It was only a preseason match, far from home and eight days before the real stuff begins in earnest. But to Wayne Rooney, and to his D.C. United teammates, the 3-0 defeat to Montreal last Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla., was intolerable.
As team captain, as the face of an organization that will confront heightened expectations after last summer’s renaissance, Rooney expressed his disappointment Tuesday during his first news conference in Washington since United broke camp in Florida.
Without being asked about the sour result, the English striker said: “We didn’t play well at all, but also a bit of the fight in the team wasn’t there, which we need.