DC Wins!

There’s something about seeing a grown-man cry that just gets me every time.

After the first game of the season, I am pretty confident that DC United is the greatest soccer team in the world. After scoring just 21 goals in thirty games last season, they scored three times on Saturday to start the season off with a commanding win.

Although it’s extremely tempting, I’m not interested in turning the Muted Guerrilla into some fan site for DC United, but their performance on Saturday was truly remarkable and the story, I think, is appealing to more than just soccer fans. The first goal was very well done and was the result of the goal scorer, Josh Wolff, working his tail off throughout the game up to that point, but the next two goals are what, rightfully, people are talking about.

DC United’s newest forward is Charlie Davies, a man who 18 months ago seemed destined to lead the US to the World Cup. He emerged as a star throughout the qualifying stages of the World Cup, but in the days leading up to the final qualification game (coincidentally held at DC United’s home, RFK Stadium), he was a passenger in a car crash that killed one passenger and left Davies with life-threatening injuries, including a lacerated bladder, which sounds awful, and the need for doctor’s to pull back the skin from his face, leaving some pretty intense scars.

He also broke his leg in a few places and his career was almost certainly over. Saturday night was his first competitive game since October 2009. Coming in as a substitute, his first touch of the ball was when team captain Dax McCarty (what kind of name is Dax!) handed him the ball to take a penalty kick, which he converted. The second goal was, as they say, in the run-of-play as he beat both a defender and the goalie.

As wonderful as it was to watch it happen, the post game interview helps put it into perspective.

Well done, CD9. Best of luck throughout your comeback! Vamos United!