Harbour View look to DC challenge

Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

Clyde Jureidini, general manager of Harbour View Football Club, indicated that despite the team's inconsistent play and fifth place in the Cash Plus Premier League, they are more likely to perform better when faced with an international challenge.

The Caribbean Club champions will host United States Major League champions DC United in the first leg of the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-finals in a much anticipated showdown tomorrow at Harbour View Mini Stadium at 7:00 pm.

"We have had a roller-coaster ride in the premier league, but the team seems more motivated in winning international championships," noted Jureidini yesterday. "Despite the inconsistencies, it is likely that the team will play at a high level during this encounter."

The return leg is scheduled to take place at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington DC on Tuesday, March 18.

Players' appearances

For this encounter, the Stars of the East will welcome back strikers Fabian Taylor and Kavin Byran from injury, but will be without the services of skipper Christopher Harvey, who is suspended for tomorrow's game following his red card during the Caribbean Club Championships in Trinidad late last year.

In preparation for the 2008 MLS season which begins on March 29, D.C. United have made a number of high-profiled South American additions to their squad.

They have signed three Argentineans - midfielder Marcello Gallardo, forward Franco Niell forward and defender Gonzalo Peralta, Colombian defender Gonzalo Martinez and Peruvian goalkeeper Jose Carvallo.

These new senior internationals join other South Americans already in the squad, such as midfielder Fred and forward Luciano Emilio of Brazil.

The impressive DC United international contingent is completed by veteran Bolivian striker Jamie Moreno, Russian forward Rod Dyachenko and striker Guy-Roland Kpene of the Ivory Coast.