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Earthquakes move home opener for CCL scheduling relief

Sam Cronin

By DAN KARELL

Following precedent in recent years, the San Jose Earthquakes have re-scheduled some early season Major League Soccer matches to help them compete in the CONCACAF Champions League next spring.

The Earthquakes announced today that they’ve moved their original home opener against the Colorado Rapids from Mar. 9 to May 7, while moving their original match on May 7 against Real Salt Lake to March 15, which will now be the Earthquakes’ league and home opener. Last season, MLS helped re-schedule matches for the LA Galaxy, Montreal Impact, Seattle Sounders, and Houston Dynamo as they attempted to win the Champions League.

The Earthquakes face a tough task in the first round of the knockout stages of the competition with a two-legged tie (Mar. 11-13 and Mar. 18-20) against Deportivo Toluca, who made in the Liga MX Apertura playoff semifinals last month. San Jose also has plenty of offseason departures to address, including Rafael Baca, Justin Morrow, and reportedly even Steven Beitashour, although nothing has been confirmed yet.

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What do you think of this news? Agree with the strategy? Could it hurt the Earthquakes to open the season with a CCL match?

Share your thoughts below.

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