Washington, D.C. - D.C. United announced today the club has been invited to participate in the Copa Nissan Sudamericana. The annual tournament is hosted by CONMEBOL, the South American Football Confederation, and since 2005 has included teams from CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. The tournament draw takes place tomorrow (Tuesday, May 22) in Buenos Aires at 12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. local).
"Everyone in our organization is thrilled to be a part of Copa Sudamericana for a second time," said United President and CEO Kevin Payne. "This is a great opportunity for us to compete with the best teams in our hemisphere, and for our fans to support us as we play in a very important international competition."
United qualified to participate in this year's tournament as a result of the club's third place finish in CONCACAF Champions' Cup. United defeated Olimpia by a 7-3 aggregate score before losing to CD Guadalajara by a 2-3 aggregate score. The club's +3 goal differential in the event was enough to out-pace the Houston Dynamo.
D.C. United was the first team from Major League Soccer to participate in the prestigious tournament when it was invited to play in the 2005 edition of Copa Sudamericana. That year, D.C. faced Universidad Catolica of Chile in a two-game aggregate goal series, but lost in heartbreaking fashion. After a 1-1 draw at RFK Stadium on Sept. 13, United traveled to Santiago, Chile for the second leg on Sept. 22. The Black-and-Red went up 2-0, but eventually fell 3-2 (4-3 aggregate) to the hosts.
