Extra time to get ready

D.C. United had just three weeks of practice last season before playing two Champions Cup games against CD Olimpia of Honduras beginning on Feb. 21, both of which the club won.

United has a little more time to prepare this year.

Its first competitive game is not until March 12, when United travels to Jamaica for the Champions Cup.

“It feels like an eternity compared to last year,” coach Tom Soehn said.

United has practiced for nearly a month in Florida and now in California.

“The soccer has been better in the second camp, but I also see how quickly our legs get tired so we have plenty of work to do,” said Soehn, who enters his second season as coach.

United has won one preseason exhibition match so far — a 6-0 victory over the U.S. under-17 team. But it has lost to Chivas USA (1-0), Danish club Odense BK (1-0), the U.S. under-23 team (2-0) and tied the Kansas City Wizards (1-1) and Toronto FC (1-1).

The team plays an exhibition game against the San Jose Earthquakes tomorrow in Camarillo, Calif.

“We don’t need to get results right away,” Soehn said.

For its final practices, United will be in San Antonio, where it will play in a preseason event with games against Houston (March 5), Toronto FC (March 7) and Chivas USA (March 9).

“When we get to San Antonio we will really focus on results and start putting in the minutes,” Soehn said.

United’s roster has gone through quite an overhaul in the preseason with numerous new faces, including five South American players.

“First we need to build friendships off the field and then build chemistry on the field,” Soehn said. “The first part is coming along fine, but we need a lot of work to get the second part right.”

As for Luciano Emilio, United’s top goal scorer last year, Soehn said: “He took his break to relax and he needs to catch up physically, but by March 12 he should be full out.”

On former Argentine World Cup star Marcelo Gallardo, Soehn said: “He’s getting acclimated to our system and starting to have an impact on the game more and more. There are so many transitions a player has to go through coming into this league. He has to learn what we are about, and we have to learn what he is about.”

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