D.C. United and the Chicago Fire already met once this preseason. The end result of the match was a scoreless draw. But that was before United had signed Hamdi Salihi. And that was before Dwayne De Rosario was healthy enough to make his mark.
Today's match is the opener of the 2012 Carolina Challenge Cup. United is the two-time defending champion of the preseason tournament. Today's match, as well as Wednesday's against the Charleston Battery and next Saturday's against the Columbus Crew, will be available for online consumption, so we figured we'd give you a chance to talk about it, getting into preseason form ourselves here at B&RU.
Game time: 5:00 PM
Television: Streaming live on dcunited.com
Projected starting lineup: Based on what we've seen in training and other recent preseason matches, Joe Willis will get the start in goal, with Robbie Russell, Dejan Jakovic, Emiliano Dudar, and Daniel Woolard in front of him. Marcelo Saragosa will likely start in central defensive midfield as Perry Kitchen is away with the United States U-23 National Team. Chris Pontius and Andy Najar will occupy the wings, while Branko Boskovic will start at the top of the midfield diamond if fit. United's high-scoring duo of De Rosario and Salihi will start up top.
In other news, United has parted ways with 19-year old Brazilian trialist Alfredo Martins. The forward had shown some attacking flare for the team, but will not be in their plans for this season.
This is your place for pre-game, in-game, and post-game discussion for our first opportunity of 2012 to see United through a screen.