COMMERCE CITY — On Saturday evening, Colorado Rapids veteran defender Drew Moor will put on his jersey. Across the aisle on the away bench, his former teammates will zip up their team jackets.
Moor is set to face off against four former Rapids, all of whom helped Colorado to its only MLS Cup triumph in 2010, as all four are now with Nashville SC (5-4-4, 19 points). Saturday will mark the first time the teams have played each other since Nashville joined MLS in 2020.
Former head coach Gary Smith now leads Nashville, and Steve Guppy, a key assistant on that 2010 team, is alongside him. Rapids fans will also recognize two staples of the 2010 team in Kosuke Kimura, who played for Colorado from 2007-12, and goalkeeper Matt Pickens, who made 114 appearances for Colorado from 2009-14. Both are now on Smith’s staff.
“First of all, I can’t wait to see ’em, I haven’t seen any of them in a while,” Moor said. “Those are guys I spent a lot of time with and have some very, very good memories with. Looking forward to catching up for a bit, but, of course, there’s a game to be won and it’s an important game.”
Smith, too, will be focused on the result.
“We go to Colorado in good shape and good health and looking forward to a real challenge somewhere I’ve not been for 11 or 12 years,” Smith said.
Nashville has dangerous players on the attack such as Hany Mukhtar, who has four goals and two assists in his past four games across all competitions. CJ Sapong has scored in two of his last three games against the Rapids.
“(Gary Smith’s) tactics haven’t changed a whole lot in terms of organization,” Moor said. “They’re going to try to be difficult to break down and we’ll have to be creative when we have the ball. … When you come in against an organized team, you have to be organized yourself because they can counter on you extremely well.”
Match time is 7 p.m. Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
