Must Get One: Copa Sudamericana, Round of 16, Leg #2

Currently... CD Universidad Catolica 1 : 1 DC United (Away goals: 1-0)

Tonight in Chile, DC United must come from behind to advance in the Copa Sudamericana. Steve Goff yesterday informed fans that Jamil Walker and Santino Quaranta might not play. Today, he revisits the Pumas defeat in the Champions Cup and the MLS Select Team's destruction at the hands of Real Madrid as the backdrop for his preview of leg number two. MLS/DC United provides their "Welcome to Chile, now go play some five on five" writeup here.

Someone, and I wish I could provide the link to provide the citation, said that even if DC gives up an early goal, it doesn't matter. They must score in order to advance. 0-0 will be a loss, 1-0 is a win, and 1-1 and we're at penalties. So DC can, strangely, afford to give up one goal. (A 2-0 hole, on the other hand, is devastating).

The news is that Santino is ready to start should be treated with mild skepticism. Tino was sighted around town before leaving for Chile, and he was favoring the injured leg. Maybe it's one of those things that when you get out and run around for a bit, it suddenly loosens up and you feel fine. (The flip side of that is for two days after that you cry like a little girl at the slightest pressure. Or at least I did during one of my innumerable ankle injuries.)

Walker is out, and that's a shame. His speed (and his goal) made it possible to DCU to seriously consider taking a shot at a win in this encounter. His speed I think is less important to him than it is to covering up for United's poor passing in the first leg. He made the imprecise balls played on the ground less of a liability by getting to them before they were picked off, in essence he seemed at times to be intercepting passes to himself. With Walker gone, Kovalenko will need to find the net, Moreno will need to improve his passing and running off the ball from the RFK encounter, and the back line can't afford any sloppy play.

This should be fun. Since I don't have Fox Soccer Channel, I'll probably catch this one on the Audiocast. Good luck team.

Edited because apparently I can't remember simple math. See comments.