Another Year, Another Round Of 16 Exit

For the 3rd year in a row the Rapids were eliminated in the 5th round, this time 2-1 in extra time.  Oddly Colorado largely controlled the game and only a defensive miscue allowed Dallas to take it to the extra 30 minutes where a good shot and a possible deflection was the difference.

The bad news was that Dillon Serna had to be carried off the field after 21 minutes when he was taken down on a yellow (could have been red) card tackle that prevented him from putting any weight on his leg.  Hopefully the injury isn't serious.

Colorado's goal came off a nice sequence of passes from Powers to Hairston who put it across the front of the goal for Badji to hammer into the top of the net.

Dallas' goal in the second half came off a bad mistake where Williams and Azira had Castillo trapped against the sideline but then the two Rapids collided with each other allowing Castillo a free run at MacMath.  After getting Zac to commit Castillo slid the ball over to an onrushing Diaz for the easy goal.

In extra time Dallas scored early and oddly.  Urruti rounded Watts very deep in the box and fired a shot in from a tight angle.  The YouTube stream was hard to make out but it may have taken a deflection into the goal, very reminiscent of the own goal by George John off of Mac Kandji's cross that won us MLS Cup 2010.  If it didn't take a deflection then MacMath was very lazy in covering the near post and got beat there.  officially it was awarded to Urruti.

A golden chance fell to Jared Watts to tie it on the final kick but Kevin Doyle (in an offside position) was also desperately trying to get to the ball and threw off Watts' shot.

Maybe next year we'll make our first quarterfinal appearance in 10 years.

Roster Cuts

The Rapids announced today that they cut 1st round draft pick Emmanuel Appiah and 3rd round pick Chris Froschauer.  The later is not a surprise, Froschauer was not on the bench for last night's game and with Howard coming in there really wasn't a reason for the team to carry 4 keepers (including Berner in Charlotte).  Appiah is a bigger surprise.  While some people felt he wasn't a 1st round pick I didn't expect the Rapids to move on so quickly (conversely, may thought Castillo was a steal in the second round and he seems to be living up to that).

With this news and the arrival of Greenspan the Rapids now have 2 open roster spots (1 if Ramirez unexpectedly returns).  If the plan is to sign Shelton we still need an international spot however.

Greenspan Back Early

The Open Cup just kicked off but there was news today that I wanted to get out there.  The Denver Post is reporting that Joseph Greenspan has been released from active duty in the Navy to join the Rapids full-time  He'll finish his naval commitment in the Reserves over the next few years and be a professional soccer player.  He'll be added to the roster on Monday when the window opens.  The team expects him to take a couple of weeks to be available, which may involve a loan out (presumably to Charlotte) to get back into game shape.  I'm sure being in the Navy his fitness is fine but he'll have to knock the rust off his skills.

Monday I predicted we would pick up some CB depth in this window.  I did not expect that depth to be in the form of Greenspan though.  Most athletes out of the Naval Academy have to serve for two years of active duty so him being released after one is unexpected.  If I had to bet I would think that it has to do with the fact that a couple of NFL teams have drafted Naval Academy graduates in the last couple of years and the Navy probably wants to get them playing in the NFL quickly for the PR boost.  To be fair that means they need to release Greenspan (and any other athletes) the same way.

Regardless, based on what we saw last year, this will be a nice boost for our thin back line.  As mentioned we have an pen roster spot and should have enough cap space to bring him in without issue.  Now the Rapids have some flexibility if they want to make any other moves as their biggest issue has been covered.

Rapids Face Dallas In USOC

The U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 is here.  Tomorrow night Colorado is in Frisco to face Pareja and the rest of FC Dallas.  At stake is a spot in the quarterfinals on the road at the winner of the Houston/KC game.  Historically in the MLS playoffs the Rapids have owned Dallas, especially in Dallas, but in the Open Cup the results have been reversed.  In 2002 and 2004 we were eliminated from the USOC in Dallas, being shut out both times.

St. Ledger and Burling are still listed as out on the injury report.  In case you're wondering Tim Howard is not eligible for this game (though if we win he would be available for the quarterfinal and any other games).  Jones and Gashi should both be back from National Team duties but that's yet unconfirmed.

My guess would be that we see a largely reserve lineup again with a big home game on Monday. Maybe Gashi gets a run out to knock some rust off after only having 8 minutes of game action in the last month.  Pappa might get a few minutes as well as he works himself back into full fitness.  Otherwise I expect players like Badji, Serna, Conor Doyle, Jared Watts, and Dennis Castillo.  MacMath will almost certainly get the start with Howard taking over for league games come Monday.

As always I'm not going to predict a final score as its hard to tell without knowing how serious they're going to take the game.  Assuming we do run out a reserve lineup though I will predict a loss, mainly because I'm not sure how much anyone in the organization cares about this competition this year with how well the league season is going.  If we decide to play a good chunk of starters though, we can beat Dallas.

EDIT: Forgot the most important info.  Kickoff is at 6:30 tomorrow and the game will be on U.S. Soccer's YouTube channel.

Summer Transfer Window Preview

He's here! (Image from Denver Post)

Next Monday the summer transfer window opens.  THe big news will of course be the official signing of Tim Howard but beyond that what are the Rapids likely to be looking for (if anything)?

Here's the makeup of our current roster:

28 of 28 roster spots full (not including Greenspan)

9 of 8 international spots filled

4 of 3 Designated Player spots filled

No, those numbers aren't a type.  We have one more international and DP than we're allowed.  Namely Juan Ramirez will be returning from his loan.  for the rest of this article I'm going to assume that there's already a plan to either loan him out again or transfer him permanently to Almeria.  Otherwise most of our summer transfer window will be getting us back under the roster requirements.

So moving forward without Ramirez means that we have 1 open roster spot.  Of course that's only half of what we need.  The other part is having salary cap room.  As we saw last month Colorado is pretty much up against the cap so if we're going to fill that open spot with anything other than a developmental player we're probably going to need to make a move to clear some space.

Given that, lets look at who's possibly on the trading/sale block.  I'm going to assume that the standard starting XI plus a couple of players won't be moved barring an offer we can't refuse.  To me that means the following: Howard, Williams, Burling, Sjoberg, Miller, Burch, Cronin, Azira, Gashi, Jones,, Pappa, Solignac, and K. Doyle.

I'll add St. Ledger onto that list because his injury (combined with the circumstances that got him cut for Orlando) means there will likely be no takers.

Serna will also be on the list due to his value as a homegrown player.

The next group is players who would not free up enough space to be worth moving them.  To me that's Badji, Berner, Calvert, Castillo, C. Doyle, and Watts.

That leaves us with a small group: Froschauer, Hairston, MacMath, Pfeffer, and Powers.

Froschauer is only on this list because I don't see the Rapids carrying 4 keepers.  If they don't decide to move MacMath I assume Froschauer will be cut to free up a roster spot.  He won't help our cap issue though.

Hairston and Pfeffer are unlikey to be moved but they would free up about $100K each so if the right offer came along I could see it.

MacMath is one of the two obvious choices.  With Howard arriving there isn't really room for another MLS quality keeper.  At $140K that would free up a bit of the cap to make a move.  I'm not sure there's a team looking for a keeper though.  I just think that the Rapids will keep him around until the offseason.

That, finally, brings us to Dillon Powers.  A $300K salary sitting on the bench.  When he has played he's looked like his confidence is gone.  Ever since that PK miss in Sandy last year he hasn't been the same player but its gotten worse this season.  His role on this team would be in the spot that Cronin and Azira have locked down for a lot cheaper.  Meanwhile Philly just had a hole open up in their midfield and they're hardly the only MLS team that would take a chance on a former Rookie of the Year that needs a change of scenery.

So my bet is that the Rapids move Powers this window to free up some salary cap.  Now, how iwll we use that room?

As mentioned earlier the Orozco rumor is bouncing around.  It makes a lot of sense for the Rapids as by far their weakest area right now is center back.  It seems odd to say that given our defensive record but I don't think anyone is real happy that we're down to Jared Watts as a starter due to injuries.  Orozco is currently with Club Tijuana but there's been some talk that the club wants to unload some salary and international players.  I don't think he would take a max (or higher) salary so the real question is what he would cost in transfer fee and could we get him for under DP level.

If not Orozco I think the Rapids still look at CB.  They have pretty good coverage elsewhere so that's the real weak spot in the team. 

So my prediction for this summer transfer window.  Powers out, new CB in.

Euro and Copa Wrap-Up

Now that all the relevant Rapids teams have been eliminated from the Copa and Euros lets see how it went.

We'll start with the easy one, the Euros.  Albania was 3 and out, being the worst third placed team with one win and two losses.  Still, not bad for their first ever major tournament and their win over Romania was a major victory for them.  The whole team has been given diplomatic passports in honor of their victory (if your wondering they just get the passports, not diplomatic immunity.  Essentially they can now speed through customs and the TSA.  Not a big deal for most of the players as they play in Europe where there's a lot of free movement but I'm sure Gashi appreciates it).

Gashi only got 8 minutes in the tournament, in the opening game against the Swiss, and I'm guessing he'd kind of like to forget them.  He had a great chance 1v1 with the Swiss keeper to level the score late in the game but his shot was nothing special and the keeper made the save.  After that he watched the last two games from the bench.  Based on his twitter Gashi returned to Albania with the team for the celebrations this weekend but I'm sure he'll be heading back to Commerce City in the next couple of days.  He may fly straight to Dallas and meet up with the team there for Wednesday night's USOC match.

The Doyle-less Ireland squad finished as the 2nd best third placed team after beating Italy and drawing Sweden.  This got them into the Round of 16 where they faced France earlier today.  Despite leaving the match for over 55 minutes they were eliminated 2-1.

Now over to the Copa which was much more interesting from a Rapids POV.  After a lackluster match by the whole team (including Jones) against Colombia Jones roared back with the Yanks against Costa Rica.  After a 4-0 win JJ was named Man of the Match as the U.S. rescued their Copa chances.  Another strong match against Paraguay with a surprise win by Costa Rica put the U.S. on top of the group and in a quarterfinal against Ecuador.  Jones went the full 90 against Paraguay playing well.

The quarterfinal against Ecuador was eventful.  Shortly into the second half, with the U.S. up a goal, a double red was handed out putting both teams at 10.  JJ was the recipient of the red card and while it might have been light it wasn't unfair.  He brought his hand up and (possibly unintentionally) made contact with the face of the Ecuadorian player which is a textbook red under the new rules.  Both sides traded goal and the U.S. moved on to the semis but with 3 suspended for the match.

Missing those 3 (including Jermaine) cost them as they never looked like they were in the game against Argentina, who blew them off the field 4-0.  This sent them to the 3rd place game which was a replay against Colombia.  As it was the last game of the tournament Klinsmann gave Tim Howard a chance in the nets and he didn't disappoint.  While the Americans lost 1-0 (and improvement from the 2-0 loss to Colombia ins the group stage) but Jones and Howard played well.  An argument could be made that Jones was one of the best 3 Americans at the tournament alongside Wood and Dempsey.

Total game time:
Gashi: 8 minutes on Jne 11th plus heavy international travel
Howard: 90 minutes yesterday
Jones: 388 minutes in 5 games over 22 days which is equivalent to a busy MLS schedule but not overwhelming.

Depending on when Gashi returns he could play on Wednesday just to knock some rust off.  Jones will probably get a break to have him at full strength for the home game on the 4th of July.  Howard won't be eligible until the 4th and I'm sure he'll play.

Battle Of The Keepers Ends Up Even

From my preview:

0-0 draw.  This seems optimistic with that back line but given the lack of offensive options on LA this could be an ugly game where neither team gets close to scoring.  Maybe Pappa, Doyle, and MacMath are enough to eek out a 1-0 win but I don't expect it.

That's how it played out.  Lots of back and forth in midfield but not a ton of good looks at goal on either end.  The few that did get through were cleaned up by the keepers.

General Impressions:

• Quality point on the road.  Undermanned and short handed there's nothing to complain about this result.
• Consider about 20 months ago we were in LA getting embarrassed at the wrong end of a 6-0 hammering.  This team has come a long way from there.
• The backline stepped up in this one.  Missing 3 normal starters they managed to keep LA off the board and they really only got one or two good looks.
• In particular Miller looked really good coming back from injury.  Though he should have handled that free kick cross on the other end better. ;)
• Azira has been the unsung hero of this season so far.  Best overlooked pickup in the league this year?
• We see why Hairston was being moved to defense.  God instincts, no shot.
• Powers, ugh.  At this point he's dropped off a cliff and now has feet of stone near to Conor Casey's.  It might be time to move on (more on that in a couple of days).
• Now we've set the team record at 11 in a row undefeated (I was off a game last week).
• We made it through Pappa's injury and the callups of Jones and Gashi without losing.  Impressive.  Most impressive.
• The Bodmer line is now at a laughably low .83 pts/game.
• We're off of league play until the 4th of July game and Tim Howard's debut.  We do have a trip to Dallas for the Round of 16 USOC match next Wednesday though.

Man of the Match: Zac MacMath.  He came up big on what will probably be his last league game for a while.  Solid game by almost everyone but MacMath gets the nod for the 6th shutout of the season.

Backups Ahead

Are we sure there are 22 players available tomorrow night?

The last (league) match before the end of the summer tournaments and before the summer transfer window opens is here.  Well, for the half of  the teams actually going to be in LA tomorrow night.  Neither the Galaxy or Rapids will be at full strength for this one and it will probably show.  kickoff tomorrow is 8:30pm on Altitude.

Player Availability:

OUT: D Bobby Burling (knee surgery); D Sean St. Ledger (knee)

QUESTIONABLE: D Jared Watts (face)

UNAVAILABLE: M Shkelzen Gashi (Albania National team); M Jermaine Jones (U.S. National team); D Joseph Greenspan (Navy duty); D Mekeli Williams (personal issue)

SUSPENDED: D Marc Burch (yellow card suspension)

Um...yeah.  That's ugly.  Combined with the loaned out players the Rapids only have 15 players available tomorrow night.  LA has Rogers out and 3 questionable, including Gerrard and dos Santos.  They also have Keane and Zardes out with their national teams.

Starting XI Prediction:

Bench: Froschauer; Hairston; Serna; Powers; C. Doyle

That's it. Maybe Serna or Hairston goes over Miller or Badji but I doubt it.

Prediction: 0-0 draw.  This seems optimistic with that back line but given the lack of offensive options on LA this could be an ugly game where neither team gets close to scoring.  Maybe Pappa, Doyle, and MacMath are enough to eek out a 1-0 win but I don't expect it.

Who's Your Pappa?

An ugly game but 3 points.  I'll take it.  The Rapids really looked rusty out there Saturday night (or maybe it was the heat) but luckily the Fire is a bad team and looked worse.

General Impressions:

• While we got lucky on the own goal we made that luck.  The aggressiveness after the Fire goal is what out us in position to benefit from the mistake.
• Last year's Rapids would have just accepted the draw.
• Interesting to see Hairston pushed up to right mid.  He was very aggressive in the first half.
• Nice pressure from Powers to create the first goal.  It was really the first good look we got.
• I'm pretty sure the Solignac/Badji sub was in the works before the Fire goal.  I don't think Pablo makes that switch if he knew what was going to happen.
• His other two subs were perfect, just 10 minutes later than they should have been.
• Ball watching has gotten us burned at the end of our last two home (league) games.  Maybe the loss of Burling's leadership is hurting our focus late?
• I'm pretty sure MacMath was picked as MOTM before the game had even started.  This was, realistically, his last home game in the nest with Howard showing up and taking his spot.
• The Rapids now have an 11 game undefeated streak, a new team record.

Man of the Match: Marco Pappa.  Easy choice with the winning goal.  We saw what he can do and its good to have him (almost) back.

MLS Is Back!

Break's Over

After a long break (not counting the USOC match) we're back to league play tonight with the Chicago Fire in town.  The Fire and Rapids were considered the favorite to battle for the wooden spoon and the Fire are living up to that prediction.  Kickoff is at 7pm so the tailgate starts at 4.  Stay hydrated if you're coming out to the game, its going to be a hot one.  Those that can't make it can see the game on Altitude.

Player Availability:

OUT: D Bobby Burling (knee surgery); D Sean St. Ledger (knee); D Jared Watts (face)

QUESTIONABLE: M Marco Pappa (knee)

UNAVAILABLE: M Shkelzen Gashi (Albania National team); M Jermaine Jones (U.S. National team); D Joseph Greenspan (Navy duty)

YELLOW CARD CAUTION: D Marc Burch (4 games to good behavior reduction)

The Fire have 3 players out and one Questionable.  If our center back depth were any shallower we'd be beached on a reef.  Going to be a tough few games in defense.

Starting XI Prediction:

We could see Castillo in the middle but Miller seems the more likely option.  Serna seems to excel as a sub so I'm assuming Badji gets the start.

Prediction: 1-0 win, goal by Kevin Doyle.  The Fire have a decent defense but no offense and the Rapids don't exactly score a ton either.  Colorado controls the game and gets the deseerved win but it won't be high-scoring.

U.S. Open Cup bracket

The groups were comprised exactly as I predicted yesterday which means we were in a pot with Dallas, Houston, and KC.  Unfortunately we got (IMO) the worst possible draw.  On June 28th or 29th we'll be in Dallas for the next round.  The winner of that game will be on the road against the winner of Houston/KC in the quarterfinals on July 20th or 21st.

The winner of the game will face the remaining team from the Western group of Seattle, Portland, LA and FSL on August 9th or 10th in the semis.  The location of the semis and finals will be drawn July 21st.

Rapids Move On To Round Of 16

A lackadaisical Rapids side did just enough to get the win last night without expending too much energy.  A late goal from Serna was enough for the home team to claim best team in Colorado rights for a second straight year.  Other than the goal it was a fairly quiet night out in Commerce City.

Before the match we received some updated player news:

• Castillo was recalled from and Calvert sent to Charlotte
• Azira was suspended for the match due to a ed card in his last USOC match last year with Seattle (this was the trigger to Dempsey's infamous referee abuse)
• Burch came up with an unspecified injury
• Watts collided with Powers going for a header in training.  It resulted in 5 stitches in Powers' skull from Watts' teeth and some time on the injury list for Watts due to damage to his jaw
• the USOC has a limit of 5 international players dressed for a game so Kevin Doyle was the odd man out of the Rapids 6 available internationals last night

All of that combined with our known injuries and international callups left a very thin bench, only 3 players.  Froschauer, Hairston, and Solignac watched from the sidelines as every other available Rapid got the start including a recovered Marco Pappa and Eric Miller.

That was the most interesting thing about the game until the late goal.  The Switchbacks were happy to sit back and hope to score on a counter while the Rapids took their time moving the ball forward.  While the MLS side was clearly the better team they were unable to put that advantage on the scoreboard.  Finally Serna got a ball cleared out to the top of the box and hit it low.  It took a deflection and gave the Rapids the lead.

The next round will be played in two weeks.  Tomorrow the USSF will split the reaming 16 teams into 4 groups of 4 based on geography.  The teams in each group will be drawn into two games with the winners meeting int he quarterfinals.  The groups will be paired up tomorrow for the semifinals as well so we'll know the full 16 bracket the rest off the way.  Based on the results here's what I expect:

West Coast: Seattle/Kitsap, Portland, LA, FSL

Lower Plains: Dallas, Houston, KC, Colorado

South: Columbus, Chicago, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale

NorthEast: Philly, NY Cosmos, NYRB, New England

If Carolina pulls off the upset against New England then Carolina would go to the South bracket and Columbus would move to the NorthEast.  I wouldn't be surprised if Houston and Chicago switched positions at that point to reduce travel.

I'd prefer to pull Houston 9or Chicago) in the next round out of those 3 teams we're going to be matched up against.

Rapids Enter 2016 U.S. Open Cup Tomorrow Night

Tomorrow the 4th Round of the U.S. Open Cup kicks off and due to the timing the first game will actually be the Rapids hosting the Colorado Springs Switchbacks at 7pm at the Dick.  This is the third year in a row the Rapids have started their USOC campaigns at home and I'm still getting used to it. :D  All tickets are $15 ($10 if your a season ticket holder) and are General Admission.  If its like the last couple of years only the West side of the stadium will be open.

This is a rematch of last year's 4th round game that the Rapids won 4-1.  Badji, Greenspan, and Serna (twice) had goals in that one.  I would expect Badji and Serna to start again tomorrow (Greenspan being still on Naval duty).  The Post reported earlier this week that Pappa is hoping to get some game time as he returns from injury as well.

Beyond that I won't predict a lineup.  Generally we have used reserves in the past and with a game Saturday against Chicago and a trip to LA next Wednesday I'd expect that to continue but given the long break we're coming out of some of the regulars might want minutes to knock the rust off.  St. Ledger and Burling are out due to injury and Gashi and Jones are with their National teams but otherwise everyone is available.

I won't put out a score prediction as it really depends on that starting lineup.  I do think the Rapids win this game though unless they look past the Switchbacks to wanting to keep their run going as league play starts on Saturday.  Colorado springs is playing well this year but based on what we've seen from the Rapids so far this season the burgundy boys should win this one.

Luton Shelton In Camp...Again

Yesterday the Rapids tweeted that Jamaican striker Luton Shelton was training with the team.  This isn't the first time the Rapids have been linked with Shelton, having him in camp at the beginning of last season.  He's been bouncing back and forth from his Russian team Volga NN to Colorado apparently since that time, recovering from a serious injury.  I heard his name being talked about earlier this season as well.

This may just be that Shelton likes Colorado and the chance to train with us but we might be interested in signing him as well.  Assuming this is real interest it poses a bit of a problem.  First of all we don't have an international spot open to sign him with.  That at least is easily solved buy removing the recall option in Castillo's loan to Charlotte.  That would make it a "season-long" loan at which point he would not take up an international or roster spot.

Secondly is the salary.  As noted before the Rapids are pretty close tot he cap based on the info we have.  Shelton ws making about $1.6 million a year in Russia but its been more than a year since he's played and at 30 years old coming back from a serious injury he's not going to command nearly that much.  My bet is that if we sign him it would be for something like $150K for the second half of the season.  We may have enough room and allocation money to make that work.  If we don't we'd have to move somebody to free up room.

Now I'd rather see us sign a CB than another striker.  While depth is good and Shelton certainly looks like the right kind of player for us our backline is so thin I'd like to see us get help there.

Burling Out Up To 5 Weeks

The Rapids announced today that Bobby Burling has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and will miss about 5 weeks.

If he had the surgery right after the Union game that means he could be back right after the 4th of July game.  If he had it this week that means he'll miss the July 11th game as well.  Either way we're looking at at least 3 more games (plus the USOC) game without him.

Pablo will probably turn to Jared Watts to fill the gap as he did to start the season.  Other possibilities would be Eric Miller or recalling Dennis Castillo from Charlotte.  It does show that if we make any move in the summer window (other than officially signing Howard) it needs to be a move for CB depth.  It was a weakness going into the season and we're desperately thin at that position now.

Unofficial: USOC Game Tuesday June 14th, 7pm

No official announcement from the Rapids yet but according to the Colorado Springs Gazette the U.S. Open Cup game between the Rapids and Switchbacks will be Tuesday June 14th at &pm at the Dick.

EDIT: I missed it, there was an official announcement of this date/time.  Tickets on sale Monday.

Euro & Copa Preview

Two big tournaments kick off over the next 8 days.  Tomorrow we get the start of the Copa America Centenario here in the U.S. and then a week later Euro 2016 starts in France.  Surprisingly the Rapids have 3, but only 3, players involved in these tournaments when 5 months ago we thought we'd be lucky to have one (and sadly that one, Kevin Doyle, isn't involved).  Here's a schedule of when the teams featuring the Rapids will be playing and the TV coverage (all times MDT).

Copa America Centenario:

USA - Jermaine Jones, Tim Howard
Fri 6/3 - USA vs. Colombia - Santa Clara, CA - 7:30pm - Fox Sports 1
Tue 6/7 - USA vs. Costa Rica - Chicago, IL - 6pm - Fox Sports 1
Sat 6/11 - USA vs. Paraguay - Philadelphia, PA - 5pm - Fox Sports 1

If the U.S. wins the group (not likely):
Quarterfinal Thu 6/16 - Seattle, WA - 6:30pm - Fox Sports 1
Semifinal Tue 6/21 - Houston, TX - 7pm - Fox Sports 1

If the U.S. finishes 2nd in the group (could happen):
Quarterfinal Fri 6/17 - East Rutherford, NJ - 5pm - Fox Sports 1
Semifinal Wed 6/22 - Chicago, IL - 6pm - Fox Sports 1

3rd Place Game Sat 6/25 - Glendale, AZ - 6pm - FX
Final Sun 6/26 - East Rutherford, NJ - 6pm - FX

Euro 2016:

Albania - Shkelzen Gashi
Sat 6/11 - Albania vs. Switzerland - Lens, France - 7am - ESPN
Wed 6/15 - Albania vs. France - Marseilles, France - 1pm - ESPN
Sun 6/19 - Albania vs Romania - Lyon, France - 1pm - ESPN2

If Albania make the knockout rounds (possible but not likely) the Round of 16 matchup could be one of 3 on either June 25th or June 26th.  A quarterfinal matchup would be somewhere between June 30th and July 2nd,  a semifinal would be July 6th or 7th, and the final is July 10th.

Ireland - Kevin Doyle could be added next week if a player is injured
Mon 6/13 - Ireland vs. Sweden - Saint-Denis, France - 10am - ESPN
Sat 6/18 - Ireland vs. Belgium - Bordeaux, France - 7am - ESPN
Wed 6/22 - Ireland vs. Italy - Lille, France - 1pm- ESPN

If Ireland make the knockout rounds (not likely given their presence in the Group of Death) the Round of 16 matchup could be one of 3 between June 25th and 27th.  A quarterfinal matchup would be somewhere between June 30th and July 2nd,  a semifinal would be July 6th or 7th, and the final is July 10th.