Friday Freedom Kicks: DC United preseason game, Audi Field improvements, and more

After a busy Wednesday, yesterday was a little slow in terms of soccer news. I took the opportunity to go outside and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather but still have a few FKs for you all.

D.C. United wound down their time at the Coachella Valley Invitational with two friendlies against the San Jose Earthquakes yesterday. As reported by Steven Goff, United tried out two different line-ups for the matches.

D.C. lost the first match 2-1, with Taxi Fountas scoring the lone goal off a penalty kick, while the second resulted in a 0-0 draw. San Jose posted some video of the first game, giving us a chance to speculate wildly about how D.C. United might look in formation this year.

Also on the preseason grind, the Washington Spirit have a preseason game today against Racing Louisville FC.

Loudoun United FC have hired a new goalkeeping coach, Omar Badran. A native of Saudi Arabia, Badran played professionally in England, Norway, Italy and Saudi Arabia before transitioning to coaching.

Audi Field has undergone a few updates in the offseason, including new roofing and D.C. soccer murals. Here’s a little update on that from Charles Boehm:

D.C. Defenders prepared for their opening game on February 19 at Audi Field by unveiling their shield. With the Pentagon outline and some of their other branding, they’re definitely leaning into a military theme.

In case you didn’t see the comment from Kerry a couple days ago: the Black and Red United staff are in the process of creating a new platform with community features and will make an official announcement before the start of the MLS season on February 25. If you want to receive email updates, please fill out our survey.