D.C. United’s Robbie Russell and his wife finally together after years apart

The economy made it a problem, and without any connections in their new community, months of searching came up dry. She did pro bono work but reached the conclusion that “I needed to start working before I lost the chance.”

While continuing to pursue opportunities in Salt Lake City, in January 2010 she returned to Arnold & Porter, which had offered to take her back.

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They adjusted again. Robbie spent the offseason in Washington. Tiana attended RSL matches on the East Coast and scheduled vacations to visit him.

In Arlington, when she didn’t have TV access to an RSL match, she would stroll to Summers Restaurant, the area’s venerable soccer haunt, and watch the satellite feed.

Russell, a muscle-packed back with speed and smarts, started most of the club’s matches in 2010. Both were excelling in their careers but, Tiana said, “we were tired of being apart.”

The arrangement was taking a toll.

“Whenever you have a relationship that has distance, all the problems you have are magnified,” Robbie said. “If you have problems that would lead to a breakup, the distance will bring that out. It makes it 10 times harder when you are apart.

“You might call when you’re happy and she had a terrible day. You would have to make an effort to tell each other what was happening because you weren’t there to see it yourself. All those things you take for granted in a close relationship, the other person doesn’t know it when you’re a thousand miles apart.”

Russell was happier on the field than off it. Real officials empathized and on multiple occasions discussed a trade with United. But Russell was an “important part of their success, we were doing okay and, for one reason or another, the timing was never right,” United General Manager Dave Kasper said.

After the season, the timing was finally right. Real needed to trim the payroll and United needed to acquire a right back to replace Perry Kitchen, who was slated to move into the midfield this year.

“We could’ve gotten a lot more for him” in a trade, Real GM Garth Lagerwey said, “but knowing his situation, your hope is if you do it right, it pays itself back someday.”

When training camp breaks, the couple will consider looking for a bigger, more permanent home in the area. To mark the transition, Robbie plans to add a tattoo of United’s red-and-black shield onto the right side of his rib cage, alongside the circle of colorful emblems denoting each of his previous clubs.

“Hopefully,” he said, “this is the last one.”