After a day off on Wednesday, preseason matches returned on Thursday, with a pair of matches:
- 8 am ET: Chicago Fire 1, Queens Park Rangers 0 (London, England) | Fire RECAP
- 12 pm ET: Real Salt Lake 1, OC Blues 0 (Irvine, Calif.)
You can catch all the news and updates from MLS training camps below, and for the entire preseason schedule, click here.
FACEY AT HOME WITH NYCFC
Shay Facey has seemingly made quite the impression in his training stint with New York City FC. The England youth international defender, on the books at sister club Manchester City, has stepped into a first team environment at NYCFC with relative ease, and was even stepped into the spotlight after being handed a starting spot in the team's friendly against St. Mirren on Tuesday.
“It's a strange feeling. People were tweeting me after the game, telling me I'd made history and I wasn't really aware of it," Facey told Mancheser City's offical website. “But I know it’s a big thing for the club and I’m really happy to be a part of that. I’ve felt really happy in the training sessions and playing against Saint Mirren, and that's the main thing - to be happy when you're playing because that's when you play at your best.
“There's a lot going on and there's a lot of media attention around New York. The players are focused though because it’s not long before the season starts and Jason wants everyone to be ready.”
The 21-year-old gave a ringing endorsement of the experience, and though it seemed unlikely two weeks ago that Facey would join as one of four players New York City FC is allowed to take on loan, things are clearly working out better than expected.
MEDIA DAY MADNESS
RSL's stay in SoCal continued with a 1-0 victory over the OC Blues on Thursday, but before that they had some other obligations to fulfill – how does a photo shoot sound? The Claret-and-Cobalt players kept it loose and had a little bit of fun with the event, which is sure to produce some good spots down the road:
FEAR THE BEARD
Anyone who's seen Real Salt Lake play in the last year will probably be familiar with Nat Borchers' beard, and this season he's moved to a town that has a true appreciation for flowing facial hair: Portland.
It's no surprise, then, that Borchers was eventually asked about the origin of his beard. He says grew it during RSL's run to MLS Cup 2013, where they lost on penalties to Sporting KC, and won't shave it off until he gets his hands on that trophy.
Although he might fit right in now, if you see a clean-shaven Borchers walking down Morrison at this time next year, you can bet there will be a lot of happy Portlanders out there.
WATCH: FIRE GOAL THAT BEAT QPR
We’ve got footage of Chicago forward Quincy Amarikwa’s goal that sunk Queens Park Rangers in London this morning.
A full match recap, courtesy of the Fire, can be found here.
RSL TOP OC BLUES
Real Salt Lake scored a 1-0 victory over the USL’s Orange County Blues in Irvine, Calif. on Thursday, with midfielder Lucas Baldin, a fourth-round pick in this year’s SuperDraft, scoring the match’s lone goal in the 54th minute.
The victory brings an end to RSL’s Southern California stint. The club will now return to Utah, where they’ll stay for a few days before heading to Tucson for their fourth-consecutive trip to the Desert Diamond Cup tournament.
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…
The Colorado Rapids headed to Sin City on Thursday, flying to Las Vegas ahead of Sunday’s friendly with the San Jose Earthquakes at Cashman Stadium.
Bold move by Pablo Mastroeni to fly out two days before the match. We know it’s a business trip, but that’s a lot of time in Vegas…
OFF TO SCOTLAND
Toronto FC announced an international call-up on Thursday, but don’t worry Reds fans – Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Sebastian Giovinco or any of your full Canadian national teamers won’t be missing any preseason camp.
TFC Academy goalkeeper Brendan Kerr was called to the Scotland U-17s for their upcoming friendly against Romania, with the youngster set to travel to the UK ahead of the Feb. 24 exhibition.
MARSCH MIC’D UP
The New York Red Bulls mic’d up new head coach Jesse Marsch for one of their preseason training sessions in Orlando, and released video of the shoot on Thursday.
Marsch might want to switch out the energy drinks for some tea… That voice is more than a bit hoarse.
JOZY ARRIVES AT TFC
Jozy Altidore participated in his first training session with Toronto FC on Wednesday, with the American international sharing some of his thoughts on his new club with reporters after the session.
Altidore touched on a variety of subjects in the interview, including his thoughts on Michael Bradley earning TFC’s captaincy and an injury update after he left the US’s win over Panama on Sunday early.
Check out the full interview below:
QUEEN’S ENVY
The Fire got things going early on Thursday, topping English Premier League side Queens Park Rangers 1-0 in an early morning (for us State-siders, anyway) friendly in London. Forward Quincy Amarikwa provided the match’s lone goal, latching on to a Harry Shipp ball and firing home in the 15th minute.
Long-time Premier League midfielder Joey Barton was in attendance for the match, with the famously fiery Englishman watching his QPR teammates at the club's facility.
As he’s done in Chicago’s previous preseason friendlies, Fire head coach Frank Yallop switched his entire team at halftime.
First half lineup: Sean Johnson; Lovel Palmer, Jeff Larentowicz, Eric Gehrig, Joevin Jones; Franck Songo’o, Matt Watson, Alou Diarra, Harry Shipp; Shaun Maloney, Quincy Amarikwa
Second half lineup: Sean Johnson; Kingsley Bryce, Matt Polster, Gabbidon, Greg Cochrane; Chris Ritter, Edwards, Michael Stephens, Razvan Cocis, Alex; Guly do Prado
Trialist
HISTORIC HIGHLIGHTS
New York City FC and their fans are counting down the days until their expansion debut next month, and the excitement grows when the new team finally takes the field in uniform against outside competition, as Jason Kreis' team did in Manchester on Tuesday.
The 2-0 friendliy win over Scottish side St. Mirren probably won't live long in the memory of the MLS newcomers or their supporters, but it was an encouraging performance all the same. Appropriately, it was Designated Player David Villa who opened the scoring -- NYCFC's first-ever player netting their first-ever goal -- and afterwards he shared a few thoughts on the occasion.
NYCFC.com spoke with Villa's strike partner Patrick Mullins about the match, and also shared Kreis' measured reaction to his team's display. NYCFC now look ahead to another preseason match on Sunday, this time vs. Danish Superliga squad Brondby at 7 am EST.
KEANE’S HOMECOMING
The LA Galaxy headed off on the European portion of their preseason camp last night, flying to Robbie Keane’s hometown of Dublin for the start of an 11-day international adventure.
Some of the highlights of LA’s trip include a meeting with Ireland’s president, a pair of friendlies in Stockholm and Dublin and a planned meeting between LA head honchos Bruce Arena and Chris Klein and new Galaxy DP Steven Gerrard.
We’ll have more on the Galaxy’s trip on the site later today. Stay tuned.
TWO-STEPPIN'
D.C. United – now just two weeks out from its CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal first leg at Costa Rican club Alajuelense – arrived in Austin, Texas yesterday, ahead of the ATX Pro Challenge preseason tournament.
February 12, 2015
The team’s arrival in the Lone Star State provided a bit of a funny quote from Finnish international Markus Halsti, with the offseason signing joking that “back home we think all Texans have big hats and big belt buckles.” Click here and scroll down for a look at reserve goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra’s pithy response.
D.C. will be joined by fellow MLS sides FC Dallas and Columbus Crew SC at the ATX Pro Challenge, with hosting USL club Austin Aztex rounding out the four-team bracket. All four teams will play two matches at the tournament, with opening night set for Friday and things set to conclude on Sunday.
