Sat Oct 11 20:04:31 2008

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United in danger of missing playoffs for first time since '02

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Houston, TX (Sports Network) - D.C. United, in danger of missing the Major League Soccer Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2002, needs a win at defending champion Houston on Sunday evening to give itself a chance.

Currently, the defending Supporters' Shield winners are 10-14-3 and sit three points out of a wildcard spot, but there are also a number of other teams within striking distance.

If United, which has lost four of its last five league matches, is going to make a run over the final three games of the regular season, it is going to have to do it without a number of influential players, who are out with injuries. Midfielders Marcelo Gallardo, Fred and Ben Olsen are out for at least the rest of the season while forward Luciano Emilio, the league's reigning MVP, is questionable for Sunday with a hamstring strain.

"There is a risk. But because I want to go back on the field step by step, maybe Sunday I play 20, 30 minutes - step by step, because I worry about that," Emilio said of not wanting to come back to early from his injury. "[Scoring against Dynamo] is a big challenge. We need to go there and work hard to score goals and win the game. I hope I can play."

Also, forward Jaime Moreno will be serving the second of a two-game suspension for an elbow he threw against FC Dallas, leaving United even more shorthanded.

"We're going to fight it out until the end. We have to have a winning mentality whoever is in the game for us as a team, regardless of injury," Gallardo said. "We have to fight it out and give it our all because this could be the end of the season."

The Dynamo (11-5-10), who have just one loss in their past 13 league matches, are coasting to the top seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket. The team has a four point lead with a game in hand over the rest of the teams in the hunt for the title, meaning it is Houston's to lose.

A win last week over Colorado helped Houston keep its advantage over surging Chivas USA.

"It was important," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. "If you look at the standings, whatever way the result swings, [Chivas] either creeps closer to us, or we pull away from them. We've had out-of-town travel and this and that, but we were very bright, we scored some very good goals, we gave up a goal, we responded well. It was important to get the win, and the way we got it was very impressive. Obviously the second half, we got a little bit winded, they're taking advantage of a little space we're giving up, but the guys defended well enough to get the win."

The Dynamo will be without Brian Ching and Kei Kamara because of international duty for Sunday's fixture.