It was not Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaká, two recent Madrid acquisitions who topped the billing in advertising leading up to the game, but rather 21-year-old Gonzalo Higuain, a veritable veteran entering his fourth year for Los Blancos, who provided an offensive showcase, netting goals in quick succession in the 57th and 59th minutes.
Arjen Robben, who came on as a substitution early in the second half and assisted on Higuain’s second strike, netted a goal of his own in the 69th minute to provide the final margin of victory.
After the game United coach Tom Soehn and his players expressed satisfaction in the first 55 minutes of play, and truth be told, in that time frame they performed about as well as could have been expected against an opponent Soehn repeatedly noted was “world-class.”
In particular, goalkeeper Josh Wicks had an outstanding game in net, turning away shot after shot as Madrid exploited their overpowering speed to get around United’s defenders. “He made a couple of big saves for us,” said Soehn. “The whole team defended really well.”
Wicks earned several saves in the early going as the Madrid attackers were determined to test the unheralded goalie. Midfielder Wesley Sneijder had the first true chance, curling a ball over the net from about 20 yards out, heralding a three-minute span in which Wicks completely laid out to his left side to deflect away a close-range blast from Esteban Granero, then making textbook snares on shots by Raul Albiol and then Kaká.
Perhaps Wicks’ best play came just a few minutes later, in the 22nd minute, when Ronaldo slashed down the center of the field and broke around his defender, Marc Burch, to earn a step on a feed from midfield. Wicks blasted off his line to take away Ronaldo’s shooting angle and slow the Portuguese striker enough to allow Burch to recover and kick the ball away.
Shortly after that sequence Madrid’s offense became dormant except for a pair of weak attempts on net by Higuain that were easily corralled by Wicks.
Real Madrid's Christiano Ronaldo and Kaka stand in attention during the singing of the National Anthem prior to the start of the match against D.C. United at the FedEx Field in Landover, MD on Sunday, August 9, 2009. Alan P. Santos/DC Sports Box
At the end of the first half both teams were relieved to take a brief respite from the blistering heat, but United was particularly thrilled to have held Ronaldo and the rest of Madrid’s superstars off the scoreboard.
“We dropped a little toward the end of the first half,” said Real Madrid goalie Iker Casillas through a translator. “I think that was due to the heat, because it was scorching.”
Casillas was rarely tested, as United only managed four shots in the game and two on net, both in the second half, before the goalie was taken out of the game by manager Manuel Pellegrini in the 78th minute. Each team had unlimited subs, and the end of the second half was a cavalcade of players coming on and off. By the time referee Baldomero Toledo blew the final whistle, both Pellegrini and Soehn had made eight substitutions each.
Fitness had been one area where United was thought to have an advantage over Madrid, since the visitors from Spain were still in preseason form and were unused to playing in Washington’s notorious summertime humidity.
As the game progressed Madrid slowed down a bit, as Castillas said, but so too did United. Eventually it was Madrid who broke through in the second half thanks to the two goals by Higuain, each of which was set up by a halftime substitution (Raul and then Robben), and the third goal by Robben.
Said Soehn: “[Real Madrid] can bring in world-class subs, and on a day like today you can see how [the heat] affected some of the best players in the world, but to have that depth is a big difference maker for them.”
United midfielder Ben Olsen pointed specifically to Madrid’s “pure speed and athleticism,” saying “we tried our best, sometimes you’re just overmatched,” before adding, “they were a little sick of us having the ball and that’s when the goals happened” in the second half.
It did seem that way, that Madrid simply flipped a switch to take their play to another level. Higuain, a young forward with dual Argentine and French citizenship, broke through United’s defensive backline effortlessly. His first goal was a thing of beauty, not so much for his actions with the ball as for the way he thoroughly confused his defenders.
Carrying the ball straight down the middle of the field, Higuain had United’s Marc Burch directly in front of him, with Robben to his right. With a simple head fake Higuain tricked Burch into sliding over to cover Robben, creating an open path to the D.C. net. The striker outraced center back Greg Janicki and then blasted a low right-footed shot across Wicks inside the far post in the 57th minute.
United’s defenders had learned their lesson, but so to had Madrid’s strikers, and just two minutes later the visitors capitalized once again on a similar situation executed differently. This time it was Robben bringing the ball down the middle, and when both United defenders collapsed on him he deftly slid a pass to Higuain. The forward stepped around Wicks, who had dashed off his line to cut down the initial shooting angle, before depositing the ball into the now vacated net.
The two plays, brilliant scores in quick succession, brought the boisterous crowd of 72,368 to their feet. Despite the game being contested on home turf for United, Sunday afternoon’s crowd was decidedly partisan in favor of Real Madrid. Replica Madrid jerseys, including those of just-acquired players like Ronaldo and Kaká, filled the stands, while in the two sections immediately in front of the press box there were more David Beckham jerseys visible (3) than United kits (2).
The crowd was still buzzing and United still reeling twelve minutes later when Robben struck for his own marker, a cheeky flick over Milos Kocic (who had come on in relief of Wicks minutes prior). Kocic, who had come off his line to challenge Robben for the loose ball, dashed back to the net and batted it off the post and into play, but the line judge had ruled it crossed the goal line first and was therefore a goal. Several D.C. players disagreed, none more strenuously than Burch, who was awarded a yellow card for dissent.
In the end, both teams walked away from the afternoon happy (for the most part). Real Madrid earned the win and excited their D.C.-area fanbase, D.C. United showed they could play with one of the best teams in the world, and both teams added significantly to the club coffers. All in all a win-win situation, even if only one team could earn the on-field victory.
