United Roster Still Taking Shape

Team Looks to Add More Players Before Start of the Season

New United striker Luciano Emilio of Brazil joins a team that finished 2006 with the most points in the regular season. (By Jacquelyn Martin -- Associated Press)

The opening of D.C. United training camp this morning at RFK Stadium will be, in many ways, as notable for who is not there as who is.

United has a new coach (Tom Soehn), a new striker (Luciano Emilio of Brazil) and a collection of draft picks. But after trading four veterans this winter, including Freddy Adu, and stockpiling a large cache of player acquisition funds, the club has yet to fulfill its promise to sign as many as three foreign players.

"It could be tomorrow or it could be April 6," the day before United's MLS season opener, Soehn said of the expected reinforcements. "We've got a few things brewing."

The club has been in the market for an outside midfielder and nearly reached a deal with a Brazilian before talks ended. It also has been in contact with player agencies in Argentina and, according to Latin American sources, has expressed interest in, among others, forward Aldo Osorio.

So far, though, all United has to show for its global search is Emilio, a Honduran league scoring champion whose imminent signing last month made fan favorite Alecko Eskandarian expendable.

Although the MLS season does not begin for another two-plus months, United has only a few weeks to prepare for a major international tournament, the Champions' Cup, in which competition from Central America will be in midseason form.

"We don't feel like we're behind the eight ball," said Soehn, a United assistant for three years who was promoted last month when Peter Nowak joined the U.S. national team staff. "We're pretty confident in what we have and we want to sprinkle in a few more to complement the roster."

Compounding United's personnel issues this week is the absence of five starters who are with the national team for another 10 days and an unsettled goalkeeping situation. Luis Robles, a fourth-round pick, decided to bypass MLS and sign with a German club and Jay Nolly, obtained from Real Salt Lake in the Adu trade and projected to back up starter Troy Perkins, has been pursuing European opportunities.

At the moment, United's reserve goalies are Ryan McIntosh, a second-year developmental player who did not play in any league games last season, and rookie Shawn Crowe.

Despite the roster questions, United returns the nucleus of a team that finished with the most points last regular season before faltering in the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Emilio will join an attack inspired by league MVP Christian Gomez and Jaime Moreno, the club's all-time leading scorer, and bolstered by Ben Olsen, Brian Carroll and Josh Gros. D.C. also boasts Perkins and Bobby Boswell, the 2006 MLS goalie and defender of the year, respectively.

Soehn said his preliminary plan is to retain a 3-5-2 formation, "but we're looking for more pieces and when those pieces come in, things could change."

United Notes: Midfielder Bryan Arguez, the team's first-round draft pick, will not join the club until next week in Bradenton, Fla. Arguez recently returned from Panama, where he helped the United States qualify for the under-20 World Cup in Canada this summer. . . . Midfielder Domenic Mediate and defender-midfielder John Wilson have recovered from last summer's season-ending injuries and are expected to participate this week but have not been cleared to play. . . .

Three area teenagers have committed to United's new youth development program, which allows the club to retain their MLS rights if they decide to turn pro. They are Silver Spring's Michael Funes, 16, Waldorf's Chris Jumalon, 16, and Olney's Henry Bain, 14. In the past, non-college players planning to join MLS would be available to all teams though the winter draft. They will remain in school, but practice and compete in youth games for United year-round.