Correa Hopes to Replicate in Open Cup

Published on May 23, 2013 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Club Deportivo Chivas USA News Release


Second-year Chivas USA forward José Correa at his 20 years of age has already had a taste of the magnitude that is the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Colombian appeared in three matches in last year's edition of the Open Cup and helped propel the Rojiblancos to their second semifinal appearance in club history with his two-goal performance in the Quarterfinals.

Chivas USA now enter Cup competition on Tuesday, May 28, in the Third Round against the LA Blues at the Titan Stadium, located on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. It was in that same location that Correa knocked in his two goals - the second which came in stoppage time to give the Red-and-White a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Charlotte Eagles. Despite last year's success in Open Cup play, Correa and his teammates know that coming prepared to face the USL PRO side in Tuesday's match is a must if they hope to replicate last year's tournament run.

"Initially you might think that these type of teams can't hurt you," said Correa. "But they push you competitively because they want to prove themselves against MLS teams. For us the most important thing is to win."

The Blues advanced to the Third-Round match-up with a 5-1 rout of PDL side Ventura County Fusion last Tuesday and will try to pull off the upset on their home field. Chivas USA and the Blues most recently met in a preseason scrimmage in February, which resulted in a 5-1 victory for the Red-and-White.

Correa and his teammates will give their Cup opponent their due respect and prepare as best as possible to advance past the Third Round for the third time in club history. However, right now, the forward puts Saturday's Week 13 Major League Soccer match at Colorado as the team's immediate priority.

"We have a League challenge, first and foremost, for this Saturday," added Correa. "Afterwards we'll approach Tuesday's challenge with great excitement and look to boost our confidence and come away with a win."

Report from Portugal: Delgado

As Chivas USA prepare to face the Colorado Rapids this Saturday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, the Red-and-White will have someone cheering for them all the way from Portugal, and he's not a stranger to the club, he's midfielder Marco Delgado.

Delgado is currently on international duty with the U.S. U18 National Team who is participating in the Lisbon Tournament in Portugal. The Glendora native joined the American squad last May 16, the day of his 18th birthday. In the tournament, U18's have earned a win and a draw in Portugal and wait to earn their first Lisbon Tournament trophy going against Hungary's U18 National Team this Saturday.

"I've actually played with the team in this tournament last year. We didn't get the results we wanted, but this year, the Head Coach [Javier Perez] has chosen me to be captain of the squad, which is a great honor! Our results so far have been great; we got a 3-0 win over Czech Republic in our first match and a 1-1 tie to Portugal in the second match. We have one more game against Hungary and if we win, the trophy is ours," Delgado said via phone.

Although Delgado admits he misses his family and being at training with Chivas USA, he's having a good experience at Portugal, and it doesn't necessarily pertain to being in another country.

"My favorite part of the trip has to be putting on my jersey and putting the captain's armband on before each game. It's just an amazing feeling that I can't describe," he added.

Once the tournament concludes this Saturday, Delgado will fly back to LA and will return to Chivas USA training on Monday, May 27 at The Home Depot Center.

Year in Review: Chivas USA's U17/18 Team

Chivas USA Youth Academy's 2012/2013 regular season in U.S. Soccer's Development Academy might have come to an end after a successful last week for the Goats, but it's not quite over yet. After 28 games, Chivas USA's U17/18 squad has successfully qualified to the USSDA playoffs.

Last Saturday, the Red-and-White U17/18's took a 2-1 victory over the Southwest Division leader, the LA Galaxy U17/18, in the second Youth Clásico of the season. With the win, the group, led by Head Coach Keith Costigan, moved up in the playoffs wildcard pool from eighth place to fifth.

"I was very proud of the boys; they've worked very hard over the past two weeks. It was a different kind of win; we had to battle more and defend more than we have had recently, but we did it together and that's the most important thing as a group, and that's why we got the win," Coach Costigan said after the match.

But the road hasn't been quite easy for the U17/18 squad. Starting off the season in September, the young Goats held a 5-2-5 record, but returning to action in January, the young Goats took a three-game losing skid before regaining its rhythm to qualify for the playoffs.

"We've had some losses to teams that I think we should've won. But looking back, there have really been two performances out of my 16 games that I thought we didn't show up. We've recovered from that; it was definitely a challenge, especially with young kids. But all the guys, they want to play; they want to be involved in the playoffs," Costigan said.

"Our team has done a good job of week-by-week talking about the team that we're playing; very few players have come up to me and saying, 'when we get to playoffs, what is it that we need to do? We need this win,' and because of that, our focus has been really good," the U17/18 coach added.

On June 24, the USSDA playoffs will kick for the U17/18 category in FC Dallas Park, something that both the players and Coach Costigan have been aching and dreaming of since the start of the season.

"We thought we would have sealed it before our last game, but then we looked and we said, 'we have to win today to be absolutely sure,' and I give full credit to the boys. People have come up to me and asked, 'are we in?' And it's finally good to say, 'yes, we're in,' Costigan finalized.

Training Report: Chivas USA a day from heading to Colorado

Chivas USA completed their Thursday morning practice ahead of Friday's road trip to face the Colorado Rapids in a crucial Western Conference battle at Dick's Sporting Goods Park Saturday at 6 p.m. (PT). The Red-and-White kicked off the session with a light team run which ran half the width of the pitch at The Home Depot Center's Field 6.

After going through a series of complementary stretches for additional warm up, the squad broke out into rows of four to run through agility drills that were set up with cones which were positioned ten yards from beginning to end. The drill included explosion runs and hip rotation trots as well as backward trots for added leg and hip work.

With the goalkeepers working with their position coach individually, field players continued their agility drills under the instructions of Strength and Conditioning Coach Osvaldo Scansetti. The Red-and-White completed variations of explosion drills through the cone stations, first implementing cutting drills and change-of-direction runs before sprinting through the finish line.

The Rojiblancos afterwards incorporated ball work into their session, with five players forming a circle and keeping the momentum of the ball to the right and then the left. After receiving a short touch pass, the player with ball possession would then drop it off to his teammate.

The team was then split into two groups, with the first taking part in a four-on-four drill on the ball under the instructions of Head Coach Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, which was spread the width of the pitch and about 10 yards deep. The four attacking players were spread out with a defensive counterpart shadowing as the ball was distributed in both directions. The second group participated in a finishing and outlet drill that ran the length of the second half of the pitch.

Training culminated with an 11-on-11 scrimmage across the full length of the pitch for approximately 30 minutes and was followed by a cool-down session consisting of stretches and flexibility work.

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Major League Soccer Stories from May 23, 2013


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