There never is a good time to go flying without your captain, but the Rapids seem ready.
Pablo Mastroeni joins the U.S. national team’s training camp ahead of the World Cup tournament and probably won’t play again until July for the Rapids, who play their next three games on the road, starting Saturday against Columbus (2-3-1).
On the heels of a 2-1 win over D.C. United, the Rapids will find out if they can replicate some strong individual performances against a Crew team fresh off a 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake.
The pressure falls on defender Aitor Karanka to solidify the defense with Mike Petke and Kyle Beckerman to fill Mastroeni’s defensive midfield position, and on striker Nicolas Hernandez to keep scoring after he nailed his first goal in Major League Soccer to down United.
Hernandez said he was feeling anxious before his debut goal. Coach Fernando Clavijo said Hernandez’s strike shows his two-way abilities.
“As a third striker, he made sure Freddy (Adu) was not going to go forward and chase a lot of people,” Clavijo said. “That’s something (former striker) Jeff Cunningham would never do.”
Karanka had a smooth debut Saturday against United. Although not extremely fast, Karanka was positioned well, cleared balls with purpose to the midfield and afterward praised his team and home crowd.
So what did the former Real Madrid player think of America’s version of the world’s game?
“When the team wins, you don’t look at the details,” he said.
From the commish
Commissioner Don Garber said MLS is in talks with the Rapids to secure the All-Star Game or MLS Cup Final next season at the club’s new soccer-specific stadium. Garber also said last week the league’s financial status remains strong despite recent expansion and should increase with a new television contract. After Toronto enters the league in 2007, a team will be added in Cleveland or St. Louis, Garber said.
Fighting back
The Rapids are 2-2-1 this season despite giving up the first goal in each game. Those numbers show a slight improvement from last year, when the Rapids went 4-12-2 when scored on first.
Adu factor
The appearance of Adu and United provided a boost to the Rapids’ home attendance.
Saturday’s game drew 18,225, better than the 17,044 the Rapids drew in Adu’s previous visit to Invesco Field at Mile High and well above the 9,170 the Rapids averaged in their first three home games this season.
Footnotes
Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching was named MLS player of the month after scoring six goals – five against the Rapids – in five games in April. … Alexi Lalas, former U.S. national team icon and current general manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy, will enter the National Soccer Hall of Fame this year along with women’s team standout Carla Overbeck. … Real Salt Lake’s dream of a soccer-specific stadium took a hit last week when Salt Lake County denied the Utah team public money it was hoping to receive from a hotel tax. Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts said the club privately has raised about $90 million for the venue, which will cost an estimated $145 million.
