COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Crew return to the road this weekend to take on Kansas City on Friday, August 26, at 8 p.m. (ET) at Arrowhead Stadium. Friday's game matches The Crew with an Eastern Conference team, allowing them a chance to gain points in the race for a playoff spot in the East.
The Crew (7-12-3, 24 pts.) is 3-2-1 under Interim Head Coach Robert Warzycha after winning a 1-0 decision against FC Dallas at home on Saturday. Kansas City (11-5-8, 41 pts.) sits in second place in the Eastern Conference after a 3-0 victory at home on Friday against Chicago.</p>
Friday's game in Kansas City will be televised locally on the Ohio News Network. It can also be heard in English on 103.9, TED-FM, or on-line at TheCrew.com and MLSNet.com.</p>
Tickets for Crew home games can be acquired at the Crew Stadium Box Office, at any area Ticket Master outlet, via phone at 614-431-3600 or on line at TheCrew.com. </p>
COLUMBUS CREW at Kansas City Wizards
Friday, August 26 - 8:00 p.m. (ET) at Arrowhead Stadium
Crew Television: Ohio News Network
Crew Radio: 103.9, TED-FM (English)
Crew Webcasts: TheCrew.com and MLSNet.com (English)
BUFFALO WILD WINGS SET FOR CREW AWAY GAME VIEWING PARTY ON FRIDAY
Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar on Bethel Road, the "Official Away Game Headquarters" for all Crew road games, will host a viewing party on Friday, August 26, at 8:00 p.m. for The Crew's game at Kansas City. Friday's game is televised locally on the Ohio News Network. Buffalo Wild Wings is located on 5240 Bethel Centre Mall.</p>
MARSHALL AND HEJDUK TO FACE REAL MADRID ON TUESDAY WITH MLS SELECT TEAM
Major League Soccer announced that Crew defenders Chad Marshall and Frankie Hejduk have been named to the 19-man roster that will travel to Spain to face nine-time European champions Real Madrid on Tuesday, August 23, in the 27th annual Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu. </p>
The star-studded MLS Select Team, led by New England Revolution Head Coach Steve Nicol, features representatives from every MLS club including Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Ronnie O'Brien (FC Dallas), Youri Djorkaeff (MetroStars) and the League's leading scorer Jeff Cunningham (Colorado Rapids). The 19-man roster will be comprised of 13 American players and six international stars (Djorkaeff, O'Brien, Amado Guevara, Shalrie Joseph, Jaime Moreno and Douglas Sequeira).</p>
The international match at the legendary Santiago Bernabeu will be broadcast live in the United States on Tuesday starting at 3:30 p.m. (ET) on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español.</p>
The players will depart to Spain following the League regular season matches scheduled between Friday, Aug. 19 and Sunday, Aug. 21. The New England Revolution will contribute a league-high three players while five other clubs will be represented by two players. The MLS delegation traveling to Spain will include Commissioner Don Garber and Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis. </p>
The event on August 23 will mark the first time that an American squad will play for the Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu in the history of the competition, which traditionally represents Real Madrid's first game of the new season in front of its home fans and the final game before the start of the Spanish La Liga season. Real Madrid kicks off its domestic season on August 28 on the road against Cádiz. </p>
First held in 1979 in honor of Real Madrid's legendary former president for whom the team's stadium is also named, the prestigious Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu has featured legendary teams throughout the event's history including Liverpool (England), A.C. Milan (Italy), Inter Milan (Italy), River Plate (Argentina), Ajax Amsterdam (Holland), Santos (Brazil) and Benfica (Portugal).</p>
IT DOESN'T GET ANY BIGGER: U.S. CAN CLINCH BERTH TO 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP
IN GERMANY WITH WIN VS. MEXICO ON SEPTEMBER 3 AT CREW STADIUM
If you didn't think the World Cup Qualifying match between the U.S. and border-rival Mexico on September 3 at Crew Stadium could get any bigger, you were wrong. </p>
The stakes just got bigger. </p>
Former Crew star Brian McBride scored just 91 seconds into the game as the U.S. defeated Trinidad & Tobago, 1-0, last night in Connecticut and can now clinch a berth to FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 with a win over Mexico on September 3 at Crew Stadium. The World Cup berth would be the fifth consecutive for the U.S. squad and its eighth overall since the first World Cup in 1930. The 2006 tournament will be the 18th World Cup Finals played.</p>
A tie vs. Mexico could also clinch a U.S. berth in the 2006 World Cup, but only if the other two CONCACAF qualifying matches on September 3 (Panama vs. Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago vs. Guatemala) result in ties. </p>
Mexico defeated Costa Rica at home last night, 2-0, to maintain the top spot in the final round of qualifying with 16 points (5-0-1), while the U.S sits in second place with 15 points (5-1-0). In the other CONCACAF match last night, Guatemala beat Panama at home, 2-1. Costa Rica and Guatemala are tied for third with seven points each, with Trinidad & Tobago in fifth with four points and Panama sixth with two points. </p>
The CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying tournament is a 10-game round-robin format tournament that began on Feb. 9 and runs through Oct. 12, 2005, with the top three teams automatically advancing to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The fourth-place team will compete in a two-game playoff to be held Nov. 12/13 and Nov. 16 against the fifth-place finisher in Asian qualifying.</p>
The Labor Day weekend tilt in Crew Stadium, presented by Budweiser, will be televised live at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN Classic and Telemundo, and fans are also able to follow the match live at ussoccer.com via MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.</p>
Tickets for the U.S. vs. Mexico World Cup qualifier in Columbus sold out minutes after they went on sale to the general public on August 2. Anticipating the biggest international soccer event in Crew Stadium since the U.S. faced Mexico on Feb. 28, 2001, fans snapped up tickets during a week-long presale for select members of the U.S. Soccer community, including registered ussoccerfan.com members and Crew season ticket holders. The remaining tickets sold out in 20 minutes.</p>
CREW INJURY REPORT
Player Status Injury
Stephen Herdsman Out Groin Strain (L)
Mario Rodriguez Out Hamstring strain (R)
Jon Busch Out for the year Knee (R)
Duncan Oughton Out for the year Knee (R)
Ross Paule Out for the year Post Concussion Syndrome
CREW OTHER PLAYERS OUT
Edson Buddle Out MLS SABH Assessment
