NEWS & NOTES
REVS DROP FIRST MATCH AGAINST BRAZILIAN CLUB SINCE 2002
New England went more than eight years between matches with a Brazilian team, only to suffer its most lopsided loss to a team from the South American country with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of SC Cruzeiro on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium … the Revs hosted a Brazilian team for the first time since SE Palmeiras beat the Revs by a 1-0 score on June 23, 1997 … the Revolution is now 2-4-0 all time against Brazilian teams and is winless in its last two matches with clubs from Brazil.
BACK BETWEEN THE PIPES
Matt Reis, who has been with the Revolution since 2003 but missed the first portion of this year while recovering from offseason shoulder and knee surgeries, returned to action in goal for the first half of the Revs international friendly against Cruzeiro on Sunday night … Reis made two saves and allowed one goal in his first live action since New England’s season ended last year in the first round of the playoffs with a 2-0 loss at the Chicago Fire on November 7, 2009 … dating back to last season, Reis has not allowed a goal in 234 consecutive minutes of MLS regular-season play.
RALSTON RETURNS TO REVS
Also making his return in a Revolution uniform on Sunday night against Cruzeiro was Steve Ralston, Major League Soccer’s all-time leader in games played, games started, minutes played and assists … Ralston, who re-signed with the Revs last week, was a member of the Revolution from 2002-09 and rejoined the team at training on Wednesday, June 9 … Ralston returned to the field as a substitute in the 72nd minute, but was injured in just his first minute of action back with New England … Ralston signed with his hometown team AC St. Louis of the second division in the offseason and made two appearances before deciding to make his return to Major League Soccer.
INJURIES CONTINUE TO PLAGUE THE REVOLUTION
Less than one minute after stepping back on the field in a Revolution uniform, midfielder Steve Ralston dislocated his left elbow and had to be replaced in the 74th-minute by Chris Tierney … Ralston was one of two Revs players who were forced out of Sunday night’s friendly with Cruzeiro … midfielder Khano Smith sprained his ankle in the 30th minute of play and had to be replaced by Kenny Mansally … Smith was aggressive in the early going before he was injured, as he led New England with three shots for the match.
REVOLUTION PLAYERS AND FANS ALIKE DRAWN IN AT VIEWING PARTY
The New England Revolution players, coaches, staff and 2,000 soccer fans packed the House of Blues on Saturday afternoon in Boston to watch the U.S. Men’s National Team battle back from an early deficit to salvage a tie with England in the teams’ first match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup … Revolution fans, players and media all mingled together at Saturday’s event on Lansdowne Street in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston … last weekend’s United States-England match was the most-watched FIFA World Cup first-round match among households and viewers, and the most-viewed United States Men’s National Team game since 1994 … the two-hour match averaged a 7.3 household rating, 8,391,000 households, and 12,956,000 viewers, based on fast nationals.
WHAT DO WE DO THIS WEEKEND?
The Revs do not have a game scheduled for the upcoming weekend for the first time since early March, when the team was away at preseason training in North Carolina … including preseason, the Revs have played matches on 14 consecutive weekends, a streak which began with a scrimmage at the USL-2’s Charlotte Eagles on March 13 and culminated with Sunday night’s match with Cruzeiro … 13 of the first 14 weekend games were played on Saturdays, and only one match began in the afternoon (May 22 at 1 p.m. at Toronto FC) … the Revs do not have another Saturday game until LA Galaxy visits on July 10, but do play on Sunday, June 27 at Gillette Stadium against Chicago and play their first Friday game of 2010 on July 2 at Real Salt Lake.
LINEUP CHANGEUP
The Revolution has not exactly had a lot of stability in its starting lineup this year, mostly because of the rash of injuries that has plagued the team in 2010 … so far through 12 MLS matches this season, head coach Steve Nicol has run out 10 different starting lineups … the Revs used the same lineup for the first two games of the season (a 1-0 loss at LA Galaxy on March 27 and a 2-0 win on April 3 at D.C. United) and for the fifth and six games (a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids on April 24 and a 1-1 tie against FC Dallas on May 1) this year … only Sainey Nyassi has started every game and only he and Pat Phelan have played in every match … Chris Tierney, a natural left midfielder, has been the most versatile Revolution player and has played five different positions for Steve Nicol this season, starting at three … Tierney has started at left midfield, center midfield and left back.
MANY MIDFIELDERS
The biggest shakeup for the starting unit has come in the midfield, which has used nine different starting line combinations in the first 12 matches this season … the Revs have gone with a four-man midfield the first six games of the season and the two most recent, but switched to a five-man line for games seven through 10, due mostly to the absence of Shalrie Joseph … Sainey Nyassi is the only Revs player who has started in and played all 12 games in the midfield.
SUNDAY SOCCER
The Revolution is in the middle of two consecutive Sunday matches – a rare occurrence this season, with the next coming on Sunday, June 27 when the Revs resume MLS play at home against the Chicago Fire … New England currently has 36 matches scheduled for 2010 – 30 regular-season MLS matches, three SuperLiga games, two international friendlies, and one U.S. Open Cup match … of those 36 scheduled matches, 23 are played on a Saturday, six on a Wednesday, three are slated for a Sunday, two on a Friday, and one each on a Tuesday and Thursday … the only day of the week in 2010 when the Revolution does not play a game this season is Monday.
LOOKING AHEAD TO CHICAGO
The Revolution’s first match following MLS’ World Cup break for pool play comes on Sunday, June 27 against bitter rival Chicago Fire … the clubs have a fairly even history of head-to-head competition since Chicago entered the league as an expansion team in 1998 … New England is 13-15-8 in 36 all-time regular-season matches … additionally, the Revs and Fire are square after 15 career games in the postseason, with New England holding a 7-7-1 record in 15 postseason matchups … the Revs and Fire have met in the postseason every year since 2005.
THIS WEEK IN REVOLUTION HISTORY: JUNE 14-20
- June 15, 2007: D Amaechi Igwe named to the US Under-20 World Cup roster.
- June 18, 2009: Signed GK Bobby Shuttleworth; waived GK Zack Simmons.
- June 20, 2001: The Revolution acquired Revolution legend and current TV analyst Jay Heaps and a second-round pick in the 2003 SuperDraft from Miami for D Brian Dunseth and a first-round pick in the 2003 SuperDraft.
