WASHINGTON—The paint is peeling and the concrete is crumbling here and there, but RFK Stadium hasn’t lost all of its aura. It’s not a comfortable place for visiting teams. That could be due to the lack of modern amenities, because the stands still bounce or because it seemed as if two decades of triumphant tradition had put a recent spring in the step of D.C. United’s current players. The four-time MLS champs finally were playing stylish soccer again, and they entered the 2016 playoffs on a 6–2–4 tear and without a home loss since June 1.
But when you’ve escaped the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Costa Rica and survived the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, how intimidating could RFK possibly be?