Chivas USA Will Face Carolina RailHawks in U.S. Open Cup

Published on May 29, 2013 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Club Deportivo Chivas USA News Release


Chivas USA will face the Carolina RailHawks in the Fourth Round of the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on June 12 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

The Red-and-White advanced past the Third Round with their 2-1 victory over the L.A. Blues Tuesday night at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium to get past their opening round for the third time in club history. The Goats reached the Semifinals in last season's Open Cup. In their aim to surpass last year's record, the Goats will now travel to meet the NASL side in a 4:15 p.m. (PT) match to battle for a spot in the Quarterfinals.

The RailHawks punched their ticket to the next round with their 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy, Wednesday night, to set up a rematch with Chivas USA. The sides met in the Fourth Round of last year's tournament, which the Goats took by a score of 2-1 in Cary to advance to the Quarterfinals.

Delgado happy to be back

After ten days of being out due to international duty with the U.S. U-18 National Team, midfielder Marky Delgado is back in training with Chivas USA. The 18 year-old Glendora native returned to Los Angeles on Sunday evening from Portugal, where he, along with the young squad, participated in the Lisbon Tournament.

Delgado played and was team captain in the U.S' three-game tournament run where the young squad was able to make it to the final match after defeating the Czech Republic 3-0 in the first match and drawing 1-1 with Portugal, squad considered one of the best in Europe. The Americans faced Hungary in the tournament's Championship match and battled until the final minute, but were unable to recover from a 2-1 score.

"We went in over confident and they scored two goals on us in the first five minutes, but we tried to fight our way back; with just a tie, we could've won the tournament," Delgado said after Wednesday's Chivas USA training session.

Although the American U-18's were unable to get the win that would crown them Champions of the Lisbon Tournament for the first time in U.S. Soccer history, Delgado knows what the team will need in order to not let that happen again.

"It was a great experience for me personally and for the players who made the trip. We didn't have the core group, but we had most of our strong players there. Players went out, played hard, we got some good results, but unfortunately we lost to Hungary 2-1 in the final," Delgado told cdchivasusa.com.

Now that Delgado has proven himself to U.S. U-18 Coach Javier Perez, the young midfielder will look for a spot in Chivas USA's 18-man roster. On Tuesday night, Delgado was on the bench for the Red-and-White's first match in the 2013 U.S. Open Cup, game played against the L.A. Blues at Cal State Fullerton. Delgado will be looking to impress the Red-and-White coach in order to have a shot in the national team's next challenge: the 2013 Northern Ireland Milk Cup that will be held in Ireland starting July 28.

"Now that I'm back, I'm going to keep fighting for a spot in the Chivas line-up and hopefully I get my chance. But overall, I'm happy to be back," Delgado finalized.

Avila: "We showed maturity in the second half"

Chivas USA midfielder Eric Avila was not surprised to get challenged up to the final whistle by the LA Blues in Tuesday night's Third-Round match of the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Avila entered the contest in the 22nd minute and provided a spark in the midfield with his ball handling and distribution to lead his side to a come-from-behind 2-1 win to give the Red-and-White a ticket to the Cup's Fourth Round.

"We needed this win, we needed this momentum," said Avila. "We showed a lot of character in the second half fighting back and getting the result. I think in the first half we kind of complicated things. We came out a little slow. I applaud [the Blues], they came out nice and tight and they were well organized."

Aside from advancing past their opening round match for the third time in club history, Avila pointed to the Rojiblancos' poise and character going into the second half down a goal against the USL PRO side on the road.

"I think in the second half we showed a little bit of maturity, as far as us being an MLS team. They came out strong. We didn't take them lightly, but I think we were surprised how well they came out in the first half," Avila added.

The Rojiblancos will now await the winner of Wednesday's Third-Round match between the LA Galaxy and the Carolina RailHawks for their June 12 Fourth-Round meeting. When asked if he has a preference of opponent, Avila didn't care about who to face as long as they get to play the next round.

"We're not really worried about who is coming next. I just want to show up and play the next match," Avila concluded.

Morales Scores in Mexico Win

Chivas USA forward Julio Morales scored a goal in Mexico's U-20 National Team's victory over Nigeria's U-20 squad in the 2013 Toulon Hopefuls' Tournament in France. El Tri earned three valuable points, and due to goal differential, is in the top spot of Group B, followed by Brazil, Portugal, Belgium and Nigeria, respectfully.

In the 27th minute of the match, Morales took advantage of a rebound by Nigeria's defense inside the box to simply push the ball into the back of the net and score the first goal in favor of Mexico's U20 National Team. [See video below] Morales participated in the match and created a couple of scoring opportunities up until the 57th minute when Head Coach Sergio Almaguer subbed out the Red-and-White player.

Mexico's U-20 National Team will face Brazil this Friday at 10:30 am PT, and will match-up against Portugal and Belgium in the group phase.

Rojiblancos return for Week 14 preparations

Chivas USA returned to practice Wednesday morning a day after their 2-1 victory over the L.A. Blues in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Goats will now move to prepare for Saturday's Western Conference clash with Seattle Sounder FC as part of Major League Soccer's Week 14.

The squad was split into two groups, with those who participated in last night's match completing regenerative work at The Home Depot Center's gym. The players did so utilizing stationary bikes, treadmills and weights. The second group started the session by completing a light jog around Field 6 and proceeded to run through a series of conditioning drills with cones positioned nearly ten yards apart. The drill incorporated ball possession and explosion sprints through the length of the station, which stretched about 35 yards in length.

The group then participated in a six-on-six drill in the attacking third of the pitch with the objective of working on ball distribution and finishing inside the box. The drill then progressed into a six-on-six scrimmage in about 35 yards of space. Wednesday's session then concluded with a cool-down period that consisted of stretches.

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Major League Soccer Stories from May 29, 2013


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