Crew host Red Bulls in Season Opener

From MLSNET.COM
COLUMBUS CREW v NEW YORK RED BULLS
COLUMBUS CREW STADIUM, Columbus, Ohio
7:00 p.m. ET (HDNet; ClbSN; MSG2)
April 7, 2007 (WEEK 1) / MLS Game #3

A pair of Eastern Conference clubs looking to move into the upper echelon of the division face off in their 2007 season opener. The Columbus Crew, just two years removed from a Supporters' Shield-winning campaign, are looking to return to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2004. The New York Red Bulls have Bruce Arena at the helm from the outset this year, a season ago once again reaching the postseason thanks to a near-miraculous final day victory and then pushing D.C. United to the limit before going down to defeat.

REFEREE: Kevin Stott. SAR (bench): Rob Fereday; JAR (opposite): Adam Wienckowski; 4th: Andrew Chapin
MLS Career: 129 games; FC/gm: 26.7; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 36; pens: 27
Games involving Crew: P17 W9 L8 T0; FC/gm: 26.3; Y/gm: 3.0; R: 4; pens: 2
Games involving Red Bulls: P29 W8 L18 T3; FC/gm: 27.2; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 11; pens: 6

INJURY REPORT: COLUMBUS CREW - OUT: DF Jed Zayner (L knee ACL reconstruction); GK Will Hesmer (R Hamstring strain); DOUBTFUL: DF Chad Marshall (concussion); MF Stefani Miglioranzi (L groin strain); MF Danny Szetela (R groin strain) ... NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: MF Blake Camp (R ankle sprain); DF Taylor Graham (R hamstring strain); FW Mike Magee (R knee surgery recovery); PROBABLE: MF Markus Schopp (L groin/hip strain)

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (40 meetings): Crew 18 wins (0 shootout), 50 goals ... Red Bulls 18 wins (0 shootout), 55 goals ... Draws 4
IN COLUMBUS: (20 meetings): Crew 10 wins (1 shootout), 29 goals ... Red Bulls 9 wins (0 shootout), 32 goals ... Draws 1
# This is the first of three meetings between the two teams this season, the first of two at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. They next meet on May 19 at the Meadowlands, before concluding their league season set on June 30 at Crew Stadium.

LAST YEAR (MLS):
6/28: NY 0, CLB 0
7/19: CLB 0, NY 2 (Henderson 50; Laventure 90)
8/19: CLB 1, NY 0 (Ngwenya 82)
9/16: NY 1, CLB 0 (Altidore 83)

# A year ago, the Red Bulls claimed the season series, winning two of the four matchups with one draw.
# The Crew haven't won the season series between the club since 2001, when they captured both meetings that season. In the five seasons since, the teams have evenly split their league encounters twice.
# Since Crew Stadium opened in 1999, the Red Bulls/MetroStars have won at least one game in Ohio in each season, except for the 2001 campaign, when they lost on their only visit to Black & Gold Boulevard.
# Bruce Arena has yet to win at Crew Stadium at an MLS coach. His first-ever league match came last Aug. 19, a 1-0 Crew win, in his second game as Red Bulls boss. In his first three years in the league, with D.C. United, his teams faced the Crew at Ohio Stadium, where he won twice in six regular season trips (one by shootout).
# Coaches record: Sigi Schmid vs. NY: P18 W6 L9 D3 ... Bruce Arena v CLB: P14 W9 L5 D0

COLUMBUS CREW
After posting the best record in the league in 2004, the Columbus Crew have posted a pair of sixth-place finishes in the Eastern Conference over the last two seasons, now failing to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs in three of the last four years. Sigi Schmid is in his second season in charge of the Black & Gold, with the hope he'll be able to count on a full, healthy squad this season.

# The Crew concluded their preseason with a scoreless draw against the Kansas City Wizards on March 31 in Winston Salem, N.C. Andy Gruenebaum had a shutout for the Crew in a game that saw Columbus have the better of the play in the first half.
# Here Sigi Schmid's team on the night: Andy Gruenebaum, Marcos Gonzalez, Ezra Hendrickson, Rusty Pierce, Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Gaven (Robbie Rogers 74), Ned Grabavoy, Danny O'Rourke, Jacob Thomas (Joseph Ngwenya 46), Jason Garey, Andy Herron (Brad Evans 65)
# The Crew ended the preseason with just one loss in 13 matches - that coming to D.C. United in their preseason opener on Feb. 11. Four victories came against MLS competition, as well as all three draws over the course of the preseason, ending with the tie with the Wizards.
# "We have instilled the mindset that winning is a habit and losing is one as well this preseason," Schmid said to The Sports Network. "We have won (nine) preseason games with only one loss so if we can keep some semblance of that I will be very happy."
# Schmid has said he has great hopes for the Crew not only getting back to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in three years, but also moving well up in the Eastern Conference table, because unlike his first season with the club, the core group of players have been together now and also remained injury-free.
# "Virtuoso is now back for a whole season," Schmid said to The Sports Network. "He joined us in midseason (last year) and wasn't really healthy until the last five games. Having Ngwenya here from day one instead of coming in at midseason and having Thomas healthy from the outset will also be a big help. He had to come from playing a European season last year straight into our season and never really got healthy. Eddie Gaven is also here now in preseason instead of joining us right before the season."
# Schmid's major offseason acquisitions were obtaining striker Andy Herron from the Chicago Fire, and Danny O'Rourke, after he was selected in the expansion draft. Schmid expects O'Rourke's ball-winning abilities in midfield to be vital to the Crew fortunes.
# "Ned Grabavoy and Duncan Oughton are here from day one (also)," said Schmid. "Improved play from the middle of the midfield, doing a better job of controlling the tempo of the game and improved offensive production are some things we need to establish."
# Ngwenya came into the final preseason match as a halftime substitute after missing several days following a first-ever call into the Zimbabwe national team. Ngwenya earned his first full cap in a 1-1 draw with Morocco in an African Nations Cup qualifier March 25 in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare.

NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls have qualified for the postseason six of the last seven seasons, but just once in club history have they gotten past the first hurdle, in 2000, when they also finished first in the Eastern Division. Bruce Arena has given the club a real makeover, his biggest addition Claudio Reyna, who served as his captain for nearly the entirety of Arena's eight years in charge of the U.S. national team.

# The Red Bulls concluded their preseason with a week in Charleston, S.C. playing in the Carolina Challenge Cup, falling 2-1 to Houston Dynamo on March 31 in the tournament finale.
# Dave van den Bergh put the Red Bulls ahead after just six minutes when he slammed home a loose ball bouncing in the penalty area, but Brian Ching leveled the score in the 70th minute from a perfectly placed Brad Davis cross, the Alejandro Moreno back-heeled home a Dwayne De Rosario pass 10 minutes later to give the Orange the victory.
# Clint Mathis made his return for the Red Bulls in the match, coming on at halftime, barely 24 hours after he was acquired from the Colorado Rapids.
# Dema Kovalenko was sent off late in the first half after receiving a pair of bookings within four minutes, but the Red Bulls returned to 11 men at the start of the second half, playing a man down for just the final three minutes of the first.
# Here's Bruce Arena's team: Ronald Waterreus - Marvell Wynne, Seth Stammler, Carlos Mendes (Hunter Freeman 68), Todd Dunivant - Dane Richards, Dema Kovalenko (Jeff Parke 46), Claudio Reyna, Dave van den Bergh (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 81) - John Wolyniec (Clint Mathis 46), Jozy Altidore.
# The Red Bulls opened the tournament with a 1-0 victory against host Charleston Battery of the USL First Division (second tier), falling to Toronto FC 2-1 in their second game.
# Arena will have some injury decisions to make for the season opener. Markus Schopp is listed as probable after missing much of the preseason to hip and groin injuries. While the former Austrian international is not likely to start, he should play. Dane Richards could start in his place in a wide midfield role.
# Central defender Taylor Graham is out for the Columbus match, while Jeff Parke has also missed out on a large part of the preseason with a hamstring injury. Parke played the second half of the final match in Charleston.
# The addition of Mathis gives Arena another piece to insert what has been a five-man midfield for much of the preseason. Van den Bergh and Schopp are expected to fill wide roles, while Reyna and Kovalenko play centrally, with Mathis possibly also fitting into that scheme. Jozy Altidore or John Wolyniec are slotted in as the lone striker.
# "The one strength of the team is our midfield with Kovalenko, Schopp, Stammler, van den Bergh and me," Reyna said to SI.com. "All of us can create and get a few goals from the midfield. It's up to the forwards to get the goals when they get the chances, but our system is working well and it it's a good one when you have the players who have the understanding to play it.
# Obtaining Mathis for a couple of draft picks caused some surprise around the league, but his return to New York and reunion with Arena could provide a real fresh start.
# "We know the qualities that Clint has as an attacking player. He can score goals, he can set up goals, he can shoot from distance, he's creative, he's a good passer. There's a lot of good things that he has," Arena said. "We're hopeful that in our environment and with him bringing the right attitude, he's going to be a player who can recapture some of these qualities and help make the New York Red Bulls better."
# Said Mathis: "I know I've been written off in the last couple of years, but hopefully I get the confidence back and the will to play like I did while I was here with the MetroStars. I'm looking forward to it, I'm going to a new organization, and it reunites me with a coach here in New York who is a familiar face with me.