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Today's stories
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A couple links to the stuff I've got in today's paper: First, the sweet, sweet Volkswagen deal. I know, the headline should've been "RFK becomes Volkswagen's haus." Nevertheless, good times for all, with players and staff alike all wondering whether it makes sense to take advantage of the employee discount for a car. The players may have a little finessing to do, thanks to the salary cap, but as one player told me: "What, you're saying the Galaxy players don't get free vitamins?" A couple other tidbits about the VW deal that made the print edition, but not online: --Volkswagen is offering complimentary parking to all fans driving to Thursday night’s match against the Chicago Fire. --VW also has set aside 50 free parking spots for Volkswagen drivers to every D.C. United home game going forward. --United’s Marcelo Gallardo will become a spokesman for Volkswagen. --D.C. United executives Victor MacFarlane, Kevin Payne and Dave Kasper are planning to travel to Wolfsburg, Germany, Volkswagen’s home, at the end of this month to visit VfL Wolfsburg and Volkswagen Arena, a German Bundesliga club and stadium both part-owned by the automaker. Wolfsburg and D.C. United may also play one another in the near future, and VW has first option of naming rights for a D.C. United stadium. Second, my D.C. United notebook. Here's what I know: Ben Olsen isn't retiring, and unless there's a dramatic development today, Gallardo isn't playing against the Fire. |
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VW and DC United: Seeing is believing
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The fleeting hallway glimpse -- a.k.a. The Examiner's exclusive, if unauthorized, look at [REDACTED, again, for obvious reasons] wearing a jersey with a VW logo across the front -- apparently amounts to plenty. Although it hasn't been officially confirmed, D.C. United will unveil Volkswagen as a presenting sponsor tomorrow morning. Major League Soccer's ninth jersey sponsorship will be the biggest in the league since the Los Angeles Galaxy partnered with HerbaLife, and it will reach up to the league-wide level. We'll get the rest of the official terms tomorrow. |
Couple of youth notes
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Baltimore Bays standout and Virginia recruit Chris Agorsor was added to the U.S. under-20 national team roster for this week's three-game tour in England. One of the team's goalkeepers, Bill Hamid, who plays for D.C. United's development academy, apparently will also be making a visit to Celtic after the tour ends. Hmmm. Speaking of development academy soccer, the under-18 teams of D.C. United and Potomac will meet at RFK Stadium on Thursday afternoon (kickoff 4:50 pm), the opening act prior to the nationally-televised showdown between United and Chicago. |
Quick correction
| Today's print story has a note that says Gordon Bradley's memorial service is today. In fact, it's next week (May 9)...apologies... |
Das auto sponsor?
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So, [REDACTED] was wearing a D.C. United jersey today with VW on it. What does this mean? Could be nothing at all, as there's no sign of a confirmed deal. However, here's some of what we know: First, D.C United cleared that space on the front of its jersey this year for the express purpose of selling it. It's been glaringly in need of a corporate logo ever since. Second, heard an account of a Verizon deal that fell through last fall. Third, Volkswagen of America announced last fall that it was moving its headquarters to Herndon from Auburn Hills, Mich. VW also is hoping to massively increase its presence in the American market. Fourth, Volkswagen United? What a coincidence. And of course, some perspective on how much it could all be worth. The going rate is $3-5 million per year: Real Salt Lake -- XanGo -- four-year deal reportedly worth between $4 million and $5 million Houston -- Amigo Energy -- four-year deal worth $7.5 million LA Galaxy -- Herbalife -- between $3.5 million and $5 million a year through 2011 Chicago -- Best Buy -- three years, multi-million |
Confirmed sighting: DCU jersey sponsor
| We've had a confirmed sighting of the new DCU jersey with a big Volkswagen logo on it. Will have more later. |
Washington-area representin' on latest U20 squad
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In case you missed it, U.S. under-20 national team coach Thomas Rongen announced an 18-man squad last weekend for an upcoming trip to England. The U-20s will face three English Premier League reserve teams in Manchester: Bolton (May 7), Manchester United (May 8) and Liverpool (May 10). Among his 18 are two D.C. products. First, there's goalkeeper Bill Hamid, who's building up quite a resume with D.C. United's academy setup as well as DeMatha. Will he skip MLS? Second, and far less known, is 5-foot-7 striker Derek Markheim. The Woodbridge native is an interesting story. He played his freshman year in high school at Osbourn Park, then spent a semester at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Minnesota, came back here, all the while played club soccer for McLean, and has now been at French Ligue 2 club Amiens SC for a year. It'll be interesting to see how he does... |
D.C. United 4, Real Salt Lake 1: déjà vu much?
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2007: D.C. United disappoints itself in the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, starts the regular season 0-3-1, changes formations, then Jaime Moreno flummoxes Brad Guzan with an audaciously chipped penalty kick in a 2-1 home win over Chivas USA, and all turns right with the world in D.C. as United wins six of its next eight games to move back atop the standings by July. 2008: D.C. United disappoints itself in the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, starts the regular season 1-3-0, changes formations, then Jaime Moreno flummoxes Nick Rimando with an audaciously chipped penalty kick in a 4-1 home win over Real Salt Lake. Guess we’ll have to see what happens over the next two-plus months. Some things that jumped out: -- It took D.C. nearly 20 minutes to get Fred replaced after he banged legs with RSL’s Carey Talley in the fourth minute. Combined with Dan Stratford’s unfortunate debut in the midfield, the visitors dominated this portion of match and even longer, essentially until they fell behind. -- Speaking of Stratford – and I bring this up only because multiple people pointed it out to me during and after match – the timing of his substitution (41st minute) was less than ideal. Getting pulled before halftime in his first start is brutal on a rookie’s ego. Would five more minutes on the field really have done that much harm? At least at halftime, the substitution can be explained away easier. To be fair, DCU head coach Tom Soehn said he told Stratford to keep his head up when he pulled him off, and Rod Dyachenko made an immediate difference (more on that later). -- First penalty kick: call couldn’t have been easier. -- Second penalty kick: call couldn’t have been more questionable. It appeared that Chris Wingert tugged Luciano Emilio but outside the box. Talley’s contact looked far less egregious. -- Santino Quaranta’s goal was brilliant, but only for 13 minutes. Marcelo Gallardo’s was simply superb -- narrow angle, muchisima velocidad, so sublimely struck. Admit it, you swooned, too. Moreno gets assists on both, finishes the night with two goals and two assists. Dare you call him washed up? -- Dema Kovalenko mixed it up with Gallardo all night, drawing the sweet double-yellow in the 86th minute as the two jawed at one another. -- Dyachenko also got an assist on Quaranta’s goal. His placement alongside Clyde Simms was a revelation. Until now Dyachenko was always the playmaker (fill-in for Gallardo/Christian Gomez) or a forward. But he said he likes to play both sides of the ball, and he showed both bite and fight in the middle. More on this in print this week… Other notes: Gheorghe Muresan is tall, really stinkin’ tall. |
Big fun for the big weekend
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D.C. United leads sports in the Examiner. Woo hoo... Today is the inaugural World Malaria Day. Thanks to the great work of Chicago's Diego Gutierrez and others, this has become a big cause for Major League Soccer. Be sure to check this out. Got some spare time this weekend? Top of the list: More than 20,000 are expected for D.C. United’s match against Real Salt Lake tomorrow night. Despite the fact that we’re still in April, the importance of this match cannot be Whet your appetite by hitting Crystal Palace USA’s home- and season-opener tonight against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at UMBC. The Hounds are staying in town, too, heading to Maryland SoccerPlex to face Real Maryland on Saturday night (conflicts with DCU, though. Ouch.) Speaking of Palace, apparently they’ve got a closed-door scrimmage against D.C. United planned for Tuesday. Back to D.C. United, whose development academy teams take the field at SoccerPlex on Saturday versus Match Fit Academy (N.J.) and Sunday against PDA (N.J.). Monday, back on the south side of the Potomac, we’ve got the highly anticipated prep showdown between Herndon and Westfield. I’ll post some thoughts on that one before the weekend is through. |
June is still two months away (and other stuff)
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The next international transfer window is already fast approaching. I hear from a source that New England is shopping for a defender -- logical considering the recent trade of Joe Franchino to Los Angeles -- and that Toronto FC has it's eyes on Scottish striker Paul Dickov, 35, who is under contract with Manchester City and currently on loan at League One (third tier) Blackpool. Back in present day, D.C. United is working out a deal with Francis Doe which should be done this week. The Liberian needs a visa before he can suit up, one thing that kept him out of last week's reserve match. With that move, United's 28-man roster will be complete...for now. Contracts get guaranteed July 1... Some of you may have noticed that the U.S. under-20 national team had some not-so-sweet results at the Campos Verdes Tournament last week in Portugal -- a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland sandwiched between a 3-1 loss to the Cape Verdes Islands and a 4-0 defeat to host Portugal. My understanding is that some of the players were a bit out of their league, but keep this in mind, the squad was mostly 17- and 18-year-olds, at least a couple years younger than their competition. Brek Shea, who flew all the way back from Europe to Los Angeles to make his debut for FC Dallas on Sunday, was one player that showed well. Another, D.C. United academy and DeMatha goalkeeper Bill Hamid. Alfredo Morales, who plays with former DCUer Bryan Arguez at Hertha Berlin, was also intriguing. It'll be interesting to see who gets recalled for next month's trip to England. I'll let you know about that team's schedule, which is interesting, when it gets closer to getting confirmed. Rosters for the U.S. under-23's Olympic tune-up tourney in Toulon, France, are also expected soon. The U.S. is in Group B with Italy, Ivory Coast and Turkey. Group stage games: May 21 vs. Turkey; May 23 vs. Ivory Coast; May 25 vs. Italy. |
The Washington Examiner's Craig Stouffer blogs about soccer.
- Today's stories
- VW and DC United: Seeing is believing
- Couple of youth notes
- Quick correction
- Das auto sponsor?
- Confirmed sighting: DCU jersey sponsor
- Washington-area representin' on latest U20 squad
- D.C. United 4, Real Salt Lake 1: déjà vu much?
- Big fun for the big weekend
- June is still two months away (and other stuff)
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