Photo by ISIphotos.com
By AVI CREDITOR
The Columbus Crew will step on the pitch Tuesday night to play a meaningful game for the first time in months.
That's hardly the squad's biggest obstacle to overcome, though, when the Major League Soccer side hosts Toluca in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal matchup (8 p.m. EST, Fox Soccer Channel/Galavision).
The Crew will be without four key players and meets a Mexican squad that finished first in Group C and is in the middle of its regular season.
Re-signed playmaker Guillermo Barros Schelotto and veteran defender Frankie Hejduk will be serving one-game suspensions for accumulations of yellow cards during the group stage, and defenders Chad Marshall (hamstring) and Jed Zayner (knee) will miss the match because of lingering injuries.
Those that are healthy are hardly 90-minutes fit, giving manager Robert Warzycha a tall task if he is to keep MLS' last remaining team in the competition.
Wingers Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven, fresh off their appearances with the U.S. men's national team against El Salvador, will be looked upon to lead the attack for the Crew, who finished in second behind Cruz Azul in Group B.
Danny O'Rourke, Eric Brunner, Gino Padula and Andy Iro are expected to line up in front of keeper William Hesmer.
Toluca will be without defender Edgar Duenas, who will be serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. Striker Raul Nava led the team in scoring during the group stage with three goals.
DYNAMO INK ACADEMY PRODUCT
The Houston Dynamo have signed 18-year-old academy product Francisco Navas, making him the second academy player to sign with the team. Goalkeeper Tyler Deric is the other.
Navas, a dynamic midfielder, is of Colombian descent, although he was born in Houston. He was raised in Colombia and played in the Deportivo Cali youth system before joining the Dynamo academy in 2007. His successful trial with the team this winter resulted in a professional contract.
RAPIDS SIGN JOYCE
Ian Joyce, an American goalkeeper who has been in England's lower divisions since 2007, has returned to the United States after signing with MLS to play with the Colorado Rapids.
Joyce, a 24-year-old New Jersey native, will back up established starter Matt Pickens. Most recently with Southend United, the 6-foot-3 Joyce played college soccer at Seton Hall.
CHIRGADZE UNDERGOES SURGERY
New York Red Bulls academy product Giorgi Chirgadze will be out for the foreseeable future after undergoing hip surgery to repair a torn labrum.
Chirgadze, 19, is expected to miss the next four or five months while recovering.
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What do you think of the Crew's chances? Like the Navas and Joyce signings?
Share your thoughts below.
What do the Crew need to advance next week? Will a simple victory put them through?
Do the Crew get Marshall back too ?
Completely different team with Hejduk and Marshall…then add GSB to the mix…..
…..then play in Mexico.
The Crew getting love on a national forum??? I dont know what to say. Gonna be a battle down in Toluca next week.
Go Crew. Go MLS.
Well, don’t count the Crew out yet, especially with so many key players returning next match. I thought they played fairly well with the exception of some terrible defending at times. Where did all the MLS haters go? Could have sworn I just heard a few.
Clearly Lenhart is the answer to the USMNT woes at forward. Does he have dual citizenship somewhere? We should cap him so he can’t escape.
Oh wait.
Lenhart could be a player to watch this season in league play.
He’s tracking back to win balls in the midfield now…
Lenhart is having himself a heck of a game.
I realize it’s a Mexican side, so winning headers is like playing Uno with a four year old, but wow is Lenhart doing well.
hoxie is not w/ the Quakes anymore.
Wow… Steven Lenhart. Who needs Moreno.
It shows that the crew are still in preseason but you have to admire the way they’ve rallied here.
Wow, another great finish by Lenhart! Cap this guy, ha ha! By the way, who is this Renteria guy, he looks pretty sharp since he came on!
Crew scores again. Wow nice rally! 2-2
On a serious note, is there any good reason why The Crew hasn’t gotten rid of their ‘construction man’ logo? Also, I wonder what the models for that logo are doing today. Perhaps we could get Ives to do an research piece on it? Do you think people recognize the middle guy, “hey, its that dude from the Crew logo!”
That was a beauty.
wow minor league soccer at its best. Best Donovan can’t wait to join in the fun.
upon slow motion further review, it was REALLY nice!
holy crap the Crew scored and it was actually pretty nice.
I think the Crew is just saving it for their trip to Mexico. Watch out Toluca!!
Well in all fairness, lots of players for the Crew missing and no one is completely match fit. But still…
im waiting for the continued excuses as top why we cant do well. I say if your going to lose all the time and than use excuses as to why you lost and say how its not taken seriously………..than what the Crew and other MLS teams should be doing is playing the youth in this tournament like Dilly Duka. Get him some expierence. After all MLS clubs arent really trying to win…….Right? Im looking at Toluca start two 19-year olds up-top…..much better than the 25-year old Crew “expierenced players”
third option … it’s not indicative of the level they’re going to play at for the full game.
What a joke, Danny Orouke doesn’t even stop the ball, he just sucessfully screens hesmer, then Iro doesn’t even charge out of the box. The difference bt MLS and Mexico is finishing, plain and simple, they finish their chances MLS teams always miss wide or mess it up completley in the final third.
I don’t undrstand why the crew are struggling. They are soooo massive!
pretty much exactly what we expected. I guess that would explain the 1500 in attendance.
And just like that the Crew are eliminated from Champions League, better luck next year MLS clubs.
Wow Columbus, maybe if you showed some hustle and closed down the final 3rd you wouldn’t be losing 2-0
I’d love to see an MLS team, for once, impress in this tournament. Is it because this leg happens in our preseason? I know that our excuse in the start of the tournament is that our teams are tired from the MLS season so it sounds like a cop out either way.
crew are getting a lot of chances. hopefully they can sink one.
Wow, Columbus just got passed out the park, and Toluca are up 1-0…..pshhh, terrible defending
wow, terrible defense by the crew. what a nice finish though.
They do look pretty good so far. Is that a sign of them stepping up, or will it transfer to the league as a whole?
The crew look good early on. They just look like the more skilled team so far.
Any links to the Crew game?
How can you say that????
The CREW ARE MASSIVE!
The biggest club in North America if not the world!!!
Seriously, I hope the Crew loses 5-0; they’re so annoying.
Yeah, that’s awesome. Hopefully we can keep him.
Big day for the sport today. Just have that sinking feeling that the Crew has no chance tonight. Hopefully I’m wrong, but our (MLS teams) track record in this competition is pretty awful
That link about Francisco Navas is pretty cool. Looks like he got called up for U-20 MNT already. Always great to have other countries develop our national talent.
SBI – what are your thoughts on W&M product Andrew Hoxie? Does he see the pitch for the Earthquakes this year or more of a development guy? He did well at the combine.
No Intl Caps
Well Gavin is in good form; hopefully he can repeat his El Salvador performance against Toluca…
I am assuming (because I dont know) that away goals determines who wins in case of aggregate tie.
IF that is the case, Toluca only has 10 goals in 9 games in a league not known for D.
Columbus shuts Toluca out in Columbus, they could be sitting pretty needing only a non scoreless tie to go through…too bad Marshall is out.
If the season started a month earlier, we’d all be talking about fixture congestion due to the CCL.
Sorry, I had some work to do. Thanks very much SBI.
excuse me, charles?
Was Ian Joyce not distributed with the allocation system?
if the season could start a month earlier that would really help.
columbus will likely have to go thru 3 mexican teams to take the crown. tall order for sure.
i will be excited to see seattle give it a go this summer. la too, especially if beckham and donovan are stil in mls.
I actually love the CONCACAF Champions League idea, I just hate how it works out for the MLS teams.
Here’s hope that the Crew can survive this series despite all the setbacks.
And HOORAY, an MLS team takes the field in a meaningful game!
charlie?