Were you able to stay up for the incredible finish to tonight's game?
D.C. United advances to the group stage of CONCACAF Champions League after a thrilling penalty kick win over Luis Angel Firpo in El Salvador. I'd describe the exciting scene, but all you need to know is that Christian Gomez was the man. He tallied United's lone goal of the game in the 42nd minute on a sweet free kick and then - with penalties knotted up at 4-4 - stepped up and sent his well-driven shot off the left post and into the net to send D.C. on to the next round.
Awesome.
D.C. will be a part of Group B along with CD Marathon (Honduras), Toluca (Mexico) and the winner of San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad & Tobago) and San Francisco FC (Panama). United will open group play in Honduras against Marathon on Aug. 18, before hosting Toluca at RFK Stadium on Aug. 26. It's going to be a busy stretch, folks.
Here are some post-game links:
- DC advances past Firpo on penalties - by Dylan Butler (dcunited.com)
- Post-game quotes from Soehn, Gomez, Olsen (dcunited.com)
- Photos from tonight's match (Flickr)
- CONCACAF Champions League site
What did you think of the game? How about those penalty takers? Really impressive stuff from all five guys, eh?
