FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Back from the club's West Coast trip, the New England Revolution will return to Gillette Stadium on Saturday, July 11, to host the Kansas City Wizards in the first game of a soccer tripleheader, which will also feature a pair of CONCACAF Gold Cup matches. The Revs and Wizards will kick off the day with an MLS regular-season contest at 4 p.m., followed by the United States National Team against Haiti at 7 p.m. The national teams of Honduras and Grenada will round out the action with the third match of the day at 9 p.m.
The Revs will train on the Lower Practice Field at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in preparation for Saturday's match, with Tuesday's session reserved for only those players who didn't start on Saturday night against LA. All sessions are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., and a full schedule for the week is below.
Tentative training schedules for the United States, Haiti, Honduras and Grenada are also listed below. Please note that all training schedules are subject to change.
MEDIA & REVS TRAINING: Media wishing to attend any Revolution training session on the Gillette Stadium grounds must notify the Revolution Communications office (media@revolutionsoccer.net) by 5 p.m. the day before to RSVP and guarantee admittance. Media availability usually begins between 11 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. for 10 a.m. sessions, although the length of training sessions can and will vary.
MEDIA & GOLD CUP TRAINING: Those media members who have applied and been approved for Gold Cup credentials must have their credentials on them to access Gold Cup participants' training sessions. Credentials can be picked up at the accreditation center located in the Executive Boardroom at the Renaissance Boston Hotel & Spa at Patriot Place (28 Patriot Place, Foxborough, Mass.). The hours of operation will be released later this week with Gold Cup updates.
No Gold Cup credentials will be available at Gillette Stadium's Media Will Call table. The credential application deadline for the CONCACAF Gold Cup has passed, and applications are no longer being accepted.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION SCHEDULE: July 6-12
Monday, July 6 - OFF
Tuesday, July 7 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m. - NON-STARTERS ONLY
Wednesday, July 8 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.
Thursday, July 9 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.
Friday, July 10 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.
Saturday, July 11 - New England Revolution vs. Kansas City Wizards (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.), 4 p.m. ET ... TV: TV38 ... Radio: WEEI Radio Network: CONCACAF Gold Cup Group B match, United States vs. Haiti (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.), 7 p.m. ... TV: Fox Soccer Channel: CONCACAF Gold Cup Group B match, Honduras vs. Grenada (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.), 9 p.m.
Sunday, July 12 - OFF
UNITED STATES TRAINING SCHEDULE *
Friday, July 10 - Training at 4 p.m. (Gillette Stadium)
GRENADA TRAINING SCHEDULE *
Friday, July 10 - Training at 10 a.m. (Location TBD); Training at 6 p.m. (Gillette Stadium)
Saturday, July 11 - Training at 10 a.m. (Noble & Greenough School, Dedham, Mass.)
HAITI TRAINING SCHEDULE *
Thursday, July 9 - Training at 5 p.m. (Location TBD)
Friday, July 10 - Training at 9 a.m. (Gillette Stadium); Training at 6 p.m. (Location TBD)
HONDURAS TRAINING SCHEDULE *
Thursday, July 9 - Training at 6 p.m. (Location TBD)
Friday, July 10 - Training at 10 a.m. (Gillette Stadium)
* Please note that schedules are tentative. For further information, or to confirm schedules, please e-mail media@revolutionsoccer.net or venue press officer Jeff Cournoyer (jeffco@patriots.com).
NEW ENGLAND VS. KANSAS CITY SERIES INFORMATION
• Kansas City leads the all-time, regular-season series between the two teams, 18-11-7 ... the Revs and Wizards have met outside of league action just once, playing to a 1-1 draw in SuperLiga 2009 on June 24, 2009.
• New England has struggled at home against Kansas City in the regular-season series, going just 5-9-4 against the Wizards in Foxborough ... remarkably, the Revs are just 1-6-4 against the Wizards at Gillette Stadium in regular-season games since the facility opened in 2002.
• The Revolution's only win over the Wizards at Gillette Stadium occurred on Aug. 2, 2007, when the Revs earned a 2-0 victory.
• Saturday afternoon's meeting will be the third between the Revs and Wizards in a span of 29 days ... the clubs have already met twice this season: Kansas City earned a 3-1 win in a regular-season meeting on June 13 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, while the clubs played to a 1-1 draw in SuperLiga 2009 Group B action on June 24 at Gillette Stadium.
• Saturday afternoon's match will be the third of four overall meetings between the Revolution and Wizards this season, and the second of three straight at Gillette Stadium ... New England will host Kansas City in MLS regular-season action once again on Sept. 5.
• New England has lost its last three regular-season meetings with Kansas City after taking three straight wins from Aug. 2, 2007 to April 9, 2008.
• The Revs won six of their first 11 meetings with the Wizards in the all-time, regular-season series, but New England has struggled against Kansas City since ... the Revolution is 5-13-7 in its last 25 regular-season meetings with the Wizards dating back to 2000.
PLAYER NOTES VS. KANSAS CITY
• Taylor Twellman leads the Revs with five career goals against Kansas City in 16 appearances ... Twellman has also added three assists.
• Steve Ralston leads New England with 12 career assists against the Wizards, including seven in 17 appearances with the Revs ... Ralston's most recent assist against Kansas City was on Shalrie Joseph's goal in the last regular-season meeting on June 13.
• Emmanuel Osei was shown a straight red card when the clubs met on June 13 and was suspended for the Revolution's match against the LA Galaxy last weekend (July 4) ... he is eligible to return to regular-season action on Saturday afternoon.
• Although he hasn't scored against the Wizards in the regular season, Kheli Dube did score the Revs' lone goal in the 1-1 draw in SuperLiga group-round action on June 24.
• Matt Reis is 5-7-5 in his Revolution career against Kansas City with a 1.41 goals against average and four shutouts in regular-season action.
LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING
Kansas City 3, New England 1
June 13, 2009 - CommunityAmerica Ballpark (Kansas City, Kan.)
Shalrie Joseph scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season, but two Wizards goals in the span of three first-half minutes buried the Revs ... New England played the final 59 minutes a man down after Emmanuel Osei was shown a straight red card in the 31st minute ... the Wizards opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Davy Arnaud slid to poke home Claudio Lopez's low cross, but Joseph made it 1-1 nine minutes later with header on Steve Ralston's back-post cross ... immediately following Osei's ejection, the Wizards struck with goals in the 36th and 39th minutes ... first, an unfortunate bounce resulted in an own goal by Jeff Larentowicz, while the scoring was complete when Aaron Hohlbein finished from close range after a corner kick.
NEWS & NOTES
REVS-WIZARDS TO KICK OFF TRIPLEHEADER AT GILLETTE STADIUM ON SATURDAY
When the New England Revolution and Kansas City Wizards meet in an MLS regular-season showdown on Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, it will be just the start of a soccer-filled day in Foxborough ...
in addition to the Revs-Wizards match, Gillette Stadium will also host a pair of CONCACAF Gold Cup contests
featuring teams from Group B:
the United States, Haiti, Honduras
and
Grenada
... the Revolution and Wizards will kick the day off at 4 p.m., while the U.S. will host Haiti in the second match at 7 p.m. ... the national teams of Honduras and Grenada will round out the day's action with the third game at 9 p.m.
INJURY-RIDDLED REVS HAVE WEEK TO PREPARE, RECOVER
Having played five games in a span of 14 days from June 21 - July 4, the Revolution hasn't spent a great deal of time training in recent weeks ... with a full week in between their most recent match against the LA Galaxy (July 4) and their next game against Kansas City (July 11), however, the Revs will have a full week of training to prepare for the Wizards and allow injured players to continue their recovery ... New England hasn't had a full, proper training session since the week leading up to the SuperLiga 2009 Group B opener against Santos Laguna on June 21.
REVOLUTION AND WIZARDS SET TO SQUARE OFF FOR THIRD TIME IN 29 DAYS
Not historically heated rivals, the Revolution and Wizards are well on their way to developing a feud considering how many times they've faced each other in recent weeks ... Saturday afternoon's contest will be the third meeting between the clubs in a span of 29 days ... the Revs and Wizards first met on June 13 in a regular-season match at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, where Kansas City earned a 3-1 win ... just 11 days later, Kansas City visited Gillette Stadium for a SuperLiga 2009 Group B encounter, which finished deadlocked at 1-1 ... now, just 17 days after their last meeting in Foxborough, the clubs will meet in yet another league match ... following Saturday afternoon's game, the teams will finally get some time away from each other, as they won't meet again until Sept. 5.
WIZARDS CONTINUE TO CAST A SPELL ON REVS IN FOXBOROUGH
Holding a 1-0 lead with just minutes remaining in their SuperLiga 2009 Group B encounter on June 24, the Revolution was on the brink of accomplishing a feat it has struggled with mightily in the past - beating the Wizards at Gillette Stadium ... however, a Darrius Barnes own goal in the 85th minute leveled the score and the game finished tied at 1-1 ... that result continued the Revs' abysmal home record against the Wizards, which stands at 5-9-5 in all competitions ... the mark is even more alarming at Gillette Stadium, where New England is just 1-6-5 against Kansas City in all competitions since the facility opened in 2002.
HAPPY TO BE HOME
The Revolution has long been considered one of Major League Soccer's best road teams, often finishing with comparable records both at Gillette Stadium and away from home ... however, this season the Revs have struggled away from the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium, while they've been almost unbeatable on their home turf ... with a record of 1-4-3 for a winning percentage of .313, New England has the 11th-best road record out of 15 teams ... on the flip side, the Revs are 5-1-2 at Gillette Stadium in all competitions for a winning percentage of .750 ... included in that overall home record is a 3-1-1 (.700) mark in regular-season action, good enough for sixth in the league.
INJURY SITUATION CONTINUES TO WREAK HAVOC ...
After traveling their only 18 healthy players to Los Angeles for last Saturday night's meeting with the Galaxy, the Revs were dealt a further injury blow when Chris Tierney suffered a left knee sprain in training the day before the game ... slated to start the Galaxy match at left back, Tierney was replaced by Wells Thompson, typically a right-sided midfielder ... that left the Revolution with just six available players on the bench to start the match, including two goalkeepers.
... BUT THERE IS A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL Perhaps it's only because the club's injury situation reached a point where it couldn't get any worse, but there is some positive news from the treatment room this week ... rookie defender Kevin Alston returned to the Revolution's starting lineup last Saturday night against the Galaxy after missing three games with tightness in his right hamstring, while fellow defender Gabriel Badilla played 75 minutes in the U.S. Open Cup last Tuesday night to mark his first competitive game action in almost eight months ... both players are listed as "Probable" on the most recent injury report ... meanwhile, captain Steve Ralston has returned to light training and has been bumped up to "Doubtful" as he recovers from a right hamstring strain, and Mauricio Castro has also returned to light training, although he remains "Out" with a left hamstring strain.
SECOND-YEAR FORWARD DUBE BECOMES THE ELDER STATESMAN
With the Revolution's current injury situation plaguing a majority of the club's veterans, it could be said that New England's lineup last Saturday night was "youthful" at best ... the Revolution's lineup was so young, in fact, that second-year forward Kheli Dube was the oldest field player in the starting lineup, having recently turned 26 years old ... starting goalkeeper Matt Reis was by far the Revs' oldest starter at 34 years old, while 25-year-old Jeff Larentowicz served as the club's captain ... the average age of the Revolution's starting lineup including Reis was 23.7 years old, while the figure drops to 22.7 when factoring in just the field players ... not including Reis, the Revolution's starting lineup averaged just 1.4 previous years of professional soccer experience.
THOMPSON PICKS UP FIFTH YELLOW CARD, SUSPENDED FOR WIZARDS MATCH
The shorthanded Revs will be without Wells Thompson on Saturday afternoon when they host the Wizards, as he was issued his fifth yellow card of the season last Saturday night against LA and will be suspended because of yellow card accumulation ... Thompson, who was playing out of position at left back following an injury to Chris Tierney, was cautioned in the 61st minute ... the third-year player was just one game away from having his total number of cautions reduced as part of the good behavior incentive.
HEAPS STILL SEARCHING FOR FIRST CAP
Jay Heaps was on the 18-man gameday roster for the United States National Team's 4-0 win over Grenada last Saturday night at Qwest Field in Seattle, but the veteran defender did not enter the match ... as a result, the 32-year-old is still in search of his first-ever appearance for his country ... Heaps' next chance will be on Wednesday night (July 8), when the U.S. hosts Honduras at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., followed by the Group B finale against Haiti at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, July 11.
CONCACAF GOLD CUP NOTES
• This will be the United States National Team's eighth CONCACAF Gold Cup match at Gillette Stadium ... the U.S. is 6-0-1 in its seven previous Gold Cup matches in Foxborough.
• The United States National team has a record of 16-1-4 in 21 previous matches in Foxborough - including the old Foxboro Stadium - and has outscored its opponents, 46-13, in those 21 matches ... the U.S. is 9-1-1 at Gillette Stadium.
• This is the United States National Team's 10th CONCACAF Gold Cup ... the Americans have won the competition four times, including the last two tournaments in 2005 and 2007.
• Including the 4-0 win over Grenada in the Group B opener last Saturday night, the U.S. National Team is 35-4-5 all-time in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
• Honduras has played one previous CONCACAF Gold Cup match at Gillette Stadium ... "Los Catrachos" earned a 3-2 win over Costa Rica in a quarterfinal match at the facility on July 16, 2005.
• Neither Haiti nor Grenada has ever played a CONCACAF Gold Cup match at Gillette Stadium.
JULY 26 MILAN DERBY CREDENTIAL INFORMATION
For those media members wishing to apply for credentials to the July 26 match between AC Milan and Inter at Gillette Stadium, you can apply using an online accreditation form ... the New England Revolution is not involved in the credentialing of media for this event, so all questions regarding the credentialing process should be directed to the contacts provided within the link.
The online accreditation form can be found at the following address:https://worldfootballchallenge.iwebreg.com/apply/2009_WFC?lang=en
