Awaziem to France? USMNT To Commerce City?

Two pieces of news before the Seattle preview later tonight.  The big news is that French sports newspaper L'Equipe is reporting that there's a deal on the table for Chido Awaziem to return to Nantes, where he played the 2018-19 season on loan.  L'Equipe is as good as it gets in sports reporting in France and really all of Europe (they are the paper that, under their prior name, started the Tour De France in 1903) so if they're reporting it its solid, but in case you were worried Burgundy Wave has also confirmed it.  I had to pick up a copy of L'Equipe while I was in Paris even though I don't know French just because it felt like something I should do while I was there.

the deal isn't done yet but if its to the point that its being reported in mainstream press I'm going to assume they're just haggling over money and it will get done.  We all assumed that the Rapids pursuit of a CB for this summer window was because of the reported off-season interest in Maxso from the Middle East, but it may be because they knew this was coming from Chido.  There's no assured link but Awaziem did miss a game a month or so ago due to "personal reasons" which much be related to this.

Losing Maxso was going to be tricky, losing Awaziem would be worse.  He's the better of the two of them.  It is possible that we lose both of them and with Maxso on an option year next year I think its a safe bet they'll both be gone before the start of 2026.  So the Rapids need to be looking for two starting MLS CB's in the next 6-7 months.  As far as selling Awaziem we spent $1M in GAM to get him and Murphy from Cinci this offseason, with another $200K in GAM being possible based on performance.  Cincinnati also retained some percentage of any sale.  Awaziem is making $1.4M this season.  So to break even on this I'm guessing the bare minimum of a transfer fee the Rapids would need would be $1.5M, probably $2M to be safe.  We would then want to turn around and reinvest that into our defense.

On a happier(?) note the rumored USA - Australia game on October 14th was finally announced yesterday.  The surprise is that it won't be at Empower Field as originally reported, it will be at the Dick.  This is the first time the USMNT has been at the Dick since the T&T qualifier in 2017.  Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, with Rapids Season Ticket holders getting their shot at 10am tomorrow.  Given the recent track record I expect it to be pricy, which will impact if I go or not.

You Get A Callup! And You Get A Callup! And You Get A Callup!

The U.S. announced its Gold Cup roster today and there was a surprise leader (tied) for the team with the most callups, the Colorado Rapids.  Along with Atlanta both teams had 3 people on the roster.  Jonathan Lewis, Kellyn Acosta, and Sam Vines will all be wearing the red, white, and blue in July.  They are expected to depart after the Independence Day game on Sunday.  Apparently because he was part of the Nations League squad the Galaxy arranged with the Nats to keep Sebastian Lletget through the midweek game on Wednesday, I'm crossing my fingers that the Rapids get the same consideration for Kellyn Acosta's time on the Nations League squad.

This is great news for the trio of players, and it reflects well on the Rapids.  But its going to make for a rough month for the club.  Acosta doesn't have a great backup in midfield, and he's the primary backup for Sam Vines.  So we're going to play 4-5 games without the trio, depending on how far the U.S. gets (I'm assuming they at least get out of the group stage).  In response to this the team has recalled Jeremy Kelly from his loan to Phoenix today, which will give us a bit more depth at outside back.

If I had to guess I bet we see some combination of Kelly, Beitashour (if he can get healthy) and maybe even a recalled Seb Anderson filling in for Vines.  We even saw Galvan play there for a few minutes against Cinci.  For Acosta (and remember, we're already missing Namli) its likely Bassett drops back more and we see Shinyashiki or Benezet playing above Bassett and Warner.  If we want to be more defensive we leave Bassett forward and see Warner or Larraz behind him.  We'll miss Lewis' energy off the bench but we do have some cover there, the biggest beneficiary will likely be Galvan.

If there's any good news, its that those 4-5 games aren't a murder's row of opponents.  Minnesota at home, where there's a chance we'll still have Acosta, SJ and Dallas at home, both teams look pretty bad, and then FSL and Austin on the road.  I hate going to Sandy without this trio, that makes that game even harder despite FSL looking awful.  Austin should be a game we can get a result in, but I said that when they came here for the home opener.  Then a week after the Gold Cup final, when everyone should be back and rested, we get SKC at home.

International Window News

 Two bits of news around National Team play (kind of) came out today.

• Kellyn Acosta was called up for the US's friendly against Switzerland in St. Gallen on May 30th.  He'll miss the home game against Dallas the night before.  Technically this is outside the international window that starts the next day so the Rapids weren't not required to let anyone go.  We don't know if Vines, Lewis, or Bassett were requested.  If I had to guess the Nats enquired about Acosta and Vines and the Rapids said they could have one of them but not both (and may have said specifically Acosta, not Vines, given our LB depth issues).
• Not technically about international play but Minnesota United announced today that our game in Minnesota on Wednesday August 4th will now be played on Saturday October 9th.  The good news is that it eliminated a "3 games in one week" run for us at the beginning of August.  The bad news is that October 9th falls during an international window so we may be missing players for the game now.

Still Stunned

24 hours later and I'm still stunned at what happened in World Cup Qualifying last night.  I had no thought that the 4th, 5th, and 6th placed teams would all win.  I figured the absolute worst case was that we'd stumble and either Panama or Honduras would pull a major upset and we'd have to beat the Aussies for our trip too Russia.  More likely I figured we'd play a boring draw and just squeak into the 3rd spot.

There's a lot of hot takes out there right now about who to blame and what the U.S. should do next.  Personally, I think the players take the majority of the blame for only playing a complete game about 3 times in the 10 game hex.  Last night, especially in the first half, we looked like a team that assumed we were going to Russia and didn't have to make an effort.  Outside of Pulisic and maybe Yedlin I don't think anyone on that field deserves to continue as a Nats member, and that includes Howard.

As for what we do from here, I don't know.  There is no easy answer.  Pundits have talked about what Germany did after their failures in 1998 and 2000 and I think the general idea is the right one.  The USSF, MLS, the USL (I'd say the NASL but they're going to be out of business in a few months) and the USSDA need to get together, figure out what the long-term plan is, and all commit to that plan.  That will require some give and take from all parties, and most likely new leadership at the USSF, but its time to examine everything in the U.S. soccer sphere, from the Nats to the Rapids Academy.

Next June/July is going to be very different for American fans.  For the first time in most of our lifetimes, or at least in the part of our lifetimes when we've been soccer fans, the Yanks won't be at the World Cup.  I'm going to be watching the UEFA playoffs next month to see if either of my ancestral sides, Ireland and Sweden, get through to Russia.  If they're both eliminated I'm not sure who I'll back next year, maybe Colombia.

Sun Clasico Tomorrow

4 years ago we had Costa Rica and the Snow Clasico.  Tomorrow night we'll have Trinidad & Tobago and apparently the Sun Clasico with temps in the mid 80s at kickoff.

Kickoff is at 5:50pm on FOX Sports 1, with the pregame being broadcast live from inside the stadium.  Both the official U.S. Soccer events and the American Outlaws tailgate will start at 2.  The official events will be in the VIP East lot,, across the main drive from the normal C38 tailgate lot.  The Outlaws tailgate will be further East in Lot D and there's some overlap between the AO Denver and the C38 tailgate crew so you should have a good idea what to expect.

There's also a pop-up U.S. Soccer store on the 16th St. Mall at 16th & California that will be open until 8pm tonight and from 9am to kickoff tomorrow.  US Soccer will also have gear for sale both at their pre-game events in the parking lot and of course in the stadium.  The website shows red and navy hats and scarves made specifically for this game, I bought the navy scarf yesterday at the 16th St. Mall store (which didn't have the red scarf).  There will also be a ton of non-game specific gear.

Tim Howard has been named the starter in net so Rapids fans will have one of their own to root for.  Mikeil Williams is on the T&T team but I doubt many Rapids fans will give him more than cursory applause if he plays tomorrow.  This is a game the US should win and I expect they will.  The Yanks are clearly better than the Soca Warriors and being at home should make this somewhat easy (as easy as any World Cup Qualifier gets).

DSG Park To Host USA-T&T World Cup Qualifier

After being long-rumored the USSF made it official today.  DSG Park will host the 5th round World Cup Qualifier between the U.S. and Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday June 8th.  Kickoff will be at 5:50pm.  This will be a long trip for Mekeil Williams who will have to walk to the visitor locker room instead of the Rapids locker room.  Tim Howard just gets to show up like its a normal day of work. :D

This game is on Thursday and not Friday because Round 6 game where the U.S. will go to the Azteca to face Mexico is on the following Sunday to allow Mexico to travel to the Confederations Cup that starts on June 17th in Russia.  The other two Round 6 games will take place on Tuesday June 13th like normal.

 Of course the last time the Nats were in Denver was the now-famous Snow Clasico in March of 2013.  Unlike the 30,000 other  people who in 20 years will claim they were there, I was actually there in section 108.  I have every intention of being at this one as well.

Ticket prices have not been announced yet but the presale for American Outlaws members will be on Wednesday while Rapids season ticket holders will have a presale on Thursday.  Tickets that are left at that point will go on sale to the general public at 10am Friday morning.

EDIT: General public sale is 10am Friday the 14th, not the 7th.

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.

October Scheduling Updates

Two scheduling items were announced today.

The first one was the schedule for the U-23 Olympic Qualifying at the Dick in October.

Tues Oct 6th:
Canada - Cuba
USA - Panama

Wed Oct 7th:
Guatemala/Costa Rica - Haiti
Mexico - Honduras

Tickets on sale a week from Thursday and each night is a separate ticket covering both games.  The American Outlaws will have a presale as well.

Also the Rapids announced that the final home game against Montreal on Oct 10th has been moved forward from 7pm to 4pm.  This is to avoid conflicting with the USA-Mexico Confederations Cup playoff that night.

Keep Clam!

Over the last 5 hours a good  portion of the U.S. fanbase seems to have lost their head over the exclusion of Landon Donovan from the 23-man World Cup roster.  Personally I'm shocked but not dismayed by it.  I assumed inertia would keep Donovan on the roster, but I'm not sure he deserved it at this point.

Yes, Donovan is the best field player the U.S. has ever produced and saved our butts against Algeria.  But that was 28-year old Landon Donovan 4 years ago.  This is 32-year old LD who has noticeably added weight, shows a lack of engagement with the Galaxy this year, and took a sabbatical last year leaving his Nats teammates to handle the SnowClasico and the Azteca without him.  He has publicly questioned his own commitment to the game in recent months.  Does that sound like a guy who's an automatic inclusion on a World Cup squad?

Yes, LD has shown if he wants it he can flip a switch and play at a world-class level, but that also shows he doesn't want it all the time.  Putting him on the roster would mean you're counting on him to flip that switch, and he hasn't made that flip in a long time.  That doesn't mean taking him would be a bad choice or a wrong one, but leaving him off isn't nearly as risky as a number of fans and media pundits have claimed it is in the last 300 minutes.

In the long run if our World Cup chances live and die with Landon Donovan then Klinsmann and the USSF have bigger issues that they've missed in the last 3 years than LD's roster spot.  In reality the success of this team was going to be based on Bradley, Howard, and Dempsey before today's announcement and it still is.  That hasn't changed and everybody should take a deep breath.

Oh, and I'm going to get my tin foil hat theory on record in case it happens.  ;)  Jurgen left LD off intentionally to piss him off and get him playing with fire.  Then sometime in the next 3 weeks an attacking player (Julian Green?) is going to get "injured" necessitating a replacement from the 7 cut players.  Klinsmann then brings Donovan back to the roster and gets a fired up striker who storms out of the gate looking for a Ghanaian and Portuguese keeper he can make look stupid to prove how he deserved to be on the roster from the beginning.  :D

World Cup Draw

Well, today's World Cup draw went about as bad as it could have for the U.S.  The worst possible draw for the Yanks from Pots 1 and 4 (based on FIFA ranking) would have been Spain and Portugal, the draw was Germany and Portugal.  Germany was the second worst choice in Pot 1.  To round out the group the Americans got their recent nemesis, Ghana, essentially the 3rd worst choice in a tie with Ecuador from Pot 2.  The U.S. was the highest ranked team in its Pot, leaving a group of the 1st, 1st, 2nd, and 4th top teams from the pots.  Added to that is that the U.S. was drawn into the 4th spot in the group, tying them with Italy for the worst travel schedule in the Cup.

That's the bad news.  The good news is the order of the games and that the travel isn't as bad as it first appears if the USSF makes an important move.  The U.S. starts off facing Ghana in Natal, then takes the long trip into the jungle to face Portugal in Manaus, before finishing the group stage against Germany in Recife.  This is probably the best order we could hope for.  Ghana is a must win game and we get it first while Germany hopefully gets 3 points off Portugal.  Assuming we get the 3 points we need we can fly to Manaus and try to take Ronaldo out of the game and get a draw while Germany probably beats Ghana.  That leaves the U.S. in a spot where the worst case scenario is a loss to Germany while Portugal beats Ghana, with goal differential being the tiebreaker between the Yanks and the Portuguese, and the best case being a Germany squad that's already qualified resting up a bit and the U.S. stealing a point and 2nd place.

Natal and Recife are 175 miles apart, essentially the same as Seattle to Portland.  Manaus to Recife is 1760 miles, about the same as Denver to Boston.  So essentially this travel schedule is the same as a MLS team playing a Sunday game at home, flying to play a road game against the other conference on Friday night, and then playing back at home on the following Wednesday.  A rough schedule but one MLS teams regularly face.  The key for the U.S. is their training base in Brazil.  Currently the U.S. has arranged facilities outside Sao Paolo, which is in the southern part of Brazil, 1300 miles from Recife and almost 1700 miles from Manaus.  Adding that additional travel will hurt the Yanks.  What the USSF should do is find a new training camp on the northeast coast around Natal or Recife.  It should be relatively easy to find another team interested in the Sao Paolo training camp as there are a number of stadiums nearby that other teams are playing at but even if its not it would be wroth paying for two training camps just to cut down on the travel.

Here's a quick recap of the rest of the draw.  Bold are the teams I expect to go through, italics are the teams I want to go through.  Don't hold me to these predictions though, 6 months is a long time and player form could change a lot in that time.  I'll do antoher set of predictions in early June before the Cups starts.

Group A:
Brazil
Croatia
Mexico
Cameroon

Clearly the hosts will get out of this group, and who wouldn't want to see that.  If I have a 2nd team in this competition its Cameroon, but they're not on form right now.  Despite struggling the last year Mexico will get it together and get out of this group, unfortunately.

Group B:
Spain
Netherlands
Chile
Australia

The group starts with a rematch of the 2010 final, but both teams will get out of the group.  I like Chile and they'll probably be favored to get out, but I see an upset here.  I'm tired of Spain.  Australia is going to be road kill.

Group C:
Colombia
Greece
Ivory Coast
Japan

Japan could be a spoiler in this group, especially since they'll have good fan support (the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan is in Brazil), but I think the Colombians and the Elephants will take it.  I'm excited to see the Colombians play and I've enjoyed the Ivory Coast's play for a while.

Group D:
Uruguay
Costa Rica
England
Italy

With the exception of Costa Rica this is a tough group.  Being on their home continent Uruguay should win the group and England and Italy will battle it out for 2nd.  I think England under performs again and Italy takes it but I don't particularly care for either team so I'll root for the Ticos in a lost cause.

Group E:
Switzerland
Ecuador
France
Honduras

Everyone sees the Swiss as the easy draw, which is probably true.  France and Ecuador seem likely to make it out of the group but I'll root for the dis-respected Swiss and our CONCACAF brethren.

Group F:
Argentina
Bosnia
Iran
Nigeria

Argentina won't break a sweat getting out of the group and will almost have home games being in southern Brazil.  Nigeria will take second against the Bosnian newcomers, despite being an underdog to them, and a weak Iranian team.  Works for me.

Group G:
Germany
Portugal
Ghana
United States

Ah, the moment of truth.  Clearly Germany should win this group but which team finishes 2nd.  My heart is going with the U.S. but my brain is telling me I'm showing my bias.  I can't root for a second team in this group as the 2nd team will be whatever result will be best for the U.S.

Group H:
Belgium
Algeria
Russia
South Korea

Belgium and Russia are notably better than the other two teams in the group.  I've got to root for South Korea after 2002 though, and I'll pick Belgium over Russia to root for.  Algeria isn't really going to factor in.

BRAZZZIILLLL!!!!!!

That is all.

Oh, one more thing.  Gabriel Torres had an absolute goalzo for Panama in tonight's 2-2 draw.  He also had Panama's second goal.

(From SBNation)

Epic Night In Commerce City

View of the NW corner from 108 right at the end of half

We'll get to the Rapids debacle in LA tomorrow.  First lets look at Friday night's epic World Cup Qualifier.  Yeah, as a game it stunk.  After the first 20 minutes or so it was 22 guys against the elements, not two teams.  Who cares though, that doesn't detract from one of the more memorable games I've ever attended.

The evening started with a great tailgate put on for the American Outlaws by the Centennial 38 tailgate crew.  I'd say a rough estimate is that we went through over 1500 hot dogs for close to 2000 people.  I helped the grillers out as much as possible once I arrived, so I didn't see much of the tailgate, but it was a great job by everyone to pull it off.  Denver has set the bar high for pre-game entertainment going forward.  About midway through the tailgate, the snow started.

After shutting down the tailgate and helping to clean up Hibbie and I headed over to the Dick, where I ran into the one negative moment of the evening.  Smartly, KSE opened every gate for the game (during most Rapids games they only use about half the gates) but at least at the two gates immediately next to the Cantina their staffing left something to be desired.  The gate just West of the Cantina had no readers for Flash Seat tickets, and when I got to the one just East of the Cantina the guy with the reader had left but would be back "momentarily".  WTF?  It only amounted to a few minute delay but I really have to wonder what KSE is thinking, not fully staffing every gate.

Once I got in I realized we were headed to a record attendance (actually we missed it by 306 as FIFA doesn't allow standing-room only tickets for World Cup Qualifiers like the Rapids do for 4th of July games.  Still broke 19K though.) so I decided to just get to my seat and not worry about doing any shopping or buying any concessions for this one.  I had eaten enough at the tailgate and the free scarf had the game listed on it so I had my souvenir of the game.  The first 20 minutes or so the U.S. controlled play and Clint finished off a deflected shot to get the Yanks the important early goal.  Between the 20 and 30 minute mark the weather became the dominant force in the game but the game was still playable.  The U.S. did a good job keeping possession and protecting the lead.

At halftime apparently the party moved to the men's bathroom in the south end as everybody crammed in there for warmth and continued the singing and chanting.  I stayed at my seat to enjoy the unusual weather as it kicked up a couple of notches.  By the end of the half, as you can see above, it was really coming down.  The second half was just about survival as there was no way for either team to play as a team.  In the 55th minute the game was paused.  ESPN's announcers said it was because the officials were calling the game, but post-games reports suggest that the Center Referee just wanted to give the grounds crew time to clear the lines.  In a vacuum the game should have been called, nobody was really able to play in that storm and while it was safe to play and the game could go on, there wasn't much of an actual game going on.  Life doesn't exist in a vacuum though, and while the ref isn't supposed to take schedules into consideration I'm sure he knew that the storm was supposed to last through Saturday (and it did) and both teams had to fly to Central America for games on Tuesday, so stopping the game and getting replayed was a bigger headache than just continuing to play.  Late in the match Costa Rica managed to equalize, but it was correctly called offside.  That woke the U.S. up a bit and they realized there was still something on the line.  They finished the job and grabbed the crucial 3 points.

Men of the Match (and possibly women as well) were clearly the grounds crew.  They were out there at every stoppage, and even at times when the play was in the other half of the field (something Costa Rica is using to file a pointless protest) keeping the lines clear and the field playable.  The team rewarded them with a perfect memento, a signed snow shovel:

DeMarcus Beasley was probably the player of the match, while Clint Dempsey stepped up as captain.  Even if Landon Donovan returns, this is Clint's team now.

Busy Times In Commerce City

Lots of news so lets get to it.

First and foremost, DSG Park will host the first home World Cup Qualifier for the U.S. this year.  USA - Costa Rica on March 22nd.  Ticket details are yet to be announced but they have said that Rapids full-season ticket holders will get a pre-sale before they're available to the general public.  Great job by the Rapids FO to land this game!

Now if anyone is reading this in Colorado and isn't planning on going to the game, I've got two tickets to the Great Big Sea concert at the Boulder Theater on March 22nd for sale that I'd love to move ASAP!

Secondly, big trade from the Rapids today, sending Ginger Ninja Jeff Larentowicz and the 30th pick in the draft to Chicago for the 11th pick tomorrow, an international spot next year, and allocation money (reportedly $75K).  The 30th pick was the one we got in trade from Chicago for Wells Thompson, so its essentially Larentowicz and Thompson for the 11th pick, allocation money, and an international spot.

Good, not great, trade from the Rapids FO.  The rumor of Larentowicz being on the trading block has been out there for a while.  He's coming off a less-than-stellar season and it was fairly obvious he didn't fit in the upcoming plans.  That left Colorado trading from a point of weakness.  That said, getting the 11th pick when we already have the 6th pick should get us 2 players that should contribute almost immediately.  Allocation money is always helpful, and hopefully we use the international slot.

Thirdly, that trade looks better if the trade Ives reported is accurate, we send the rights to Eric Avila (acquired in the Re-Entry Draft) to Chivas USA in return for the rights to Nick LaBrocca.  LaBrocca played here from 2005-2009, being traded to Toronto the day before the 2010 season started for Marvell Wynne.  One of our better trades.  He's a good box-to-box midfielder that might fit well between Martin Rivero and Hendry Thomas.  Nick was an All-Star for Chivas in 2011.  If we really got him for just the rights to Avila, that's a steal.  He may or may not be currently under contract, but the Rapids have shown in the past that when they trade for an out-of-contract player they make sure they can sign him so I'm not worried about getting him.

So going into the draft tomorrow, here's our current roster.  Right now we have picks 6, 11, and 25 in the 38 pick/2 round draft.  I'll update tomorrow as I'm able to, with a full recap tomorrow night.


Goalkeepers:
Steward Ceus
Matt Pickens

Defenders:
Diego Calderon
Chris Klute (on loan from Atlanta through late-Sept)
Drew Moor
Anthony Wallace
Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:
Davy Armstrong
Eric Avila - Unsigned
Tony Cascio
Jaime Castrillon
Pablo Mastroeni
Brian Mullan
Shane O'Neill
Martin Rivero (on loan from Rosario Central through 2013)
Nathan Sturgis
Hendry Thomas

Forwards:
Andre Akpan
Edson Buddle
Atiba Harris
Kamani Hill

Lets Light This Candle

The World Cup is here! Tomorrow we attempt to re-create the 'Shot Heard Round The World' as the U.S. plays England at 12:30 MDT. Rather than get buried by the numerous blogs pontificating over the World Cup I'll probably just let my blog go quiet for the next couple of weeks until the Rapids start up again. If something particular noteworthy happens in the World Cup or if the Rapids have some news I'm sure I'll have something to say though. Until then...

U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

No Rapids At The World Cup

For the first time in team history* it appears there will be no Colorado Rapids at the World Cup. Conor Casey was left off the roster for the pre-World Cup training camp that was just announced by Bob Bradley. Instead Robbie Findley, who's done less than Casey on an individual level in both MLS and with the Nats, was called up. There's a slight chance that Casey could be called up if someone were to be injured between the naming of the 23 man roster on June 1st and the start of the World Cup but that chance is so slight its not really worth talking about.

*In 1998 Marcelo Balboa represented the Rapids. In 2002 and 2006 Pablo Mastroeni represented the Rapids

The Yanks Are Coming!

Conor Casey led the Nats to a 3-2 win in Honduras last night. With the win the U.S. clinches World Cup Qualification and can book trips to South Africa next summer.

After going down 1-0 Casey battled for a Davies header and beat the Honduran keeper to it. off his shoulder the ball looped up and over the onrushing keeper and rolled across the line. 11 minutes later Casey received a pass from Donovan inside the box and beat the keeper to the far post to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. Those were Casey's first two National Team goals in 15 appearances. 5 minutes later Casey drew a foul just outside the box and Donovan converted the free kick for a 3-1 lead. Honduras would get one back late which led to some nail-biting in the last few minutes but the Americans were victorious. Casey was unanimous MOTM and increased his chances of joining the team in South Africa next year.

Conor Casey Called Up For World Cup Qualifiers

Casey was on the 22-man roster announced today for the final two World Cup Qualifiers on 10/10 and 1014. Oct. 10th is our bye week, we don't have a game after Saturday's match until Oct. 17th. Casey will probably travel with the team to Honduras for the match on the 10th and to DC for the final game of the hex on the 14th. The U.S. needs one win to qualify or a draw against Costa Rica in DC.

Casey Not In Seattle

Soccer by Ives has reported than none of the extra 7 players, which includes Casey, are in Seattle for today's U.S. - Grenada match. Presumably this means Casey will be starting for the Rapids tonight.

Rapids News and Notes 6/4

A little reminder of what we're playing for on Saturday!

• National Team loses 3-1 to Costa Rica

Embarrassing. I'm torn between firing Bradley now and improving our chances, or keeping Bradley so the team goes down hard and the USSF learns a lesson.

• Pablo called up for the Nats

Given the way he played last night, this may be his last callup. I expect he'll start on Saturday due to suspensions and injuries in midfield, but that might be it for him with the "A" squad.

• Conor Casey called up for the Nats

This was just announced on tonight's ESPN MLS Game of the Week and on the U.S. Nats Blog. Brina Ching has re-aggravated his hamstring and they may need Casey for cover. His use will be based on how Ching is doing, but I think we should assume we won't have him for the Rocky Mountain Cup match this week. Casey deserves this callup, he's been playing great this year, but the timing couldn't be worse for the Rapids with a huge road match on Saturday.

• Bouna Time! in Philly?

Apparently there are rumors that Nowak might make Bouna Coundoul his first signing as Philly manager. I hope so, Bouna's a good MLS keeper and only his idiot agent kept him from signing with the Rapids this season. Somehow I don't think training in Finland is what Bouna was thinking when he was told he could do better in Europe. The Rapids still own his rights, so Philly will have to give us a draft pick or two if they want to sign him.

• Ciaran O'Brien on loan for the USL season

O'Brien is playing for the Austin Aztex of USL-1 for the rest of the USL season. That's a good way to get a young player som playing time now that the reserve league is gone. It hurts our depth on the wings a bit, but I don't think O'Brien was going to get significant playing time with the Rapids.

• Ivan Guerrero to Honduras?

There's been a rumor for a couple of months that Guererro was going to transfer back home to Honduras. The newest report has him in Honduras for his physical for his new team. Guerrero is a left sided player, and Harvey and Clark have been the only two Rapids to play every minute of every game this year, so he was finding it hard to get into the first team. With a cap hit of $145K that's a lot of money to warm the bench. It also frees up a roster spot for Julian Baudet. Theoretically if Guerrero wants to go the Honduran side would have to pay a transfer fee, but the Rapids are probably just happy to have his salary off the books so I expect them to free transfer him or ask for a very small amount of money.

• Julian Baudet signed by the Rapids?

The most recent report out of England mentioned quote Baudet as having signed with the Rapids, while all previous reports said he would sign. Still no official word from the Rapids or the league. Assuming this happens I find it a better move than I did originally. Our defense has shown that it can't keep mental focus for 90 minutes, so maybe somebody with experience in the pressure cooker of English football and a team captain can come in and settle the back line down. We still need some depth up front, but Baudet might be an asset.

Rapids News and Notes - January 29th

Lots of news today. First the USMNT camp roster was announced for the US - Mexico game next month. Rapids Ugo Ihemelu and Matt Pickens have been invited to camp. The roster will be supplemented by European based players com the week of the game, so there's a decent chance neither player will be on the game day roster.

Second, we had our first preseason coverage from the Denver Post. Lots of interesting tidbits here, so let's break it down bit by bit.

Smith confirmed the team had entertained offers for winger Terry Cooke and is still open to a deal for Christian Gomez.

In the case of Cooke, who has led the team in assists the past three seasons, Smith said, "it's not like we've thrown him out there as bait to anyone."

As for Gomez, who is bothered by a sore groin: "I am definitely prepared to adapt what I want to do for Christian, as long as he wants to meet me halfway in some way," Smith said.

This confirms what many Rapids fans felt last year. Gomez being relegated to the bench wasn't only because of skill, it was also Christian and Smith not being on the same page. Combined with the rumors coming out of DC about them wanting Gomez back, I wouldn't be surprised to see him heading back there before the first game. The quote about offers from Cooke is interesting. No player is untouchable on this squad, but trading Cooke should only be considered if we're getting a top player in return.

"We've got a couple bodies in the pipeline, one or two from Europe, which may be pretty difficult to get in straightaway," Smith said.

The transfer window for international players closes April 15 and won't open again until June. Smith also said he has "a couple" players from South America who won't arrive until later in the preseason.

Hearing about possible new players is always good, but why do the Rapids always wait until late in the preseason to add their new international players? Why can't we get these players signed right at the opening of the transfer window so they can join the team early in camp?

Cory Gibbs revealed he pulled out of the U.S. national team camp ahead of its Jan. 24 friendly against Sweden at the behest of Smith. Gibbs said Smith was concerned the defender, who had injury issues before joining the Rapids last August, might put too much stress on his body with the extra training prior to the regular season.

Smith said he spoke with national team coach Bob Bradley about his concerns and they ended in agreement

Maybe its just me, but I find it concerning that the most experienced central defender can't attend an offseason National Team camp because the coach is worried about injury. Seems like you'd want your star defender to have a bit more toughness than that.

The Rapids remain on the shortlist of clubs still without a shirt sponsor after the San Jose Earthquakes announced this week a three-year deal, worth a reported $2 million to $3 million a year, with Amway Global.

Managing director Jeff Plush said the club is fairly close to the same place it was last season in terms of finding a partner, and added the global economic slump isn't making things easier.

So after a full year we're no closer? That seems like an opportunity the Rapids have failed to capitalize one.