D.C. United set for international friendly against England's Everton FC

D.C. United face Everton FC in an international friendly at RFK Stadium on Saturday evening (7:30 p.m., broadcast on Fox Soccer), the second match in the English Premier League side's preseason tour of the United States.

Founded in 1878, Everton is the longest tenured club in England’s top flight, having played a record 108 seasons in the First Division/Premier League. The Toffees have remained in the top division since 1954, and the club was a founding member of the Premier League in 1992. The Liverpool-based side has won nine league championships, with its most recent title coming in the 1986-1987 season. Everton’s last major honor came in 1995 when the club won the FA Cup with a cup final victory over Manchester United.

From an American perspective, Everton's most recognizeable player is goalkeeper Tim Howard, a longtime U.S. National Team stalwart. But Howard was given extra time off following his participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and will not be in uniform on Saturday, though on Friday United said they hope to arrange some sort of fan interaction with the World Cup veteran. Everton's international stars Mikel Arteta, Marouane Fellaini and Victor Anichebe will also be sidelined with injury concerns.

Both D.C. and Everton trained at RFK on Friday morning, lamenting the midsummer heat which drove the heat index well over 100 degrees.

Afterwards, United’s Charlie Davies, Josh Wolff, Dwayne De Rosario and Chris Pontius accompanied Everton’s Mikel Arteta, Jack Rodwell, Ross Barkley and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov on a visit to Children’s National Medical Center, where they participated in arts and crafts activities with patients and distributed toys donated to United's community service arm. 

Everton began their U.S. preseason tour with a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park on Wednesday night, a match in which the Union fielded several of their youth academy players. One of them was Christian Hernandez, a 17-year-old rising senior at St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.) and the U.S. Soccer U-17/18 Development Academy Player of the Year, who netted the game's only goal.

United will wear their red alternate uniforms on Saturday.