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MLS Columbus Crew SC

Crew Preseason News and Notes

February 21, 2007 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew's preseason exhibition schedule continues tonight (Feb. 21), when it will take on Mexican Primera A (second division) club Indios de Juarez at 9 p.m. (ET) at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. It will be the club's second and final match during its trip to Phoenix.

The Crew defeated FC Dallas, 4-1, at Grand Canyon on Sunday, on the strength of a Kei Kamara hat trick. Eddie Gaven notched the other goal. Columbus has won its first two formal exhibition matches, including a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake in the Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Match on Feb. 15. Overall, including scrimmages, the Black & Gold is 3-1-1 in the 2007 preseason and has won three straight.

The Crew will return to Columbus on Thursday and is scheduled to resume training on Monday (Feb. 26). It will train in town until March 8, before departing for Dallas and the Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup, which is scheduled for March 11 (see item below). Trips to southern California and North Carolina will follow. The Crew opens the 2007 MLS season at home on Saturday, April 7, against Claudio Reyna and the New York Red Bulls.

DANNY O'ROURKE KEEPING PRESEASON JOURNAL ON THECREW.COM

Crew midfielder Danny O'Rourke will be sharing his thoughts with fans periodically throughout preseason training with an on-line journal that will appear exclusively on TheCrew.com. O'Rourke's first installment, which chronicles the Florida leg of the preseason - including how he spent Valentine's Day - is on-line now here. O'Rourke, a Worthington native, is entering his third MLS season and first with his hometown team.

CREW'S TIM WARD GOES DISTANCE IN U.S. U-23 DRAW VS. JAPAN U-22s

Crew defender Tim Ward played the full 90 minutes as the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team earned a deserved 0-0 draw against the Japan U-22 National Team Wednesday (Feb. 21) in the Kirin Challenge Cup in Kumamoto, Japan. The more than 14,000 fans gathered at the KKWing Stadium witnessed the U.S. U-23s' first match under new head coach Bob Bradley. Goalkeeper Chris Seitz made several key saves throughout the contest on a crisp evening in Kumamoto and three other players from the squad that recently qualified for the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup turned in quality performances, with Ward and Nathan Sturgis anchoring the defense while Sal Zizzo helped ignite the U.S. attack in the second half. The U-23s will conclude their two-match tour on Friday night when they face local JFL side Rosso Kumamoto. Kickoff at KKWing Stadium is set for 7 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET). The players will depart Japan on Saturday morning and return to their respective clubs to resume training.

INAUGURAL LAMAR HUNT PIONEER CUP TO BE TELEVISED LIVE NATIONALLY ON FOX SOCCER CHANNEL

Fox Soccer Channel has become a presenting sponsor of the inaugural Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup and acquired the exclusive telecast rights to the March 11 charity game. It will broadcast the match live from Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, at 6:00 p.m. ET, as will Spanish sister network Fox Sports en Español, the largest Spanish-language all-sports cable network in the U.S., along with Fox Sports Latin America and Fox Sports Middle East/Africa. The Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup will pit the Crew and FC Dallas - the two MLS teams owned by Hunt Sports Group - against one another in a preseason exhibition. It was created in honor of Crew Founder Lamar Hunt, who passed away in December 2006 after a battle with cancer, and will serve as a fund-raiser for the teams' charitable foundations and their beneficiaries. For ticket or sponsorship information, please visit fcdallas.net or call the FC Dallas office at 888-323-4625.

UPCOMING CREW PRESEASON SCHEDULE

February

21 9 p.m. (ET) - Exhibition vs. Indios de Juarez (Mexico), at Grand Canyon University, Phoenix

22 Return to Columbus

23-25 OFF

26 Training

27 Training

28 Training

March

1 Training

2 Training

3 Training

4 Training

5 Training

6 Training

7 Training

8 Training

9 Depart for Dallas

10 Training

11 6 p.m. (ET) - vs. FC Dallas in Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup, Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas

12 Depart for California

Check out the Columbus Crew SC Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from February 21, 2007


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