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MLS New England Revolution

Revolution Earn Draw against Shanghai Shenhua F.C. in 2019 Preseason Opener

January 31, 2019 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


Tajon Buchanan (center) and Edgar Castillo (rear) of the New England Revolution vs. Shanghai Shenhua
Tajon Buchanan (center) and Edgar Castillo (rear) of the New England Revolution vs. Shanghai Shenhua
(New England Revolution, Credit: New England Revolution)

MARBELLA, Spain - The New England Revolution played Chinese Super League side Shanghai Greenland Shenhua F.C. to a draw, 0-0, on Thursday in the club's 2019 preseason opener in Marbella, Spain. Goalkeepers Brad Knighton and Matt Turner combined on the shutout, as Head Coach Brad Friedel deployed a total of 22 players for their first game action of preseason.

Five players made their professional or Revolution debuts in the match: Academy product Justin Rennicks, offseason acquisitions Edgar Castillo and Juan Fernando Caicedo, and 2019 MLS SuperDraft first-round selections DeJuan Jones and Tajon Buchanan. In addition, Revolution Academy defender Tyler Freitas (North Attleborough, Mass. -- 2000) played 45 minutes at right back in the first half.

Forward Cristian Penilla produced a pair of dangerous chances for New England in the first half. In the 23rd minute, his right-footed shot took a deflection and curled over the bar, and a low drive in the 28th minute was saved. Knighton kept Shanghai off the scoreboard just before halftime with a diving save to his right on a long-range effort.

In the second frame, Teal Bunbury and Juan Fernando Caicedo led the attack and combined for a pair of quality chances in the 49th and 53rd minutes, respectively. Turner preserved the shutout with a crucial kick save in the 84th minute, before the Revs nearly bagged a winner in the final moments as Tajon Buchanan fired a curling shot, but Shanghai Shenhua's goalkeeper forced the attempt off the crossbar.

New England returns to the pitch tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 1 at 9:00 a.m. ET, for a match against FC Viktoria Plze? of the Czech First League. Viktoria, champions of the Czech Republic's top division in 2017-18, recently finished third in Group G in UEFA Champions League and will begin play in the Europa League Round of 16 in February.

New England Revolution 0, Shanghai Shenhua FC 0

January 31, 2019 - La Quinta Fields (Marbella, Spain)

Scoring Summary:

None

Misconduct Summary:

Shanghai - Xiaoming Li (Yellow Card) 72'

New England Revolution (1st Half): Brad Knighton; Gabriel Somi, Jalil Anibaba, Andrew Farrell, Tyler Freitas; Cristian Penilla, Scott Caldwell ©, Wilfried Zahibo, DeJuan Jones; Diego Fagundez, Brian Wright

New England Revolution (2nd Half): Matt Turner; Edgar Castillo, Antonio Delamea, Michael Mancienne ©, Brandon Bye; Tajon Buchanan, Isaac Angking, Zachary Herivaux, Justin Rennicks; Teal Bunbury, Juan Fernando Caicedo

POSTGAME QUOTES

New England Revolution Head Coach Brad Friedel

On the first preseason match:

Coach Friedel: "I thought it was good. They're on their fifth game of preseason, that's our first, so they were ahead of us on fitness, but I think we looked probably the stronger of the two teams, definitely at the end of the second half. It was good. Just as I said, the first two days are going to be a mix. We're just going to try to open it up and have some competition, and some pleasing signs."

On if the first few preseason games are about implementing tactics such as pressing:

Coach Friedel: "Pressing's only a small part of our team. We work on both sides of the ball. We probably work with the ball more than pressing, so I think we need to stop with all the pressing talk. The new players, I think what's really important is they have to understand that if they make mistakes, we don't care about the mistakes. We just want them to learn from the mistakes. We want the players to be able to do what they're good at and express themselves in the areas of the field that are right. It'll just be a learning process for them, but they have the full confidence of the staff and we're here to help them."

On SuperDraft selections Tajon Buchanan and DeJuan Jones:

Coach Friedel: "It's the first time for Tajon [Buchanan] and DeJuan [Jones], especially, playing against that level of competition, so it was really good for them to each get 45 minutes under their belt. I think both of them are going to be able to learn rapidly. They have a lot of really good tools and it's going to be a big learning process, but again, the staff are here to help them through it. They both should have an opportunity to help the team."

On Edgar Castillo:

Coach Friedel: "He's a seasoned pro. Very good. It's taken him zero minutes to get acclimatized to the group. A wonderful addition to the team."

New England Revolution Midfielder Scott Caldwell

On the first preseason match:

Caldwell: "It's always good to get out there and play someone different than yourselves with the competition in practice. Overall I think there were some good things to take and some bad things. We'll work on those things and continue to improve as we go through preseason, but overall, not a bad showing."

On taking tactics from training into a match:

Caldwell: "It's definitely huge to get what we've been working on in training on both sides of the ball kind of incorporated into our game system. I think we did a good job of that. There's definitely, like I said, there's things that we'll review and look after and try to improve tomorrow. It'll be a quick turnaround, but it's great to play these games."

On several new players seeing their first action:

Caldwell: "They all did well. They settled in. Justin [Rennicks] had a few very, very good moments. I think as they continue to get more comfortable, they'll do better and better. It's good to see them grow here and get incorporated with the team. I think everyone did well today and we're happy to move on to tomorrow [against FC Viktoria Plze?]."

On building off of this first match:

Caldwell: "Coach [Friedel] will tell us what to expect a little bit, what to work on. We'll each try to improve our game from today. It's a long preseason, a long season that we'll have to continue to improve each and every day. You've got to show the consistency. That's something that we've got to all continue to work on."

New England Revolution Defender Edgar Castillo

On the team getting its first game action of preseason:

Castillo: "It feels good to get active, getting 45 minutes in on the field with the boys. My first 45 minutes and I felt pretty good."

On the competition within the group:

Castillo: "It's big, because coach is still looking for the starting 11 and we're looking for spots in the starting eleven, so it's good to be on the field and do your best. It's up to the coach to put together the starting 11."

On adapting to the coaching staff's system:

Castillo: "It's very important, learning the system of a new team and getting adapted to that. I feel good and we'll go game by game."

On playing again tomorrow against FC Viktoria Plze?:

Castillo: "It's good having games the next day, the next day. That's going to give us more rhythm in preseason, and like I said, it's good to get on the field."

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Images from this story

Tajon Buchanan (center) and Edgar Castillo (rear) of the New England Revolution vs. Shanghai Shenhua
Tajon Buchanan (center) and Edgar Castillo (rear) of the New England Revolution vs. Shanghai Shenhua
(New England Revolution)		   

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