The Canadians of D.C. United celebrate unlikely USOC triumph By Steven Sandor Posted on October 2, 2013 1 0 788 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Dwayne De Rosario PHOTO: PAUL FREDERIKSEN Three Canadian players — Dwayne De Rosario, Dejan Jakovic and Kyle Porter — may look down at their feet and discover that their soccer cleats have been replaced by glass slippers. Their D.C. United squad became the improbable winners of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday, beating Real Salt Lake 1-0 in the Utah altitude. D.C. United currently stands dead last in MLS, with no way out of the basement. But, thanks to one of the strangest runs in the century-long history of the U.S. Open Cup tournament, D.C. United not only adds to its trophy case but earns a berth in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League. If De Rosario, Porter and Jakovic remain with DCU in 2014, they’ll get the chance to test their mettle agains the continent’s best club teams. On Saturday, both DCU and RSL started their reserve squads in MLS action, resting their regulars for Tuesday night’s USOC final. RSL’s reserves went to Vancouver and won, DCU’s reserves didn’t look any better than a bad NASL team (and even that might be cruel on the San Antonio Scorpions) in a 4-1 loss to Toronto FC. But when the ‘A’ sides met, DCU showed that MLS form has no bearing on Cup games. The team from the U.S. capital becomes the Wigan of MLS; if you recall, Wigan took the FA Cup this past year, a bright spot in a relegation season. Lewis Neal got the goal for DCU in the 45th minute, and then the road side hung on through the second half. While Porter stayed on the bench as an unused sub, both De Rosario and Jakovic started. DeRo played 75 minutes, while Jakovic played the full game as his line bent, but didn’t break, in keeping a clean sheet. De Rosario finished as the USOC’s leading scorer, with five goals in the 2013 campaign. He scored the winner in DCU’s 2-0 semifinal triumph over the Chicago Fire.
