World Cup Comes to DSG Park

Well, a qualifying match anyway. The US will play a World Cup qualifier at the home of the Rapids in November as long as they get through the qualifier next month against Barbados. Very exciting. I very much look forward to that so congrats where due to the powers that be who made it happen. The US are playing a series of friendlies before the Barbados games and this includes a game at Wembley against England May 28. I was really tempted to go but the flights back to Denver from London rose dramatically May 29 so I will actually be flying back during the game. Bad planning but a lot cheaper.
I hope for a Rapids' win against Fake Salt Lake tonight. I think the Colorado boys really have to win the next three home games, for psychological reasurance more than anything. It's hard to believe they are doing so well in the conference when they have actually lost more games than they have won. They must continue to play the attacking football we saw against DC United. As we witnessed last night, defensive soccer will kill you in the end. Zenit fully deserved their win against a negative Rangers in the UEFA Cup Final. Signing off from Accra. I sound like a foreign correspondent. Go Rapids!

No Training and African Journey

My apologies but I wasn't able to get to training this week to pick up on the mood in the camp and get a feel of what Fernando Clavijo is planning for this weekend. My guess is that it seems unlikely there will be much change in the line-up given last weekend's dominant performance against DC United. I do understand that Conor Casey may be challenging for a place so he may get some game time at Houston.
The reason why I couldn't get to DSG Park this week was because I am preparing for a two-week trip to Ghana in West Africa. I will be working on a volunteer project out there teaching kids cricket. In this football crazy land, they don't play much cricket, despite the British influence. I will be in Ghana for the FA Cup Final, the Champions' League Final, featuring Ghana's own Michael Essien of Chelsea, and the UEFA Cup Final. I will be wearing my Zenit St. Petersburg shirt with pride. I am sure these games will be on television in Ghana but I'm not so sure I'll see much Rapids' action. I'll do my best to blog from Ghana but who knows how often I will be able to do this? I am disappointed I will miss the Houston game as well as the two home games against RSL and Chivas but I will be back for the Dallas game June 1. In the meantime, enjoy your soccer and let's hope the Rapids continue their good form. Hear from you all when I get back but please do keep the comments up if I can manage to blog from Ghana. Take care everyone.