FanHouse DCUnited

Yesterday, D.C. United announced a new five-year sponsorship deal with Volkswagen, which involves slapping a big VW logo on the Major League Soccer club's jerseys and trying to sell the Screaming Eagles on the joys of Touareg ownership. In turn, D.C. United will receive $14 million over the next five years.

That's $2.8 million a year. The MLS salary is currently $2.3 million a year. So for all intents and purposes, Volkswagen is covering D.C. United's player salaries for at least the next two years. There's probably enough left over to pay most of the coaching staff, too.

MLS has its share of problems, but it seems the league's biggest problem is the lack of money available to players not named Beckham or Blanco. The MLS Players Union desperately needs to address that issue in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, which would take effect in 2010. The salary cap should be at least double what it is now. The minimum salary for senior team players needs to be raised. Roster sizes should be increased. Most importantly, developmental players should be making a living wage. That would allow a youth program prospect like Matt Kassel to stay with his club rather than leave for college.

Those are just small steps the League and the Players Union could take to make MLS more appealing to both players and fans. Without that, MLS might not be quite as appealing to other advertisers in the future. But hey, kudos to D.C. United for getting someone else to pay their most important employees, right?

When D.C. United traveled to Kingston, Jamaica for the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal against Harbour View, it looked like a side clearly in preseason form. Much of their attack was of the hoof-and-hope variety, resulting in an unimpressive 1-1 draw.

Clearly, that was not the case tonight in RFK Stadium. The MLS Supporters Shield winners looked much more organized, dominated possession against Harbour View, and after an hour of play, the floodgates opened. Luciano Emilio and Devon McTavish scored two goals each to lead D.C. to a 5-0 victory.

Harbour View's shift in defensive tactics proved to be disastrous, as Brazilian midfielder Fred kept getting open in the box and setting up his teammates. He looked like he was attempting to repeat his four-assist performance for the Melbourne Victory in the 2007 A-League Grand Final -- until he scored the fifth goal himself and celebrated by putting a pacifier in his mouth. Carlos Tevez has much to answer for.

D.C. United won 6-1 on aggregate and advanced to the semifinals to face the winner of tomorrow night's Pachuca v. Motagua tie in Mexico. The Houston Dynamo can also advance to the semifinals with a win against Honduran champs Municipal tomorrow night.

In case you missed it last week (like I did), D.C. United is currently playing in the Copa Nissan Sudamericana, and they're not doing too badly. Last week in the opening leg of their Round of 16 tie against Chivas Guadalajara, defender Marc Burch was sent off in the first half, and D.C. still managed to take a 2-1 lead in the home-and-home series.

Started in 2002, the Copa Sudamericana is to the Copa Libertadores, the top club tournament in South America, as the UEFA Cup is to the UEFA Champions League, in that it's a secondary tournament for CONMEBOL clubs. In much the same way that Copa Libertadores invites Mexican clubs, Copa Sudamericana it includes members of CONCACAF in its draw. D.C. United qualified as the third-place finisher in the CONCACAF Champions Cup behind winner Pachuca and runner-up Chivas.

The first leg of this series was played in Washington, so D.C. United plays the second leg tonight in Mexico. Last March in the Champions Cup semifinals, D.C. faltered when they played in Guadalajara, so revenge might be on their minds tonight. As our friends at Goal remind us, though, D.C. United may be more equipped to handle a hostile soccer environment, just because the atmosphere at their home matches prepares them for it, and because the club expects to compete in international tournaments. It's certainly helped their domestic form; D.C. United is in first place in MLS, four points ahead of the New England Revolution.

If you want to watch this Copa Sudamericana match, it will be on Fox Soccer Channel tonight at 11:00 PM eastern time. The winner will face Arsenal Fútbol Club of Argentina in the quarterfinals.

The five most important transfers of the offseason.

1. Freddie Adu, Real Salt Lake. "Old" might be stretching it but Adu's been around for three years now and is rapidly approaching the end of his tenure in MLS. If he's is going to fulfill the hype lavished upon him when he entered the league at 14 before bolting to Europe it has to be now. Adu was traded to Real for a major allocation and can finally take on a full-time starting spot in the attacking midfield role he is best suited for. Real will build the team around his skills; now is the time to shine.

2. Luciano Emilio, DC United. The virtually unknown Brazilian striker -- any Brazilian who still carries around two names is most definitely Not A Big Deal -- was rescued from the Honduran league by the crafty DC United management and immediately responded with three goals in the home-and-home opener of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. With Adu gone and fan favorite Alecko Eskandarian traded to FC Toronto, the burden of partnering with Jamie Moreno -- admittedly not a massive one -- falls to Emilio.

3. Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chicago Fire. If anyone needed a reason to hate the Fire, here you go. The decrepit Blanco is a Mexican national team legend with 25 goals in 95 appearances, including the most recent USA-Mexico friendly in which he looked like a less talented version of Ronaldo in all the bad ways: the guy waddled. Blanco's not just a prominent member CONCACAF's dirty little sister program, he's it's prime offenders. The guy dives like a submarine.

So why is he important? He has the sort of ball skills not often seen in MLS. His array of flicks, tricks, and dribbles are without peer in the league, and though he is old and duck-like he figures to have a late-career revival a la Youri Djorkaeff, which I think is very important for you to know that I spelled correctly on the first try.