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Injury puts a scare into scoreless draw against Club America
Rapids striker Omar Cummings has the ball poked away in the second half Wednesday night against Club America. (photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
Rapids coach Gary Smith said Wednesday’s exhibition against Club America at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was a good opportunity for some members of the squad to get playing time against a quality opponent.
It almost was a disaster for one of Colorado’s starters.
Central defender Julien Baudet, the club’s latest big-name signing, left the scoreless draw with a leg injury in the 52nd minute that had the Rapids’ front office on the edge of its seat.
Baudet said after the match, however, that it was a simple hamstring cramp and that he expects to travel and play on Saturday when the Rapids face D.C. United on the road.
“This is my first game in nearly three months. We played a friendly last week against a college team, but that wasn’t anything like this,” Baudet said. “Hopefully it’ll settle pretty quick and I’ll be OK for the weekend.”
Baudet said Smith had told him to expect to play 60 or 65 minutes on Wednesday. The hamstring had its own opinion of that arrangement.
“I could feel it coming, and I felt like, ‘It’s going to go away; it’s going to go away.’ And then it’s not going away,” Baudet said. “It must’ve just seized up. I don’t know if it was the altitude or the heat. My last game was the Second of May back in Dublin, so it has been a long wait.”
Against Club America, Baudet looked strong. He played central defense with Ty Harden; Cory Gibbs was positioned wide left, and Rob Valentino played right back.
Baudet showed he will be a physical presence on defense, muscling Enrique Esqueda off the ball and off his feet in the 14th minute and completely blowing up Esqueda in the 24th.
Baudet showed his mobility by moving far left to cover Esqueda when the Club America striker moved toward the sideline, and Baudet even chased Esqueda the whole way to the center circle once. Esqueda was significantly faster than Baudet, but the visitors could not find a way to exploit that advantage.
Baudet was an offensive option when the Rapids had a corner kick, and he directed traffic in his own third of the field.
“That’s the first thing you need to try to do when you arrive at a new club: try to jell with everybody at the club, get to know each other as quickly as possible,” Baudet said. “Especially when you’re center back … communication is vital.”
The communication, even with the populist approach to the defense, worked on Wednesday as the Rapids held the Mexican team scoreless. Both coaches used liberal substitutions in the friendly, and the Rapids employed six players on defense. Plus, outside backs Jordan Harvey and Kosuke Kimura entered the game and played in midfield.
Club America, however, did have the best scoring chance. In the 66th minute, Esqueda and Salvador Cabanas worked a pretty give-and-go that left Cabanas with only goalkeeper Preston Burpo to beat. Burpo made himself a large target as he slid in to take away the lower portion of the goal, and Cabanas fired his shot over the crossbar.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Burpo was announced as the game’s best player after the match, but I’ll pick Valentino. He set up Terry Cooke with a nice long pass in the 19th minute (Cooke’s shot curled wide of the target). Valentino took a long hard shot at goalkeeper Armando Navarrete in the 73rd minute. And Valentino’s header off a free kick in extra time might have been the Rapids’ best chance to score. Valentino, who said his normal position is center back, looked comfortable on the right side. “I thought, together, the back four played pretty well. I would’ve liked to get a result there, but that’s the way soccer goes,” he said. “As long as I’m on the field I’m happy. Once you get on the field, it’s just playing, pass the ball, movement. We’re in training every day, and we’re used to each other.”
SAVE OF THE MATCH: Burpo on Cabanas late in the first half. Harden looked like he wanted a piggyback ride from Cabanas, then all of a sudden the striker spun and was behind the defender. Cabanas had the whole net to look at, and Burpo stopped him cold.
11 ON 10: Referee Mark Geiger ejected Ricardo Rojas in the 29th minute for a hard challenge against Gibbs, and the Rapids played the rest of the match with a man advantage. Club America looked listless after the ejection. Had both teams been limited to three subs, the visitors would’ve worn down in the second half.
OMAR IN THE HOUSE: Rapids striker Omar Cummings entered the game for Ross Schunk in the 72nd minute. Cummings had been competing in the Gold Cup, where he scored one goal in three games for Jamaica. The Reggae Boyz finished with one win and two losses and were eliminated in the pool stage.
IN PABLO’S ABSENCE: Terry Cooke wore the captain’s armband.
FORMATION CHANGE: After going with a 4-3-3 against Dallas on Saturday, Colorado used a 4-4-2, with Pat Noonan and Schunk up top.
SEEN AT THE GAME: Former Platense striker Facundo Diz was warming up on the pitch before Wednesday’s match. He has accepted the Rapids’ offer to join the team, and he and the Rapids are waiting on paperwork before he can play. Also on the bench: Scottish forward Jamie Smith.
ATTENDANCE ISSUES: The official attendance was 10,492. The crowd was larger than Saturday’s audience for the Rapids’ 1-0 victory over FC Dallas. And there was a huge cheer Wednesday for the Mexican national anthem. The north stands were packed. Most in the stands wore Club America’s yellow.
WINNING THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE POPULATION: The Rapids’ mascots tossed a case of T-shirts to the fans at the stadium. Smart move.
THIRD JERSEYS: The Rapids dusted off their third jerseys: white tops, maroon shorts, white socks. The kits have highlights of what the team calls Arsenal red.
RAPIDS STARTERS: Burpo, Valentino, Baudet, Harden, Gibbs, Cooke, Dalby, Ballouchy, Peterson, Noonan, Schunk.
RAPIDS’ LINEUP AT THE END OF THE GAME: Burpo, Valentino, Ihemelu, Harden, Palguta, Kimura, Harvey, Dalby, Cooke, Noonan, Cummings.
CLUB AMERICA STARTERS: Armando Navarrete, Oscar Rojas, Ricardo Rojas, Aquivaldo Mosquera, Guillermo Cerda, Joaquin Martinez, Pavel Pardo, Angel Reyna, Salvador Cabanas, Enrique Esqueda, Bease Jour Jean.
ALL-STAR NOTES: Real Salt Lake midfielders Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman have been named to the MLS All-Star Team. Also, the league announced that Chicago’s Cuauhtemoc Blanco will replace Toronto FC’s Dwayne De Rosario at the MLS All-Star Game because Toronto will be competing in a CONCACAF Champions League preliminary match against the Puerto Rico Islanders the same day.
ON SATURDAY: Real Salt Lake defeated Club America 1-0 in Utah.
Gibbs was captain until he came off late first half.
It’s a shame the Rapids have not been able to pull out more people to games, even a friendly. This is a quality team and are fun to watch. I’m not sure what more the organization needs to do.
America = Rapids
America>AC Milan
Rapids>AC Milan
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Becca Mays Colin Clark Colorado Force Colorado Rapids Colorado School of Mines Conor Casey Cory Gibbs Dick's Sporting Goods Park Fort Lewis College Gary Smith Jacob Peterson Jordan Harvey Julien Baudet Kosuke Kimura Landon Donovan Major League Soccer Matt Pickens Mehdi Ballouchy Metro State Nick LaBrocca Nikki Marshall Omar Cummings Pablo Mastroeni Preston Burpo Real Salt Lake Regis University Scott Palguta Seattle Sounders University of Colorado University of DenverAbout ColoradoSoccerNow
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About Tom: Tom Auclair remembers watching the New England Tea Men when he was younger and thinking what a terrible name that was for a sports team. He has worked for the Rocky Mountain News, Longmont Daily Times-Call and several newspapers in New Hampshire. He's currently working as an editor and photographer for a collection of Web sites. He can't believe how quick Omar Cummings is.
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