NYRB vs. Colorado USOC Preview

Colorado Rapids vs. Red Bull New York

Wednesday May 26th, 8:00 PM Red Bull Arena

View from the other side: coloradorapidsfans.com

Game will be streamed live online at newyorkredbulls.com

While Metro's league form has slagged a bit of late with RBA witnessing it's first two defeats of the home side, the reserves' form in the USOC/Lamar Hunt qualification has been good. The first qualification round saw the 2-1 victory over Philly with the added bonus of Sebastien Le Toux being carted off and John Wolyniec's double sinking the Revs 3-0. This is the final qualification round of the tournament and if Metro win they will join holders Seattle, Chicago, Chivas, Columbus, Houston, the Galaxy and DC or RSL as the eight MLS teams in the tournament.

Backe has made it clear that the USOC is the reserve's time to shine. Greg Sutton has started both games over Bouna Time!, Tony Tchani, Andrew Boyens, Connor Chinn, Danleigh Borman and Carlos have all started the two previous matches while Austin Da Luz, Irving Garcia, Wolyniec, Luke Sassano all getting playing time. The starting XI is still to be announced (I will post it as soon as I see it) but a couple of things are certain: Andrew Boyens will be out as he is now on international duty as NYRB's only WC player and with an injury report that includes da Luz, Nielsen, Chirgadze, Goldthwaite, Kandji, Ibrahim, Robinson and Lindpere there might be some regulars in the mix to play in the game.

On the Fightin' Kronke's side, they beat the Wiz 2-1 in KC to advance to the final qualification round. They haven't been scoring much lately, with all three of their last league games resulting in a 1-0 score and only 3 games where they scored two or more goals.

I will be at the match tomorrow as I scored front row tickets. I will do a recap and a view from my seats when I get back from the game.

While I'm at time, shameless plug time: Next Tuesday the Kicking and Screening film festival begins. It will run from the 1st to the 5th of June in NYC. This is a shameless plug because a good friend of my sister's is in charge of the festival. NYRB promised to provide some players for opening night on the 1st., so it should be a fun time.