FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution will hold their first training session ahead of the start of the club’s 20th season of play on Friday, January 23. The team will train inside the Dana-Farber Field House at Gillette Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Monday before departing for Casa Grande, Ariz. for the start of a 10-day training camp on Monday, January 26.
Friday’s training session will begin at 3 p.m. with media availability at the beginning of training. Monday’s session, which begins at 11 a.m., will also have media availability expected at 11 a.m.
Revolution players will report to Gillette Stadium for entrance physicals tomorrow before taking part in their first training session of the year on Friday. In addition to the upcoming camp in Casa Grande, Ariz., the Revs will also spend two weeks training in Tucson, Ariz. next month as part of the Desert Diamond Cup. The club 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.
Revs draft Fenelus in 2015 MLS SuperDraft
The Revolution yesterday selected Cal State-Fullerton forward Marc Fenelus in the third round (47th overall) of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. A member of the Turks and Caicos National Team, Fenelus was the Revs’ lone selection of the four-round SuperDraft, which began on Thursday, January 15 before concluding yesterday.
A native of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, Fenelus played his final two college seasons at Cal State-Fullerton, scoring nine goals and adding four assists in 41 games for the Titans. As a senior in 2014, Fenelus scored seven goals and had two assists, helping his team claim the Big West Tournament Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000. The Titans were 5-1-1 in the seven games that Fenelus scored in and three of his seven goals were game-winners.
Prior to playing at Cal-State Fullerton, Fenelus spent two seasons with Western Texas College, scoring 40 goals and adding 19 assists. Fenelus finished as the top scorer in each of his two seasons playing for the Westerners, earning second-team NJCAA All-American honors after his sophomore season when he tallied 25 goals and 14 assists.
Originally born in Haiti but raised in Turks and Caicos, Fenelus has one goal in five international appearances with TCI. He scored the first goal of his international career in June, tallying the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over the British Virgin Islands in a Caribbean Cup Qualifier.
Three players to miss start of preseason with international commitments
Notable names that will be missing from the start of the Revolution’s preseason camp are Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen, both of whom are in Southern California with the U.S. Men’s National Team for the annual January training camp at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. Diego Fagundez is also away on international duty with the Uruguay U-20 side, where he is currently involved in the 2015 South American Youth Championship. Fagundez started his side’s opening game, while Uruguay has won their opening two games of the tournament.
Fagundez and Uruguay U-20’s open South American Youth Championship on January 15
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.
Fagundez and Uruguay opened the competition by topping reigning tournament champion Colombia 1-0 on January 15, with Fagundez starting and playing 64 minutes. The 19-year-old was then an unused substitute in Uruguay’s second game, a 2-0 victory against Brazil on January 17. Uruguay has two remaining group-stage games, against Chile (January 21) and Venezuela (January 23). All four of those games are being played at 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 Fagundez could play as many as eight games for his country before joining his Revolution teammates for preseason training.
The tournament, which is hosted by Uruguay, began last Wednesday and culminates on Saturday, February 7. The top four teams in the tournament will qualify for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, while the competition also serves as South American qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Two Revolution players included on U.S. National Team roster
Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen are set to travel to South America next week for a friendly game against Chile on Wednesday, January 28. Jones and 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. The national team will play one more friendly during its camp against Panama on Sunday, February 8 at StubHub Center.
Both players are scheduled to join the club for preseason training at the conclusion of National Team camp.
Rennicks makes mark on U.S. U-16s debut
Revolution Academy forward Justin Rennicks had a memorable debut with the U.S. Under-16 National Team, scoring in a 2-0 win over Romania. The 15-year-old from South Hamilton, Mass. scored the game-winning goal in that game, which was played at the 2015 Aegan Cup International Youth Tournament in Turkey.
Fellow Academy player Daniel Jones was also called in to the team, but later withdrew due to an injury before the start of the tournament.
2015 Preseason plans
The Revolution will hold their first training session of 2015 on Friday, January 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 February 18-28, 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 befound 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 atFCTucson.com.
