MLS Colorado Rapids

Game Notes for July 4 vs. Columbus

Published on July 2, 2007 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Colorado Rapids News Release


NEXT GAME:

Wednesday, July 4, 2007, 7:30 p.m. (MT)

Rapids (4-7-4, 16pts) vs. Columbus Crew (4-4-6, 18pts) at Dick's Sporting Goods Park

TV: Altitude

Radio: KNRV 1150AM "La Buena Onda"

LAST GAME:

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Rapids (0) vs. Chicago Fire (0) at Toyota Park

RAPIDS INJURY REPORT

(updated 7-2-07):

Out: Pablo Mastroeni (L Adductor Strain)

Doubtful: Conor Casey (R Hamstring Strain); Mike Petke (R Ankle Contusion)

Questionable: Terry Cooke (L knee sprain)

Probable: NONE

NATIONAL TEAM DUTY

Herculez Gomez, Kyle Beckerman - United States (Copa America)

MISCELLANEOUS TEAM NOTES:

Head-to-Head: The Colorado Rapids hold a 14-6-5 all-time record against the Columbus Crew. Colorado has lost only once to Columbus in Denver (July 4, 1999), while beating them eight times at home. The two teams have tied three times in the Centennial State. This is the first meeting of 2007 between the two MLS originals, with the return leg set for Sept. 2 in Columbus.

Scouting Columbus: With 18 points from a 4-4-6 record, Columbus currently sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Crew come to Dick's Sporting Goods Park having won three games in a row. Last weekend they beat the New York Red Bulls 1-0 on a goal from Kai Kamara.

Rapids on 4th of July: The Rapids are 10-1 in this holiday game. They have won their last six games dating back to 1999, when they had their only loss, to Columbus. Last year the Rapids battled the Revolution and a torrential rainstorm to post a 3-2 victory. Niko Hernandez scored two goals for the Rapids that night with Kyle Beckerman getting the other.

Open Cup Update: The Colorado Rapids announced that they will host the California Victory in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at 7 p.m. on July 10 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Victory defeated the Minnesota Thunder 1-0 in extra time to advance and take on the Rapids. Tickets for this match are $10 for adults, $7 for adults with Rapids season tickets and $5 for children 16 and under.

Wingert Waived: The Colorado Rapids waived defender Chris Wingert on June 29. Wingert started four of the six games he appeared in for the Rapids in 2007. Last year the former MAC Herman Trophy winner started four of the ten games he played in.

Rapids Trade for Erpen: The Colorado Rapids acquired Argentine defender Facundo Erpen from DC United in exchange for defender Greg Vanney on Friday. Erpen will occupy one of the team's junior international spots. The night before both players played the entire game for their former squads. Erpen comes to Colorado with four goals and four assists in his career that spans 49 appearances, all starts.

Rapids' 4thFest Sold Out: The Colorado Rapids' annual July 4th game and fireworks extravaganza is officially sold out, the club announced Thursday. The 2007 "4thFest Colorado", which will feature an all-day festival, followed by the Rapids vs. the Columbus Crew, and then the biggest fireworks display in the state of Colorado, will be hosted for the first time at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The event will feature a fireworks display twice as big as any of the shows set up by the Rapids in past years. The location of the stadium and soccer complex allows for a display that will have none of the noise and safety restrictions that the ones at Invesco Field and Coors Field have to obey to. Although the game itself is sold out, fans can still come to the free all day festival, and witness the show from the stadium's field complex.

Mexico vs. Colombia: The Colorado Rapids announced that they will be hosting an international friendly between Mexico and Colombia on Aug. 22 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park with kickoff at 8 p.m. After a special presale for Visa credit card holders, tickets will go on sale to the general public at noon MT on Thursday, July 5. Tickets start as low as $25 and can be purchased online at TicketHorse.com, at the box office at Dick's Sporting Goods Park (10am - 6pm M-F, 10am - 3pm Sat.), as well as at any Colorado Dick's Sporting Goods location. For more information, or for group ticket orders, fans should call (303) 825-GOAL.

Colorado Native's Debut: Colorado native Stephen Keel made his professional debut with the Rapids when he entered the game against D.C United in the 71st minute. Fernando Clavijo's lineup in that game featured three young Colorado natives: Daniel Wasson (Colorado Springs) and Colin Clark (Fort Collins) started the game and were joined by Keel (Littleton) in the second half. The start was the first action for Clark this season.

Mastroeni Returns: Colorado Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni helped the U.S. continue their dominance of Mexico on U.S. soil Sunday afternoon when the U.S. rallied in the second half to beat their archrivals from south of the border 2-1 and win the Gold Cup championship title. Mastroeni played all 45 minutes of the first half before being substituted out for Ricardo Clark. For his efforts in the tournament, he was named to the best 11 for the competition. Pablo will re-join the Rapids for their road trip to DC and Chicago.

Gomez, Beckerman Named to USA Roster: U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named Rapids players Herculez Gomez and Kyle Beckerman as part of his 22-man roster that are competing in the 2007 Copa America in Venezuela. The team, which includes nine players from the Gold Cup championship roster, left on June 25 for Maracaibo, Venezuela, their base of operations for the beginning part of the tournament.

Soccer Tour Begins: The Colorado Rapids announced the formation of a brand new community outreach effort for the 2007 season. The "Colorado Rapids Soccer Tour" will be showing up at youth soccer tournaments, festivals, Rapids away-game viewing parties, and other events and neighborhood community activities around Colorado all season long! Visit www.ColoradoRapids.com to see where the Soccer Tour will be next.

Mastroeni in Media: Rapids captain Pablo Mastroeni is soon to be seen outside the lines of the soccer field. During the preseason he and Jimmy Conrad traveled to New York to film an appearance on "Emeril Live." The Food Network show with the two MLS stars will air tonight, July 2, at 6 p.m. MT. Mastroeni was also selected by Hispanic Magazine as one of its "50 Best Latino Athletes" for 2007.

All Minutes, All Games: Only one player on Fernando Clavijo's team has played every minute of every game so far in the 2007 Major League Soccer regular season. Goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul has currently accumulated a total of 1,260 minutes in 14 matches. Kyle Beckerman was the only field player to share the honor with Coundoul until he was forced to sit out the game against Chivas USA due to yellow card accumulation.

Guadalajara vs. Pachuca in SuperLiga: The Colorado Rapids and Dick's Sporting Goods Park have announced that they will host the SuperLiga Group B game between Mexican powerhouses CD Guadalajara and Pachuca. The "Tuzos" and Chivas will battle on July 31 at 8 p.m. at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the tournament with a $1 million dollar prize going to the champions. Pachuca, the current Mexican first division and CONMEBOL's Sudamericana Cup champions, just defeated Guadalajara for the title of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in penalties. Tickets for this match are on sale now at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park Box Office or www.TicketHorse.com.

Check out the Colorado Rapids Statistics

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Major League Soccer Stories from July 2, 2007


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