D.C. United reserves put forth a strong showing in Cary, N.C., on Wednesday night, beating the Charleston Battery 2-0 before 2,122 in an exhibition. Lucio Filomeno and Rod Dyachenko tallied first half goals for the Black-and-Red.
D.C. United mounted heavy pressure early in the match. Filomeno, Dyachenko, Justin Moose and Matt Nickell all narrowly missed quality chances before the game was 20 minutes old. Charleston's back line finally gave way in the 28th minute. Andy Metcalf's clever move with the ball freed him into space along the right flank. His quality cross found Filomeno in the six-yard box for a clear header.
Filomeno nearly doubled the lead 10 minutes later, but his curling free kick was paried from the upper right-hand corner by a diving Keith Wiggans. United finished the scoring in the 41st minute. Nickell headed John Wilson's cross to the far post back into the goalmouth. An on-rushing Dyachenko smashed a volley past a helpless Wiggan.
Though the second half brought fewer scoring opportunities, United continued to dominate play. Nick Rimando and Ryan McIntosh combined for the clean sheet victory.
Scoring Sunmary:
DCU: Lucio Filomeno (Andy Metcalf) 28
DCU: Rod Dyachenko (Matt Nickell) 41
Lineups:
DCU: Nick Rimando (Ruan McIntosh 72); Domenic Mediate, Devon McTavish, John Wilson (Alex Ughiovhe 72); Justin Moose (Shawn Kuykendall 46), Jeff Carroll, Andy Metcalf, Rod Dyachenko, Stephen deRoux; Lucio Filomeno (Freddy Adu 60), Matt Nickell.
CHA: Keith Wiggans; Anthony Catalano, Tim Karalexis, Jeff Mateo; Ben Hollingsworth, Troy Lesesne, Ugo Okoye, Armando Romero, Luke Vercollone (Jason Doleac 58); Jordie Hughes, Lawrence Smith (Teba McKnight 58)
Cautions:
DCU: Justin Moose 8
DCU: Alex Ughiovhe 85
World Cup Update:
On Monday, the U.S. National Team fell 3-0 to the Czech Republic in its World Cup opener in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. After an early Czech goal, the U.S. created chances through the midfield, but was unable to capitalize on its opportunities as it ended the half down 2-0.
At the start of the second half, two pairs of fresh legs entered the game for the U.S., John O'Brien and Eddie Johnson. It looked as though Johnson would change the game the U.S., but one shot went wide and another, just over the crossbar.
Ben Olsen, who is with the US National Team in Germany, was not on the list of available substitutions for the match. However, former D.C. United stars Brian Convey and Eddie Pope started and played the entire match. The U.S. faces Italy on Saturday in another tough match-up in Group E of the FIFA World Cup.
The US Department of State Hosts Youth of the World Cup Sports Initiative:
Thirty soccer players ranging in ages 13-18 from 13 countries around the world witnessed United's training session Tuesday morning. The group, with representatives from Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bolivia, China, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Uganda and Uzbekistan, has come to the U.S. as part of the World Cup Sports Initiative tour.
The theme of this year's World Cup is "a time to make friends." The delegation of young soccer players will build an international understanding and respect with people around the world. They will also learn the importance of female players, referees and coaches at all levels of play.
During their trip to the United States, they also watched the U.S. game against the Czech Republic on Capitol Hill and will attend a New York Red Bulls game. The youth from the World Cup Sports Initiative are also scheduled to fly to Germany to watch the U.S. play Ghana live on June 22.
