Since the game is tomorrow night (10/15), I thought I would start a thread. Anyone have any inside info on who the Rapids will start? Since there is an important game in Chicago on Saturday, it would not surprise me to see quite a few regulars on the bench or being subbed out early.
This will be the first game I skip this year. At least the Guatemalans are bringing thier "A" team (or at least from my limited knowledge of thier team they are)
I don't know a ton about the Guatemalan team, although I expect to be at the game. (A) Is it safe to assume that non-Rapids MLSers are not going ot make this trip? FreeKick (or the insert, I guess) showed a picture of Ruiz as a teaser. I can't imagine that Ruiz is going to come to Colorado for a fairly meaningless game (which would irk me if I bought tickets based on that!). (B) This is such an oddly timed game, but I think (as others) that this is a fantastic chance to work players off the bench...give Kingsley, Zizi, Schmidt, etc. some time to get into some sort of grove. If Spencer plays, I can't imagine he gets a ton of time because he is just coming off injury anyway.
According to the Denver Post article from today's paper, the Rapidos will be playing all reserves. I don't think anyone at the Post knows the first thing about Guatemala (so there's vitually no news about them). The article says that Ruiz is "on the team," but it doesn't confirm that he will be playing.... The timing of this friendly seems really bizarre to me too (of course no starters are going to play).... It will probably be more exciting than a Broncos preseason game though.
It will be tough for the Rapids to play all reserves for this game, especially with Borchers, Schmidt, Beckerman and Trembly all gone with the U-23's. I bet we see the regular starters for the team at least start the game off, then maybe subs as it progresses. As for the Guats, RapidFire yesterday said that Ruiz and Freddy Garcia of the Crew are on the squad that arrived in Denver yesterday..
Sounds like it actually might a decent match then..... I'm afraid that I'm going to have to torture myself and watch the Cubs though.
Anyone know where we can listen to the game? Where can I get result, lineups etc? any webcast? mlsnet?????
Re: Anyone know where we can listen to the game? I don't think they are broadcasting this in any way so here is your best bet. www.mlsnet.com/games/03/tracker.php?gamename=10152003_ZZZCOL&version=pvp
Lineups: Guatemala -- Edgar Estrada, Julio Cesar Monterroso, Gustavo Cabrera, Nestor Martinez, Everaldo Valencia, Freddy Garcia, Hector Aguirre, Gonzalo Romero, Javier Gonzales, Dwight Pezzarossi, Carlos Ruiz. Substitutes: Mario Acevedo, Julio Enriquez, Alvaro Hurtarte, Jhonny Leonardo, Henry Medina, Paulo Motta, Hernan Sandoval, Fredy Thompson. Colorado Rapids -- Scott Vallow, Alberto Rizo, Robin Fraser, Darryl Powell, Michael Piserchio, Zach Kingsley, Matt Crawford, Zizi Roberts, Mark Chung, Alex Blake, John Spencer. Substitutes: Joe Cannon, Chris Carrieri, Byron Foss, Scott Garlick, Wes Hart, Chris Henderson, Ritchie Kotschau, Clint Baumstark. Not all reserves out there in the starting 11.
Halftime, 1-0 to the quasi-Raps. Spennie from Michael Piserchio in the 42nd minute, coming either as a result of or directly after a Chung corner. Shots 6-3 COL, Shots on 3-1 COL, Fouls 8-3 GUA, Offside 2-1 GUA Two yellows from Ali Saheli, one each to Hector Aguirre and Freddy Garcia.
Things evening out in the second half ... three yellows to the Rapids, two for delaying a restart? Fouls are now 15-14 with Colorado leading. COL -- Alberto Rizo (caution; Delaying a Restart) 58 COL -- Alex Blake (caution; Delaying a Restart) 64 COL -- Ritchie Kotschau (caution; Reckless Foul) 73 Quelle shock! The Fish draws and converts a PK. Subs at the half: Cannon for Vallow, Hart for Fraser, Kotschau for Powell, Hendo for Chung and CC for Spennie. Guat made three halftime subs, too. 80' - Blake fouled in the box, Henderson converts the PK. 2-1 Rapids, 10 minutes to go.
Fredy Thompson sent off for a foul on Hart ... Guats down to 10 men for the last two minutes. Edit: Now Hart gets a yellow for "Game Disrepute." Huh. Hope things don't get too chippy....
Two yellows for delaying a restart??? I've seen yellows for this in stoppage time, but in the 58th and 64th minutes? Seems kinda crazy to me. Nice job Rapids. Hope everybody stayed healthy and the team is ready to win in Chicago on Saturday.
Rizo's Yellow was for kinging the ball into the stands instead of giving it back to Guatlamala. Few commebts on this game. Piserchio didn't look half bad. Not wonderful but loads better than Kingsley. Remided me of how Crawford looks on a good night. Biggest surprise of the night: Zizi looks better at Defensive-mid and Central-D than he does at forward. Considering this Nat team didn't look very good at all, I'm not sure how he'd stack up to regular MLS teams but he didn't look too shabby tonight. I'm not a big fan of Zizi either so this says alot. I also thought Vallow looked better than Cannon. Also may not be alot to go by considering Vallow had some better shots thrown at him but I'm always somewhat impressed with his play. Ruiz's goal shouldn't have been called back but his PK was also a dive so it was a wash there. No disrespect but how long could a national anthem be? Finally I'd like to say that most of the fans I sat near were respectful considering I was one of the only Rapids fans around. They seems to be happy that I was cheering for my team. In conclusion, wasn't a waste of time like I thought it might be.
Chilly But Fun!!!! First interesting thing about the match was coming into it. I am not sure what they were expecting or worried about, but they checked inside our coats and even under our hats. They discovered there wasn't even hair under my hat. Mr.Carroll, the soccer policeman who guards the refs was standing by checking out what was coming in. I agree about the anthem. I was more than happy for them to have the Guatemalan national anthem, but that had to be multiple verses. I kept thinking it was almost over, only to hear the singer seem to start a new verse. To the match: Contrary to gschroder, I thought Vallow was very shakey. He seemed nervous and unsure of himself. That was an opinion shared by those around me without me saying anything. I thought Cannon looked very good. He came far out of the goal to make some significant saves, once when El Pescadito was ready to move in to score. In regards to newcomers, Piserchio did fine, though he seemed a little nervous at first. He got better as the match went on. Rizzo was the best I have seem him, other than the attempt to kick the ball into the upper deck. I was not particularly impressed with Kingsley. He is fast, but that was about it. I was very impressed with Blake. I think I would rather see him coming in on offense instead of ZiZi. Maybe ZiZi can be a back up defender. He did make one of the longest runs you will ever see a defender make with the ball, only to have someone? offside. The move Blake made to draw the penalty was excellent, and even better was his ability to keep his feet, and move in to score on the Guatemalan keeper, who was excellent all night. Overall, it was lots of fun, though I eventually had to move up because the Guatemalan fans in front of me stood up the whole time and I couldn't see. The were good spirited,though, just not very good windows.
i am gonna have to disagree about blake. i thought he lost the ball over and over again in dangerous positions. i kept looking over to my friend saying, "damn blake sucks." he does look like a powerful guy, and has a little height which our team needs badly. i didnt have a good look at his goal, but on replays it looked like he just got a good ball and beat the dude to it, not a great moce really. ill give him props for the nice finish though - but really it was one that any forward in the league should convert. i was happy to see cannon get some playing time, and i thought he went aggressively off his line and made some excellent plays. his distribution looked a little rusty, but otherwise good game. he was my motm because he chucked his jersey up to me after the game. he was a really nice guy too, in the short time i chatted with him, and sounds very happy to be here. i am happy for him coming from the bad situation in france. as for the rest of the team, good time to get some minutes for the bench. zizi does look a better defender than attacker. and how does little floppy fishy sleep at night the way he dives all over the place. had a perfect look at the "penalty," and it was the most rediculous bit of tomfoolery i have ever seen. he should be ashamed of him, and i hope all those guat kids at the game dont think to themselves, "one of these days im gonna be a flopping, sissy, cheater, with no honor or sportsmanship like ruiz." well have a whole society of crybabies on our hands. just my two cents.
if it is deliberately stopping a team from taking advantage of a quick restart, then by all means it should be a yellow. think defensive move, not the player taking the kick.
It was none other than Kingsley. I loved the guy last year but this year I have nothing positive to say. And playing time is no excuse because all of our rookies are outclassing him IMO.
It's always nice when your bench beats a national team. 7 minutes! That's how long the Guatemalan National Anthem was. It started at 7:28 and ended at 7:35. Why does a country smaller than Tennessee need a 7 minute national anthem? I'll add to the short list of posters that thought Cannon played better. Cannon had a backline consisting of Piserchio, Zizi, Kotschau, Rizo, and Kingsley. Vallow played with Piserchio, Powell, Frasier, and Rizo. Powell and Frasier did a much better job of disrupting Guatemalan play, first half, than the entire five in the backline did in the second half. I thought Guatemala had much better chances in the second. Cannon did well coming out and snuffing out chances several times. Vallow, on the other hand, I recall dropping a cross and giving Guat an extra scoring chance. The Rapids played a 5-3-2 in the second half with Hart, Crawford, and Hendo in the midfield and Blake and Carrieri up top. I rubbed my eyes several times and the formation stayed the same. Surprisingly, they scored two goals with this makeshift formation. Blake, I thought, had a good game. He had four of the six shots on goal and you've got to give him credit for attempting and connecting on the bike. I wouldn't suggest him replacing one of our top three right now, but I think things look good for the future with Schmidt, Blake, Carrieri, and Zizi possibly being around for awhile. If we could only get a coach that can develop young talent.
Not bad for a scrimmage. A little scrappy in the first half. I will not be able to understand if the US ever ties that team. The U.S. should win by 3 or 4 goals even in Guatamala. Maybe I will change my view of ZiZi now that he has shown his true calling. DEFENSE!!! So Mr. Hanki had to find out from the Liberian national team that ZiZi could play defense. It's amazing that a coach has to find out in that manner. Blake is head and shoulders above ZiZi as a forward. Hopefully Chicago will fall Saturday and by some amazing miracle, the Rapids will be shown on TV so that the fans can watch.