The Bouna's Back in Town

And he will start in goal for the crucial game against Chivas tomorrow. Bouna Coundoul, the Senegalese goalkeeper recently back from a traumatic time in his native country, will start for the Colorado Rapids between the posts for the first time since August 9. Fan favorite, Bouna, who had had to swallow the pain of his country crashing out of the World Cup and African Nations' Cup qualifying, not to mention the wrath of angry fans in Dakar last weekend, gains the chance to reclaim the number one spot from Preston Burpo. In front of him will be Mike Petke and Ugo Ihemelu with Jordan Harvey and Kosuke Kimura as full-backs. Head coach, Gary Smith, was planning on moving Cory Gibbs to left back and dropping Harvey but Gibbs pulled a groin muscle in training yesterday and will not travel. Upfront, Conor Casey will be back after his red card suspension and will play alongside Tom McManus who played very well last weekend. Omar Cummings, on duty with the Jamaican national team for two games in the past week, will very likely feature with his speed in the final 20 minutes or so. "I told Gary it will be just like last year," Cummings said, referring to his 89th minute winner from a Casey cross which gave Colorado an unlikely 2-1 win away at Chivas at a very similar stage of the season last year. "I'd be very happy with that," Cummings said.
The midfield is a little less obvious. At the request of Gary Smith, I cannot mention specifics, but there are likely to be some changes. What I can say is that the formation will revert to 4-4-2. Pablo Mastroeni is fit to play after withdrawing from the US national team this week following a knee injury picked up against LA Galaxy. Greg Dalby, who turned an ankle yesterday, and Christian Gomez are unfit and will not travel.