Onyewu loves US-Mexico derby, wants next match in DC

Oguchi Onyewu, who has been in much better form the last couple months, loves to play Mexico because it brings out so much.

“Obviously the rivalry is there and it’s a derby in terms of CONCACAF, so we get up for those games.”
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"The emotions are gonna be high for those games just because of the rivalry which has been going on for quite some time.”

And as much as he enjoyed the 70,000 fans in Houston for this month's meeting, he hopes the next time the US takes the pitch, they do it 'in front of a true home crowd.'

“I hope we play (next) in D.C. We need to play in our nation’s capital. I don’t know the last time we played there; I think it was 2004.”

“We don’t have a national stadium but still, I think we should play in our nation’s capital every once in a while (as other national teams do)."

There is a lot of talk about DC hosting a US men's event with most of it colored by the ongoing DC United stadium situation, but Onyewu is right, the national team should play in the nation's capitol from time to time.

For the record, the last time the US team played a match in DC was 14 October 2004 when they smashed Panama 6-0 in a World Cup Qualifier. The crowd for the Thursday night match was 19,793.

So it seems the Gooch is pushing for RFK to host US Soccer's top-5 opponent tentatively scheduled for June 8th, but as he says, "It’s not me who decides where we play though; I’m just a soldier on the field."