Tonight, D.C. United will play the New York Red Bulls in a U.S. Open Cup play-in game for the right to advance to the tournament's round of 16. D.C. topped FC Dallas and New York defeated San Jose to advance to this evening's contest.
United will, unfortunately, be without the services of midfielder Ben Olsen, who suffered a Grade 2 hamstring in strain in the early minutes of Saturday's 2-2 draw with Chivas USA. Olsen is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
The last time D.C. and NYRB met, United snatched a last-minute, last-gasp 3-2 victory over its Atlantic Cup rivals, scoring two goals in the games final minutes. The Red Bulls will certainly hope to avenge the disheartening loss.
Tonight's game at RFK Stadium will kickoff at 7 p.m. ET. There is no television broadcast available, so get yourself out to RFK. You can listen on both English (1050 AM) and Spanish (1540, 1390, 1600 AM) radio should not be able to make it out to the stadium. You can also follow along via twitter, where we'll post periodic updates. Should you want to take part in the twitter discussion, simply tag your tweet with #dcu or #dcunited and you'll join the conversation on the front page of dcunited.com.
Here's your reading list ahead of tonight's contest:
- United's Olsen Expected to Miss 3-4 Weeks with Hamstring Strain - by Steven Goff (Washington Post)
- United's Wallace hardly a rookie - by Patrick Stevens (Washington Times)
- Olsen to miss 3-4 weeks; Wallace weighs international options - by Craig Stouffer (Washington Examiner)
- United welcome Open Cup opportunity - by Charlie Boehm (dcunited.com)
- D.C. United goalkeepers jockey for playing time - by Charlie Boehm (dcunited.com)
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So, there you have it, folks - United will continue defense of its 2008 U.S. Open Cup title tonight. Any predictions floating around out there for the game? Guess correctly and you might win two tickets to an upcoming D.C. United home game. Guess incorrectly and be shamed and embarrassed in front of your peers.
