Last year, this was the opponent that started it all for D.C. United. It was April 30, 2012, and los Capitalinos were 0W-1D-2L when they returned from a two-game road trip to host FC Dallas. A 4-1 win later, United were off the skids and on their way to a 7-game unbeaten streak. The goals came from all over - Maicon Santos' long range blast opened the scoring, and after Blas Perez's offside goal was incorrectly allowed to stand, boyhood friends Nick DeLeon and Danny Cruz each put one by Kevin Hartman. Santos added a second to provide the final margin.
United hasn't been any better in their first nine games of 2013 than they were in their first three in 2012. (Aside: even though this match-up comes only 12 days later in the calendar, United have played six more games than they had when they played FCD last year. There's the new schedule for you.) In fact, they've been considerably worse. Worse than any other team in the league by a significant margin, too. In the meantime, Dallas aren't the inconsistent side they were last year - they're leading the Supporters' Shield race, in fact. Goody.
But that won't stop us from rooting for the Black-and-Red tomorrow night or from hoping against hope that we see a reversal of fortune akin to, but greater than, last year's. United is in a desperate situation, and if they actually play like it, for once, we just might see the impossible. Or we might not - it's called impossible for a reason.
Anyway, we can always look back and enjoy the highlights from our meeting last year, when we witnessed the birth of Maicon F. Santos (not to be confused with the ineffective Mike Sanders, who so often wore Santos' uniform during the second half of last year).