Rapids 2, DC United 1

By: Clint | April 7th, 2007

Just a quick report on the game today. We drove our 40 mins to get to the stadium, bought the hot chocolate and nachos, walked in a couple circles through the crowds to check out all the vendors and the nice, new, clean bathrooms, and eventually ended up sitting in 21 degree lightly snowing weather to watch the Rapids TROUNCE DC, erm, 2-1.

Actually, it was a fairly even and entertaining match, despite the foul weather. The nacho cheese congealed quickly so I didn’t finish all of it. I got some shots and video which I’ll post tomorrow or Monday. Gomez had a very nice first half, netting the first goal of the season (for all MLS, I believe). I’m glad my Rapids season preview provided the necessary motivation. Brown got the second goal, which was all Colorado would end up needing.

If it wasn’t so damned cold I would have taken notes on each player but since I was doing all I could to stave off the seemingly inevitable moment when I’d have to urinate on my own feet to prevent frostbite from setting in, all I locked in my memory before leaving was:

*Brown, despite scoring (for which I AM grateful), looks as clumsy as an ostrich on ice. He should never be allowed to touch the ball outside of the box.
*Cooke played very well/smart and set up both goals.
*Keeper Bouna Coundoul (who I’d never seen before) was quite sharp. Amazingly sharp for such a cold day.
*Rapids defense was ugly – but they DID do enough to protect the lead so they are ugly winners.
*There were an awful lot of bad tackles and blatant fouls. I counted 5 yellows and there probably should have been another 3 for some really lazy defending disguised and shoves/pulldowns.
*The Dick is rather lovely.

I expected a much better game from DC. Moreno looked hoss, which kinda surprised me. But even bring Fred in as a sub, and playing Moreno and Olson from the get-go, DC never really seemed to be a threat. Maybe it was just the first-game-in-a-new-stadium bump that helped the Rapids win today, but if they can keep playing the attacking football that characterized the first half, I think Colorado could be much better than we all thought.