Soccer Insider - A soccer blog by The Washington Post's Steve Goff - September 20, 2009

Saturday Kickaround

*Full accounts of Maryland's dramatic 1-0 victory over North Carolina before a record crowd in College Park. One-loss Virginia hosts winless Clemson tonight in Charlottesville. *With modest expectations, the USA begins U-20 World Cup play against Germany at 10 a.m. (ESPN Classic, Galavision) in Egypt. Virginia's Brian Ownby is in...

Terps, USA TV, Beckham, MLS

Greetings from College Park, where Maryland and North Carolina will tangle for the first time since the the Terps' 1-0 victory last December in the NCAA College Cup final. On this pleasant evening with a big walk-up crowd expected, Maryland might break the Ludwig Field attendance record that it set...

Friday Kickaround

*USA defender Jay DeMerit injured himself removing a contact lens. Yup. *Beware of fake World Cup tickets. *A huge match in College Park tonight as last year's NCAA finalists, Maryland and North Carolina, meet in an ACC showdown (8 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel). Get the basics here. D.C. United's Rodney...

United Rewind

Ten days ago, D.C. United was on the verge of crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions League for the second straight autumn. Now, with a home victory against winless Jabloteh next Wednesday and a Marathon loss to visiting Toluca the next day, DCU would secure passage to next year's quarterfinals....

Matchnight: United-Marathon

Greetings from RFK. Marathon arrived in Washington at around 1:30 this morning, concluding a coup-inspired journey that forced the club to spend eight six hours on a bus traveling from San Pedro Sula to Guatemala City, fly to Miami and then connect to Reagan National Airport. Forward Jerry Palacios is...

Weekend TV Listings

What are you going to watch? FRIDAY Germany, Nuremberg-Bochum 2:30 p.m. ET GolTV NCAA men, Maryland-North Carolina 8 p.m. Fox Soccer Channel SATURDAY England, Portsmouth-Everton 7:45 a.m. ESPN2 Germany, Schalke-Borussia Dortmund 9:30 a.m. ESPN Deportes Germany, Wolfsburg-Hanover 9:30 a.m. GolTV England, Stoke City-Manchester United 9:30 a.m. Setanta U-20 World Cup,...

MLS Home Openers in 2010

Every home opener except Toronto's has been finalized for next season. The complete schedule will be released in February. D.C. United will open at Kansas City on March 27 -- the second time in three years the club is off to see the Wizards in the first league match --...

Thursday Kickaround

*For the second time in six days, playoff-contending Colorado was on the verge of a devastating loss to last-place San Jose. But in an eerily similar outcome to last Friday's 1-1 tie on the road, the Rapids (10-8-8, 38 points) were awarded a penalty kick in second-half added time and...

Americans Abroad, Wed. Edition

English League Cup GK Tim Howard 90 in Everton's 4-0 win at Hull City GK Brad Guzan 90 in Aston Villa's 1-0 win over Cardiff City GK Marcus Hahnemann 90 in Wolves' 1-0 loss at Manchester United F Jozy Altidore not in 18 for Hull's loss to Everton F Eddie...

Union-United on April 10

The Insider told you exclusively last week that Philadelphia Union was considering the NFL's Lincoln Financial Field for its home debut next spring against D.C. United, and today the club formally announced that the home opener will indeed take place at Lincoln on April 10 against DCU. The new stadium...

USA Monitoring Honduras Situation

Because of the political unrest in Honduras, not to mention the closure of the four major airports there this week, the U.S. Soccer Federation is keeping an eye on the situation as it plans for the national team's trip to San Pedro Sula for the World Cup qualifier Oct. 10....

Poll: D.C. United's Pursuits

I conducted a similar poll a while back, but with the U.S. Open Cup now out of the way and D.C. United in the middle of a tight MLS race as well as in contention for a Champions League quarterfinal berth, it's an appropriate time to ask..... poll by twiigs.com...

D.C. United News & Notes

*Santino Quaranta (quadriceps) says he is fine and ready to play Thursday night against Marathon in the Champions League at RFK Stadium. Marc Burch (ankle) and Dejan Jakovic (hernia) continue to work on conditioning while Bryan Namoff (concussion) remains out. *You might not recognize Devon McTavish tomorrow -- he shaved...

Wednesday Kickaround

*When San Jose visits Colorado tonight (9:30 p.m. ET, Direct Kick), almost every other MLS club will be rooting for the Earthquakes. With just over a month remaining in the regular season and 12 teams stuffed within 13 points of one another in pursuit of eight playoff berths, an outsider...

Americans Abroad, Dutch Madness, MLS

*USA defender Jonathan Spector played 120 minutes in West Ham's 3-1 overtime loss at Bolton in the English League Cup. Bolton scored the equalizer in the 86th and then scored early and late in overtime. ... Forward Mike Grella played the final nine minutes as third-tier Leeds provided a scare...

Namoff Out With Concussion

The Insider told you Monday that D.C. United right back Bryan Namoff continued to experience headaches after receiving a blow to the head against Kansas City two weeks ago. Today, the club said the veteran defender has a concussion and has been listed as "out" on the official injury report....

Bellamy Incident

Manchester City Manager Mark Hughes has come to the defense of his player Craig Bellamy for striking a fan who invaded the pitch during the epic, 4-3 loss to Manchester United over the weekend. "The guy made an aggressive move. Craig just put a defensive hand out to push him...

Tuesday Kickaround

*In the first Champions League meeting between the Houston Dynamo and Arabe Unido in Panama, the clubs combined for 11 yellows and five reds. Tonight, they meet again at Robertson Stadium in the fourth of six group-stage matches for each club. Arabe is first with a 2-0-1 record and seven...

D.C. United News & Notes

After enjoying a gap on the busy calendar and taking the weekend off, D.C. United has turned its attention to two vital home games in different competitions. With a victory Thursday night against Marathon, DCU would claim a share of second place in group play of the Champions League with...

Video: Russian Fan Scores

Admit it: You've been tempted to do this at RFK........

Monday Kickaround

*Barcelona scored five goals (against Atletico Madrid), Real Madrid scored five (against Xerez). Messi had two, Ronaldo had two. Real scored in the first minute, Barcelona in the second. Real scored in the 89th, Barca in the 90th. Barca had three goals in 25 minutes, Real four in 14. Both...

MLS Playoff Race

EASTERN CONFERENCE AUTOMATIC BERTHS Columbus (25) 11-4-10, 43 points Chicago (26) 10-6-10, 40 WESTERN CONFERENCE AUTOMATIC BERTHS Houston (27) 12-8-7, 43 points Los Angeles (26) 10-5-11, 41 WILD-CARD BERTHS Seattle (26) 9-6-11, 38 points Chivas USA (24) 11-9-4, 37 Colorado (25) 10-8-7, 37 D.C. United (26) 8-6-12, 36 ---------- New...

Americans Abroad

GOALKEEPERS Tim Howard 90 in Everton's 3-0 win over Blackburn Brad Friedel 90 in Aston Villa's 2-0 win over Portsmouth Troy Perkins 90 in Valerenga's 4-1 win over Lyn Brad Guzan in 18, didn't play in Aston Villa's 2-0 win over Portsmouth Marcus Hahnemann in 18, didn't play in Wolves'...

Soccer Insider: September 20, 2009 - September 26, 2009