D.C. United’s preseason continues, the Washington Spirit’s starts & more: Freedom Kicks for 2/19/18

Hi, I watched snow fall Saturday and was in shorts yesterday while I loaded a mini-fridge into the car without having to readjust the child seat once. Get on my level!

Recaps of D.C. United’s 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union from us (along with reactions and on-site observations) and Brotherly Game. Meanwhile, let’s look in on D.C.’s opponent next Saturday, shall we?

Armada owner may change face of soccer in America (News4Jax): Wednesday’s D.C. opponent also chimes in, and we may see a familiar face on the other side too.

In giving Screaming Eagles “lead role,” DC United court controversy (Soccerwire): Charlie Boehm covers the most recent rake-stepping.

These two newcomers are expected to play leadership roles for D.C. United this year (WaPo): Goff on two of last summer’s signings (Paul Arriola & Russell Canouse) and their increased visibility this year...

Miranda quiere continuar la tradición boliviana en el DC United (Marca): ...while Bruno Miranda is also given the profile piece treatment.

Essien set to join MLS side D.C United (GhanaWeb): A quick summary: former Chelsea and Ghana midfielder Michael Essien joined Indonesia side Persib Bandung last March, but playing time and injuries have plagued him there. So when a Persib owner joked about sending Essien to DC (Erick Thohir is a ‘Commissioner’ of Persib), folks thought it wasn’t funny for a minute. Anyway, tl;dr the rumor is trash for a myriad of reasons, but figured you could use a laugh.

Inter drop 2-0 decision (Serpents of Madonnina): In partner club news, Inter Milan’s relative funk for 2 months continues, this time with a shutout loss at Genoa. Following Roma’s win, Inter are in 4th in Serie A and could find themselves in 5th if Lazio beat Hellas Verona today.

Also, we mentioned this last Monday, but congrats again go to Chris Rolfe for his induction into his alma mater’s (Dayton University) Hall of Fame:

Finally, with all the men’s soccer stuff happening, the Washington Spirit kick their preseason off today:

Anyway, that’s all I got, so have fun out there.