United's poor season surprises veteran star

The question arose after Jaime Moreno was named to the MLS All-Star team on Monday: Is this the D.C. United forward's final season?

"It could be," Moreno said. "I still have to talk to the club and see what's up and what are my options. It's definitely not the way that I wanted to retire. You always have something better in mind, but at the end of the day, the team [is] the most important thing to me."

United's struggles certainly were not expected by Moreno, 36, who defied his age to score with ease during preseason. That success hasn't translated to the regular season.

"For us to be in this position, I don't know if it's unfair," Moreno said. "But it's just shown that we're just not good enough."

Despite the latest woes in league play, United will get a chance to advance to a third straight U.S. Open semifinal should it handle visiting USL-2 club Harrisburg on Wednesday.

D.C. head coach Curt Onalfo will try to field as full-strength a lineup as possible against the City Islanders, who were defeated by United in the same stage of last year's tournament. Both Chris Pontius (foot) and Dejan Jakovic (hamstring) are out after becoming the latest additions to the injury list, but recently added designated player Branko Boskovic should see significant minutes.

Among United's regulars, Santino Quaranta will be given a chance to break out of his scoring slump and Bill Hamid will be back in goal for the first time since D.C.'s U.S. Open Cup third round win over Richmond on June 30.

cstouffer@washingtonexaminer.com