D.C. can't break international barrier
Club can't find consistency in international matches
For all their success and consistency in league play over the past four years, United have been repeatedly denied the glory they crave in regional competitions like this one and once again the capital club found themselves unable to string together the necessary results over the span of a two-leg series.
"Every year we get so close," said defender Bryan Namoff, "yet I think we shot ourselves in the foot in the first game. This year it was unfortunate that we were able to be down 2-0 in Pachuca, and it came back and haunted us again."
Operating in an aggressive formation that sacrificed a defender to add an additional attacker in the form of team captain Jaime Moreno, the Black-and-Red asked questions of the Pachuca defense all evening. But the home side were let down by poor finishing and when substitute Damian Alvarez capped a quick counterattack with a low finish under Zach Wells in the 76th minute, the 3-0 aggregate deficit proved too high a mountain to climb, despite late tallies from Rod Dyachenko and Franco Niell.
"I think we played well," said Moreno afterwards. "They're a good team, definitely. We were unlucky not to finish the first couple of chances that we had in the first half -- I think it would've been a totally different game. But that's how it is: you don't put it in the net and you get punished."
Pachuca has won two domestic and three international competitions in the last two years, and that experience showed at RFK as the visitors massed numbers behind the ball when necessary and relieved pressure on their back line with swift forays forward.
But United created their share of scoring opportunities and saw two questionable challenges in the visitors' penalty area go unpunished by referee Joel Aguilar, most notably when Leobardo Lopez tugged Fred to the turf in the 55th minute.
"Of course, he pulled me down," said Fred. "I was surprised that I didn't get a call. I was getting ready to, I thought, score a goal and there was no call, so it was very disappointing."
The incident also drew an angry reaction from D.C. coach Tom Soehn afterwards, who praised his team for their energy and determination before pointing to Aguilar's decision as the match's pivotal moment.
"The one thing we couldn't account for is some of the calls we got, which are game-changers and in these big games for an official to blow a penalty call like that, that's a game-changer," said Soehn. "And that's disappointing."
Moreno set up Luciano Emilio for a great look at goal in the latter stages of the first half, but the normally single-minded Brazilian hesitated and was clattered into by Julio Manzur. While many of the home fans were convinced that Aguilar had robbed their side of a spot kick, Emilio himself had no quarrel with the referee's decision.
"I don't think so," said last season's MLS Golden Boot winner. "He got a piece of the ball first. And when a defender touches the ball first, and then touches the player, I don't think that's a PK."
Now United must shake off their regret and turn back to league play, with a short turnaround time before Saturday's road test against Real Salt Lake. The team has the day off from training Thursday but will travel west in preparation for the matchup, which has been a surprisingly difficult one for D.C. in years past.
"You have to fight through these -- it's disappointing, but tomorrow's another day," said Soehn. "Saturday is another game, so on the side of that we're obviously disappointed, but we have to move on and we have to move on in a hurry."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
