reading...

By definition, the Donnety award goes to the player who has been the biggest disappointment this year. Yes, harsh, I know. But this award's definition could probably be interpreted in a couple different ways. And because I love controversy, of course I will leave that interpretation up to you. Do you give the award to a guy who has played well at times, but hasn't lived up to the hype or to his high salary? Click to continue reading...

Episode 55 features an interview with US midfielder Eddie Lewis who after playing nine season in England has returned home to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Also Chris Webb from United Mania joins host Kartik Krishnaiyer for a free flowing discussion which topics include United's US Open Cup triumph, Marcello Gallardo's injuries, United's playoff [. Click to continue reading...

Really? We're really blaming the fitness staff? First, it seems that SuperLiga and the CCL both fell prey to the injury crisis. An injury crisis that's now almost entering its third month! Ridiculous. If I may, I'd like to make the humble suggestion that perhaps we sink some of Gallardo's $1.9 million into fitness staff. Click to continue reading...

I will never be ashamed of being a D.C. United fan.

I have never been ashamed of a D.C. United team.

However, I am ashamed at this game. Not even at the players, and how they played it, but rather ashamed that it has come to this. With a home match that is crucial to United getting out of the group stage of the CONCACAF Champion's League, D.

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United and visiting Deportivo Saprissa kick off Champions League play tonight at RFK Stadium (8 p.m. ET). It is the first of six games for the Black-and-Red with two games - one home, one away - against each member of the difficult Group A.

The game will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel and in Spanish on Galavision.

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Clinging to the final MLS playoff spot with six games to go, DC United has received word that designated player Marcelo Gallardo will be out of action for at least two more weeks due to complications from sports hernia surgery. The former River Plate man has decided to return home to Argentina to begin rehabbing the injury, which was operated on back in mid-July. Click to continue reading...

And related to my previous post... GALLARDO IS HURT YET AGAIN!!! DCU designated player Marcelo Gallardo ($1.9 million, 14 appearances) will be sidelined at least two weeks because of continuing problems after sports hernia surgery. He has returned to Argentina to see a specialist and begin a rehab stint, but is not scheduled to have [. Click to continue reading...

Time is running out for MLS teams to make changes to their rosters this season; after 5:00 p.m., they will no longer be able to do so until MLS Cup has been played. With today being the 'deadline day,' should you expect to hear about any significant trades going down? Probably not, but names like Hunter Freeman, Abe Thompson and Herculez Gomez have all been on the move in the past week, showing that there are still teams out there willing to make a move at the last minute. Click to continue reading...

In just under 24 hours as I write this, at 5 p.m. Monday, MLS rosters will be set in stone for the rest of the season, until the day after MLS Cup.

Which means, incidentally, the Galaxy will be stuck with $130,000 a year defender Eduardo Dominguez ("he was all we could afford," one team official allegedly told a colleague of mine).

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By definition, the Nelly Award goes to the player who is new to the team this year and has made the most significant positive impact. The award's namesake Ryan Nelsen emerged as a star defender in the MLS shortly after joining the team, and served as United's captain during the 2004 championship run. Click to continue reading...

So Moreno is hanging out with Butch and Sundance, and Emilio's hurt, and I'm thinking, "Well, with Crayton in goal and the steadying presence of Bryan Namoff, Peralta and the new infusion of energy from Joe Vide, perhaps we can eek out a goal on a counter while keeping San Jose at nil." Except, of course, we have neither Namoff nor Vide nor Peralta, and Martinez was clearly watching his "Best of Facundo Erpen" highlight reel.

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In a match where we were missing Emilio, Moreno, Namoff, Fred, Vide, and Peralta, a loss wasn't necessarily surprising. I guess the bright side is that we escaped without any more injuries! Also, I saw tonight that we've got some young players with a lot of heart, and that's got to count for something, even if it didn't earn us any points. Click to continue reading...

No Namoff. No Peralta. No Olsen. No Fred. No Moreno. No Emilio. No matter.

Tom Soehn has named his starting lineup for tonight's match in San Jose. These are the men charged with bringing a result back to the Nation's Capital:

Louis Crayton; Gonzalo Martinez, Devon McTavish, Marc Burch, Mike Zaher; Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms, Rod Dyachenko, Marcelo Gallardo, Ivan Guerrero; and Francis Doe.

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In a season that's had its fair share of ups and downs, we've finally got something to show for it! Maybe a title in the US Open Cup wasn't necessarily the goal for this season, but it's certainly an accomplishment the team should be proud of, and most importantly, its great that United has fought its way back into the international picture. Click to continue reading...

I barely get into the house and it's 1-1 in the Open Cup final. Luciano Emilio scores for DC, and gets hurt. Charleston responds in the 10th minute with a nice finish after some sloppy defending. We have ourselves a match, ladies and gentlemen.

I bet Charleston would've done better in the CONCACAF Champions League than New England did. Click to continue reading...

Tom Soehn has named his starting lineup for tonight's championship battle against the Battery. The same players who started Saturday's game against New York will take the field, with the only change being Santino Quaranta moving to the middle of thte park and Joe Vide pushing out wide (where they played the second half).

Click to continue reading...

Though most Americans have today off to celebrate the last year's worth of labor, United's players were at RFK for a couple hours with their sights set on Wednesday night's Open Cup final. Everyone who is healthy played signifcant minutes against New York over the weekend - either in the first team's 0-0 draw on Saturday or in the reserve's 2-1 win on Sunday - so the team gathered for a couple of runs, a long stretch and training room treatment today.

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Who ever said that 0-0 matches aren't exciting? That had to be the most competitive match between these two clubs in a couple years. Usually we dominate these matches, and the last one against the Red Bulls should be thrown out, but I can't think of a time we've ever played them to a scoreless draw. Click to continue reading...

Captain Kansas City now has five goals on the year. Not bad. His latest effort, our last-minute equalizer Saturday against FC Dallas has been nominated for Sierra Mist Goal of the Week. Come on Wizards fans...go vote and get Jimmy on the end-of-the-year ballot!

Take a look at the goal here, if you don't remember it:



He is now our leading scorer with a new career-high. Click to continue reading...

Prior to D.C. United's victory over the Colorado Rapids I honestly predicted the final score to be, D.C. United 3 – Colorado 0. Now, it's true that I always predict that D.C. United will win 3-0, but for the first time since August 5th of last season I was correct. I owe it all to Quavas Kirk.

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With his one-time shoe-string shot to give the team a 1-0 lead, I could have sworn I was watching Benny Olsen. Or maybe Benny Feilhaber. But definitely somebody named Benny. Nope, it was Joe Vide. That goal really made me wish I was listening to Dave Johnson and Thomas Rongen do the broadcast. I could just hear Rongen saying his usual "Shoelaces. Click to continue reading...

Here's what MLSNET is showing as our current injuries: MF Ben Olsen OUT - ankle surgery DF Domenic Mediate OUT - concussion FW Francis Doe OUT - foot infection DF Gonzalo Peralta QUESTIONABLE - hamstring MF Marcelo Gallardo PROBABLE - hernia surgery Of course we need to add: GK Zach Wells OUT - sesamoiditis MF Fred OUT - hamstring Let's go down the list; Ben Olsen. Click to continue reading...

Despite knocking on wood as often as possible, I hate to admit that I called this. DC United was consistently crappy early in the year, and was consistently victorious just before the start of Superliga, but at all other times of the season, we've been horribly inconsistent. The team once again failed tonight to string together victories. Click to continue reading...

UPDATE: This list has been updated to include Darren Huckerby's salary, Emilio's big pay raise and Claudio Reyna's retirement.

Also the list of celebrity MLS fans has been updated here.



While MLS is not the English Premier League, that hasn't stopped a few players from making a tidy bit of coin and greenbacks. Click to continue reading...

Well, I guess we can take some comfort from the fact that our first team could do pretty well in the MLS reserve division, right? United ran out a full strength team (Quaranta in for the still-injured Gallardo) against a Revs side featuring one regular starter (Joseph) and a handful of others with quality first-team minutes. Click to continue reading...

Since dumping inflatable fun-bucket Nereida Gallardo, Cristiano Ronaldo has been having a whale of a time. In between busy stints tanning himself blacker than night, the Portuguese winger has been rubbing shoulders with Paris Hilton, David Beckham and Justin Timberlake, and dating a foxy Italian model called Letizia Filippi. Click to continue reading...

With the dark red and blue colors of Barcelona pouring out of my ears at this point, it is my pleasure to turn our attentions back to the MLS season and a huge upcoming rivalry game. The resurgent DC United is in town, looking to quell the hopes of their Red Bull rivals.

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Manchester United Soccerstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who had just split with Nereida Gallardo, reported got love and relationship tips from famous Spanish Singer Julio Iglesias. Iglesias meet and chat with Ronaldo after his concert in the Algarve, Portugal, on Aug 5. Iglesias said that Ronaldos a young pretender when it comes to women and talked of his own exploits.

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You know, beyond the alliterative explosion of the headline and the tasty schadenfreude, there is one further reason that United fans should take interest in the fortunes of the hapless Rapids. United fans? Interested in the Rapids? Why, you ask? Well, oft-forgotten amidst the Argentine playmaker transfusion that saw United bid adieu to Christian Gomez and welcome Marcelo Gallardo, were the Click to continue reading...

In the third installment of our MSR series, we discuss the trades that United has made since the end of last season. Besides the Gomez move, there were two other fairly significant trades for the team, and I think I actually come out opposed to the popular opinion on both of them. Maybe this can generate an argument or two in the comments? Click to continue reading...

Match #13.17 -- Kansas City Wizards

Six Word Novel Preview:
Even on points, a six-point game.

Opponent:
Kansas City Wizards

TV: 2 August 2008, Comcast Sportsnet, DireckKick, MLSLive.tv

Radio: WFED 1050AM, SRN

Previous Meeting:
March 29, 2008 - KC 2 - United 0

The Stakes:

Both teams sit on 22 points in the Eastern Conference, so this game could provide a six-point swing in the standings if either team manages to win.

Click to continue reading...