FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution are less than two weeks away from opening preseason ahead of the club’s 20th season of play in Major League Soccer. The Revolution coaching and technical staff is currently in Florida at the MLS Combine and will travel north to Philadelphia for the MLS SuperDraft later this week.

The first two rounds of the SuperDraft will be held on Thursday, Jan. 15 at the Philadelphia Convention Center while the final two rounds will be held via conference call on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The Revs currently have one selection on each day, holding the 33rd overall pick in the second round of the draft and the 47th overall selection in the third round.

Players will report to Gillette Stadium for the entrance physicals on Thursday, Jan. 22 before taking part in their first training session of the year on Friday, Jan. 23, at Gillette Stadium. The team will depart for Casa Grande, Arizona on Monday, Jan. 26 for the start of a 10-day training camp before returning to Massachusetts early next month. New England will open the 2015 MLS season on Sunday, March 8 against Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field. That game will be shown nationally on FOX Sports 1 starting at 9:30 p.m. ET.

TEAM NOTES

SuperDraft begins on Thursday
After making four picks in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, the Revolution enter this week’s 2015 SuperDraft with two picks. New England currently holds one second-round pick and one third-round pick in the four round, 82 pick draft. The Revs acquired their second round pick (33rd overall) in December 2012 as part of the trade that sent Benny Feilhaber to Sporting Kansas City. The club acquired a third-round pick (47th overall) from Colorado last month in a trade between the two clubs ahead of the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft.

All four of the Revs natural SuperDraft selections were traded prior to the draft. The club’s first round pick was sent to Sporting Kansas City in February as part of the trade that brought Teal Bunbury to the Revs, their second round selection was sent to the Colorado Rapids as part of a trade last month that brought the Rapids’ third round selection this year to New England. The Revs’ third round pick was traded to Vancouver in December 2013 in exchange for goalkeeper Brad Knighton while their fourth round pick was sent to Toronto FC last month as part of the trade that brought midfielder Jeremy Hall to the Revs.

Looking back at recent drafts
The 2015 MLS SuperDraft will be the Revs’ fourth under the direction of head coach Jay Heaps. Named the club’s head coach in November 2011, Heaps has made 18 selections in previous drafts, including four previous picks in the first round of the SuperDraft. Of those 18 selections, which are listed below, eight were on the Revolution roster at the end of the 2014 season.

Fagundez and Uruguay U-20’s open South American Youth Championship on Thursday
Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez is one of 23 players included on Uruguay’s roster for the 2015 South American Youth Championship. Fagundez, who became the first Homegrown player in Revolution history when he signed with the club in November 2010, had been training with the U-20s since late December before officially being named to head coach Fabian Coito’s final squad. He scored two goals and added two assists during a series of scrimmages against local clubs last month in Montevideo prior to the final roster being announced.

The tournament, which will be hosted by Uruguay, begins on Wednesday and culminates on Saturday, Feb. 7. The top four teams in the tournament will qualify for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, while the competition will also serve as South American qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Fagundez and Uruguay will open the competition against reigning tournament champion Colombia (January 15) before facing Brazil (January 17), Chile (January 21) and Venezuela (January 23). All four of those games will be played Estadio Domingo Burgueno in Maldonado, Uruguay. The top three teams in each of the tournament’s two groups will advance to the final round of the competition, meaning that the 19-year-old could play as many as nine games for his country before joining his Revolution teammates for preseason training.

Two Revolution players included on U.S. National Team roster
Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen are currently in Southern California training with the U.S. National Team for the annual January training camp at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. Jones and Nguyen, who have 48 and four caps respectively, are two of 28 players that are currently training with U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann ahead of upcoming friendlies; on the road against Chile on Wednesday, January 28 and then at StubHub Center against Panama on Sunday, February 8.

Both players are scheduled to join the club for preseason training at the conclusion of National Team camp.

2014 Preseason plans
The Revolution will hold their first training session of 2015 on Friday, Jan. 23, at Gillette Stadium. That will be the first of three sessions that the club hosts in Foxborough before departing for a 10-day training camp in Casa Grande, Ariz. that runs from January 26-February 6. In that time, the Revs will play a pair of games, facing Real Salt Lake on Saturday, January 31 at Grande Sports Complex in Casa Grande and Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Wednesday, February 4 at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson. The team will return to Massachusetts for a week of training between February 7-15 before returning to Arizona for the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson. In that tournament, which runs from February18-28, the Revs will face the Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake and Seattle Sounders FC as well as one other club. The Revs complete preseason schedule can be found here.

Desert Diamond Cup tickets on sale
Tickets for the 2015 FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup hosted by FC Tucson (USL PDL) are on sale now. The Revs are participating in the competition for the fourth consecutive and will be looking for a fourth straight top-four finish, having finished second in 2012, third in 2013 and fourth last year. Tickets, which start at $18 for each day of the tournament, are on sale now at FCTucson.com.