Revs seek revenge vs. Dynamo
MLS Cup rematch highlights First Kick weekend
Related
GILLETTE STADIUM, Foxborough, Mass.
March 29, 2008 | 7:30 p.m. ET (FSC/FSE)
WEEK # 1 | GAME # 3
MLS Cup Finalists for each of the past two seasons, the New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo kick off the season in a marquee matchup at Gillette Stadium. The Dynamo claimed last November's championship at RFK Stadium, becoming just the second team in MLS history to repeat at MLS Cup champions. The game is also a "SuperCup" of sorts, following the tradition in many countries where the champions and domestic cup holders face off to begin the campaign; the Revolution captured the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup last year, the club's first major honor.
REFEREE: Michael Kennedy. SAR (bench): George Gansner; JAR (opposite): Bill Dittmar; 4th: Mark Geiger
MLS Career: 93 games; FC/gm: 32.5; Y/gm: 4.0; R: 18; pens: 36
Games involving Revolution: P28 W9 L14 T5; FC/gm: 32.7; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 5; pens: 9
Games involving Dynamo: P2 W1 L0 T1; FC/gm: 38.5; Y/gm: 5.0; R: 2; pens: 0
INJURY REPORT: NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION - OUT: DF Joe Franchino (R hamstring strain); MF Wells Thompson (L heel bone spur) ... HOUSTON DYNAMO - OUT: MF Mike Chabala (L foot fracture); PROBABLE: DF Craig Waibel (R hamstring strain); MF Corey Ashe (L gluteus strain) INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: NE: MF Khano Smith (Bermuda; World Cup qualifying) SUSPENDED: HOU: Ricardo Clark (through April 6)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (4 meetings): Revolution 1 win, 6 goals ... Dynamo 0 wins, 5 goals ... Ties 3
IN FOXBOROUGH: (2 meetings): Revolution 0 wins, 4 goals ... Dynamo 0 wins, 4 goals ... Ties 2
• This is the first of two meetings between the MLS Cup Finalists from the last two seasons, the only one at Gillette Stadium. They will conclude their season series at Robertson Stadium on June 12.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
5/19: HOU 0, NE 1 (Joseph 9)
7/22: NE 3, HOU 3 (Noonan 32; Twellman 51; Joseph 66 - De Rosario 49; Ching 60, 61)
• The New England Revolution have never lost to the Houston Dynamo in regular season play. The teams played to a pair of draws in Houston's inaugural season, then the Revs won the first meeting between the teams last year, in Houston, before playing to another draw in their lone Foxborough encounter.
• However, the Dynamo did defeat the Revolution in the MLS Cup Final for the second consecutive season, coming back from an early deficit to claim a 2-1 victory at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. (Ngwenya 61, De Rosario 74 - Twellman 20). The year before, the teams played to a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes in MLS Cup 2006 at Pizza Hut Park, before the Dynamo prevailed on penalty kicks (Ching 114 - Twellman 113).
• Coaches record: Steve Nicol v HOU: P4 W1 L0 D3 ... Dominic Kinnear vs. NE: P9 W3 L1 D5
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution have reached the MLS Cup Final four times in the last six seasons, but still have yet to get over the hump, though they come into the 2008 season as holders of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the club's first major honor. Steve Nicol is the current dean of MLS coaches, having been in charge full-time since midway through the 2002 season when he guided the team to its first MLS Cup appearance.
• The Revolution concluded their preseason with a pair of friendlies in Louisiana against Honduran side CD Marathon. In the first, on March 14, the Revolution claimed a 4-0 victory in a 60-minute match, with goals from trialist Kheli Dube, Taylor Twellman and two from Khano Smith.
• The second game, played on a sub-standard field in New Orleans, saw Revolution coach Steve Nicol take the opportunity to get all his players a run-out and also make some tactical shifts. The Revolution played a 3-5-2 in the first 45 minutes and a 4-4-2 in the second, as the teams played to a scoreless draw.
• Nicol's first-half team: Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Chris Albright - Khano Smith, Jeff Larentowicz, Gary Flood, Wells Thompson, Steve Ralston - Kenny Mansally, Adam Cristman.
• Nicol's second-half team: Doug Warren - Amaechi Igwe, Sam Brill, Matthew Britner, Gary Flood - Mauricio Castro, Kyle Helton, Brandon Tyler, Sainey Nyassi - Kheli Dube, Adam Cristman
• "This was good for fitness," Nicol said to The Boston Globe. "We're strong and we're in good shape. We're fit. But I would have liked to have had better to finish [the preseason] with. We wanted to play football."
• Heading into the season opener, Nicol has some questions in his wide midfielders. Khano Smith will be with Bermuda for their World Cup qualifying match against the Cayman Islands, and Wells Thompson suffered a foot injury in the final preseason match.
• "Wells will be in a [protective] boot for two weeks and that could sort out the problem," Nicol said to the Globe. "If not, we'll move on from there. Ten days ago we had four [outside midfielders] and now we've got two."
• One of those two is Honduran international Mauricio Castro, who made his debut for the Revolution in the second game against Marathon. "There is a possibility he could play in the middle," Nicol said. "I know he has played there for the national team. When I saw him, he played wide and he did a good job out there. He has two good feet and that makes him flexible as to where he can play."
• The other wide midfielder is Sainey Nyassi, who joined the Revolution late last season but saw only eight minutes of time. "Sainey is an option but he's only 19 and he's got a bit of learning to do," Nicol said. "His forte is running at people and going at defenders and stuff, but there are other parts of the game he has to get better at. We don't want to put him in when he's not ready but, at the same, time, we always say you get experience by playing. We have to decide if the time's right or not."
• Of course, there is a third in Steve Ralston - but he slated to fill the playmaking role. "It's a transition for me," Ralston said. "I played 12 seasons as a right mid, so it's a little bit of a change. I have played there on occasion over the past couple of years, but I haven't played a full season there. I played it in college but that was a long time ago. It'll be different."
• In attack, the Revolution came into the preseason looking for a partner for Twellman, after Pat Noonan departed for Europe. Gambian Abdoulie "Kenny" Mansally appears to have the inside track on the spot heading into the opener. "We saw Kenny playing wide but we always felt he could play as a (central) forward," said assistant coach Paul Mariner. "He is very powerfully built and is very quick and strong. He's got a tremendous left foot and has a great eye for a finish -- he's very composed in the box for someone so young."
• But Kheli Dube impressed with his goals against Marathon, and Adam Cristman is also an option after scoring four goals in 28 games (14 as a starter) in his rookie season last year.
• "What we have to remember is that Taylor played with Pat Noonan for so long and they were almost telepathic," said Mariner. "To try and make an instant impact as a front two is difficult. It takes time for most partnerships. It's an adjustment for Kenny and for Taylor as they get to know each other."
HOUSTON DYNAMO
What was a dream first season in Houston for the Dynamo became even better last year, as the club became the first since D.C. United in the first two years of MLS history to repeat as MLS Cup champions. Dominic Kinnear is in his third season in charge of the Orange and fifth overall in MLS, having held the reins of the San Jose Earthquakes for two seasons before the club left for south Texas.
• The Dynamo began their 2008 campaign in good form, advancing out of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory on aggregate against CSD Municipal of Guatemala. After a scoreless draw in Guatemala City, Dynamo opened up the tie after the break in the second leg, getting goals from Dwayne De Rosario (47, 69 pen) and Chris Wondolowski (75) for the victory at Robertson Stadium.
• "Dwayne got us off to great start in the second half with persistence on the first goal," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. "We gave them a lot of pressure and created crosses, especially off the corner kicks. We played just a tiny bit better and got sharper in the second half."
• Here's Kinnear's team: Pat Onstad - Craig Waibel, Bobby Boswell, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett; Richard Mulrooney, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario (Brian Mullan 77), Corey Ashe; Brian Ching, Chris Wondolowski (Franco Caraccio 75)
• After winning a second consecutive MLS Cup, Dynamo had to deal with a few losses in the offseason. Strikers Nate Jaqua and Joseph Ngwenya both moved to Europe, while defender Ryan Cochrane went to the San Jose Earthquakes in the expansion draft.
• As the preseason has continued, Chris Wondolowski has moved into a starting role as Brian Ching's strike partner. The club also moved to fill the hole by signing 21-year-old striker Franco Caraccio, last with Arsenal de Sarandí of Argentina's Primera Division. Caraccio also played with Argentina's under-20 national team.
• Over the preseason, first-choice wide midfielders Brad Davis and Brian Mullan have been overcoming hamstring and knee issues respectively. Davis did not figure in either Champions' Cup match; Mullan came on as a late substitute in each. In addition, Stuart Holden was not available while away with the U.S. under-23 national team.
• In both matches, Corey Ashe and Richard Mulrooney played as the wide midfielders, and worked to improve their service from the flanks. "We'll be looking to getting a little bit more balls into the box," said Ching. "... That's something that I need to do better, getting other opportunities if I'm not getting balls from wide."
• Ricardo Clark will miss the first two games of the MLS regular season, finishing out the nine-game suspension he received for an incident in the match against FC Dallas last Sept. 30. Clark missed the final three games in the 2007 regular season, and the four matches in the Dynamo's run through the MLS Cup Playoffs.
• Ching and Clark were both called into the U.S. national team for Wednesday's friendly against Poland, along with Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) the only MLS-based players brought into Bob Bradley's team. Ching played just more than an hour in the USA's 3-0 victory, while Clark played the entire 90 minutes.
• The Dynamo will take on Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The Orange will host the first match at Robertson Stadium on April 2, playing the return match in San Jose on April 9.
