Wherever they are in the world, MLS clubs are forced to fight harder than most for respect from foreign countries. In soccer, respect comes down to results. So when D.C. United travels to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and disposes of Olimpia, the domestic league champion, 4-1, the rest of CONCACAF, anyway, should take notice. After that comprehensive victory, the return leg in Washington was a mere formality: United moved on to the semis of the CONCACAF Champions Cup with a 7-3 aggregate win.
Defending MLS champ Houston Dynamo found the CCC quarterfinals decidedly rougher going, but credit to it for overcoming a 1-0 away loss in the first leg to beat Costa Rican team Puntarenas, 2-0, in College Station, Texas. Incidentally, that victory marked the first time an MLS club beat Costa Rican opposition in a home-and-away series.
The CCC semis now look suspiciously similar to the newly formed SuperLiga: United plays Chivas de Guadalajara, while Houston faces Pachuca. All four of these teams are set to compete in this year’s SuperLiga tournament. For coaches Tom Soehn and Dominic Kinnear, advancement in the CCC has come at some cost: Soehn watched 2006 Goalkeeper of the Year Troy Perkins hobble off the field in United’s first-leg win in Honduras, while Kinnear’s all-star midfielder Dwayne De Rosario was injured against Puntarenas. D.C., in particular, will hope this year’s semis aren’t a repeat of last year’s 5-0 thrashing it suffered at the hand of UNAM.