|
 Major
League Soccer today unveiled the full slate of six matches
scheduled for the opening weekend of the 2005 regular season on
Saturday, April 2, 2005. The League's 10th season will open with
First Kick 2005 and the highly anticipated first game in the
history of Club Deportivo Chivas USA as they play host to MLS
Cup champion D.C. United at The Home Depot Center in a match to
be broadcast live on ABC Sports (3:00 p.m. ET).
 CD
Chivas USA joins Real Salt Lake as the two expansion clubs to
join the League in 2005. The first game in Real Salt Lake
history will take place at Giants Stadium as RSL faces the
MetroStars (7 p.m. ET). Former U.S. Under-17 National Team Head
Coach John Ellinger will coach his first MLS game against Bob
Bradley, the all-time winningest coach in League history.
 The
other matchups scheduled for opening weekend include: the Los
Angeles Galaxy taking on the
Columbus Crew, winners of the 2004 MLS Supporters Shield with
the best regular season record (7:30 p.m. ET); the MLS Western
Conference Champion Kansas City Wizards hosting the new-look
Colorado Rapids (8:00 p.m. ET); the first game of the Brimstone
Cup rivalry between FC Dallas and the Chicago Fire at Soldier
Field (8:30 p.m. ET); and the New England Revolution traveling
to meet the San Jose Earthquakes (10:00 p.m. ET).
The complete 2005
regular season schedule will be released in January. MLS Cup
will be played on November 13 in Frisco, Texas. The listing of
the full slate of matches on opening weekend follows below:
SATURDAY - APRIL 2, 2005
D.C. United @ CD Chivas USA (ABC Sports, 3:00 p.m. ET)
Real Salt Lake @ MetroStars (7:00 p.m. ET)
Los Angeles Galaxy @ Columbus Crew (7:30 p.m. ET)
Colorado Rapids @ Kansas City Wizards (8:00 p.m. ET)
FC Dallas @ Chicago Fire (8:30 p.m. ET)
New England Revolution @ San Jose Earthquakes (10:00 p.m. ET)
 Prior
to the start of the season, MLS Cup finalists D.C. United and
the Kansas City Wizards will participate in the
2005 CONCACAF Champions' Cup,
which crowns the best team in the Confederation of North,
Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
since 1962. The two clubs will represent the United States in
the competition which will determine the team to represent
CONCACAF in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship to be held in
Japan in December 2005 which in turn will crown the world's top
club. The CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal series kick off on
March 9 with D.C. United hosting Jamaica's Harbour View FC while
the Wizards host Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica.
Major League Soccer's 12 clubs continue their preparations ahead
of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft, which will take place in Baltimore,
Maryland on Friday, January 14 in conjunction with the National
Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Convention at the
Baltimore Convention Center. |
