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O’Brien loaned to Austin Aztex
The Colorado Rapids have loaned midfielder Ciaran O’Brien to the Austin Aztex for the remainder of the 2009 season, the club announced.
O’Brien joins the USL First Division side, and he will be available for its game Saturday night against the Charleston Battery.
“I think this is a wonderful opportunity for him to get games, to further his development and really to play in what is most important — in front of a crowd and for points,” Rapids coach Gary Smith told the Rapids Undercurrent.
This is the second loan stint for O’Brien in two seasons. Last year, he was loaned to the USL’s Seattle Sounders from July 28 through Sept. 5.
O’Brien was drafted fifth overall by Colorado in 2008 and has appeared in one Major League Soccer match.
RSL ATTENDANCE DOWN: The Salt Lake Tribune reports that attendance is way down for Real Salt Lake games this season — lowest in its history — even though the team is playing its first full season in a gleaming new $110 million stadium. But team officials are not panicking, because they say the decline is mostly the result of bad weather early in the season. Their theory will be tested against the Rapids this weekend, when RSL plays its first home game in three weeks while riding a six-game winless streak that has dropped the team into sixth place in the Western Conference. Read the whole story, where team officials predict that Saturday’s game will be the highest-grossing regular-season game in team history, here.
SHORT-HANDED: Captain Pablo Mastroeni and leading scorer Conor Casey will be absent on Saturday because of national-team duties, but RSL will be without midfielders Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman, each of whom picked up yellow cards during RSL’s 2-1 loss at San Jose on Saturday night.
CUMMINGS AN ASSIST MACHINE: Nick Thomas of WeWantRapidman tells MLSNet.com all about Rapids striker Omar Cummings’ playmaking abilities. Read that story here. Then head on over to WeWantRapidman to read what Smith is doing about the possibility of Conor Casey being called up to the U.S. national team the same time Jamaica calls up Omar Cummings.
REACTION TO A REACTION: This one’s a little late, but Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer didn’t like Gary Smith’s criticisms of the U.S. Open Cup. Read the seattlepi.com story here, and make sure to read the enlightened comments that follow.
BOUNA TIME? View from the Couch speculates on former Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul possibly joining the Philadelphia Union. Read about it, and other lively topics, here.
RAPIDS HOLD OPEN TRYOUTS: The Colorado Rapids have announced the club’s open tryouts will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 25-26 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids are inviting any interested players to be scouted by the Rapids to potentially join the team. Prospective players should be male, be no older than 25 years of age and have extensive collegiate or professional experience. Many more details here.
WORST SOCCER MOVIES EVER: I’m still soliciting suggestions for the worst soccer movies of all time. I watched “Kicking and Screaming” the other day, and it was terrible. Let me know what you think. Just send an e-mail to ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.
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