This has been an eventful week for D.C. United and the Colorado Rapids off the field, and the teams will meet Saturday in suburban Denver.
English star Wayne Rooney, who helped lead a second-half playoff push last year, did not play Tuesday for D.C. United due to a red-card suspension.
Then he did not practice Wednesday with the team due to illness.
“Wayne informed us that he had flu-like symptoms, meaning he missed last night’s game and training this morning,” Chris Hull, United’s vice president for media and public relations, told The Washington Post on Wednesday.
Rooney was on the flight to Denver on Thursday, according to the Post.
The former England captain has 16 goals and 10 assists in the 25 matches he has played with D.C. United, which went on a second-half surge in 2018 to gain a home playoff spot before losing in the first round.
D.C. United is 3-1-2 so far and with 11 points is just back of Columbus in the Eastern Conference. The red and black has scored nine goals and allowed five.
Colorado is 0-4-2 with just nine goals while allowing 16.
Entering Friday, the only two teams lower than the Rapids in the Western Conference standings were Vancouver and Portland.
The snowstorm that hit Denver earlier this week meant the Rapids match with Seattle on Wednesday was moved to Sept. 7. The Rapids had returned home Sunday after a trip to Orlando.
“It’s the second time in my career that I’ve had a game postponed,” goalie Tim Howard told mls.com. “It’s nice when you get that phone call because it gives us that extra bit of rest.”
The postponement helped the Rapids get ready for D.C. United.
“It hasn’t changed too much,” head coach Anthony Hudson told mls.com. “What it has done is allow us to recover better from Orlando. I think the cancellation, albeit we really wanted to play that game, has probably helped us get ready for D.C.”
–Field Level Media