United has arrived in Kingston, Jamaica in advance of the team's first match in CONCACAF Champions' Cup play Wednesday evening versus Harbour View FC (8 p.m. ET). 18 players, eight staff members, President & CEO Kevin Payne and the club's two co-managing partners - Will Chang and Victor MacFarlane - are all in downtown Kingston.
The team trained Monday evening, after arriving earlier in the day, on less than ideal field conditions. The bumpy and uneven pitch made training difficult, but the team was put through a long warm-up, worked on possession play, defensive shape and finishing. The team will train again Tuesday evening.
Wednesday's game will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel and on tape delay on Fox Sports en Español (4 a.m. ET).
United's 18-man roster for the game includes: GK: Jose Carvallo, Zach Wells; D: Marc Burch, Gonzalo Martinez, Devon McTavish, Bryan Namoff, Gonzalo Peralta; M: Rod Dyachenko, Fred, Marcelo Gallardo, Quavas Kirk, Domenic Mediate, Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms, Dan Stratford; F: Luciano Emilio, Jaime Moreno, Franco Niell.
Notes: The trials of Galen Thompson, David Blumer and Josh Gardner have ended without contract offers... Dane Murphey and Cezar will continue their trials with the team once it reconvenes in D.C.... Assistant Coach Mark Simpson will join the rest of the team Tuesday in Jamaica following the birth of his second daughter, Lyla Rose, on March 8.
Harbour View history
D.C. United and Harbour View FC have met one other time, when the two teams faced off in the same round of the 2005 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. United advanced 4-2 on aggregate in that series, earning a 2-1 win at the Maryland SoccerPlex on March 9 (goals from Alecko Eskandarian and Josh Gros), before taking a 2-1 win in Jamaica on March 16 (goals from Jaime Moreno and Jamil Walker).
Brotherly connection
Wednesday's game also has an interesting subplot, with a set of brothers each representing the opposing clubs. Jason Amaguaña, United's Manager of Operations, has been with the club for several years, while his brother Ronny is Harbour View's starting right back. Ronny played a full 90 minutes in the team's most recent game, a 2-2 draw with August Town FC - the club's fifth game in the Cash Plus National Premier League season. The defender is also familiar with many of the players on United's roster, as he was a guest player in two reserve games last year.
