Chivas USA Weekly Update: March 28, 2011
 
Chivas USA has busy week, facing Portland Timbers and Toronto FC on the road;
Red-and-White return home on Saturday, April 9 against the Columbus Crew;
Sacha van der Most is named Chivas USA Director of Youth Development
 
CHIVAS USA STARTS BUSY WEEK WITH OPEN CUP MATCH IN PORTLAND: After falling in a hard-fought 1-0 game to the defending MLS Cup champ Colorado Rapids on Saturday, there is little rest for Chivas USA as the team faces expansion side Portland Timbers on Tuesday night in a U.S. Open Cup play-in game. The match will kick off at 7:00 p.m. PT at the University of Portland’s Merlo Field, and updates from the match available via the Chivas USA Twitter feed, @cdchivausa.
 
RED-AND-WHITE VISIT TORONTO FC THIS SATURDAY: Following the match in Portland, Chivas USA will travel face Toronto FC on the road on Saturday, with the match kicking off at 10:00 a.m. PT (1:00 p.m. ET), broadcasting live on Prime Ticket and W Radio 690 AM. The Red-and-White will be looking for its first MLS victory of the season, while TFC is coming off a 2-0 win over the Timbers in its second game of the year. 
 
CHIVAS COME HOME ON SATURDAY, APRIL 9 AGAINST COLUMBUS CREW: The Red-and-White will return to The Home Depot Center on Saturday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. when the team takes on the Columbus Crew. Tickets to the match start at as low as $15 and are available by calling 1-877-CHIVAS-1 or visiting cdchivasusa.com.
 
CHIVAS USA LAUNCHES ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS CAMPAING: Chivas USA and MLS W.O.R.K.S., Major League Soccer’s community outreach initiative, will launch a unique recycling contest at three local schools as part of the club’s month-long “Greener Goals” campaign. The contest will challenge students, teachers and parents to fill twenty bins with recyclables from April 4th to April 15th, and will be judged on the amount of material collected within that time period. For more information, visit cdchivasusa.com or contact Nadia Gonzalez at ngonzalez@cdchivasusa.com, +1 (310) 409-8931.
 
JOIN US AT THE CHIVAS USA VS. TORONTO FC VIEWING PARTY IN TORRANCE: Come and join us this Saturday morning at Lucky Strike Lanes in Torrance for our first Chivas USA road game viewing party! Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for the 10:00 a.m. match against Toronto FC at Lucky Strike Lanes (3525 W. Carson Street, Torrance, CA 90503). There will be food and drink specials, bowling after the game, and Chivas USA will be raffling many prizes. Bring the family and support the Red-and-White on our first away game of the season!. For more information please call Julie Castro at jcastro@cdchivasusa.com or +1 (310) 630-4586.
 
MORENO NOTCHES GOAL IN ACTION WITH VENEZUELA: Chivas USA forward Alejandro Moreno scored the second goal in Venezuela’s 2-0 win over Jamaica on Friday, while defender Michael Umaña played the full 90 minutes in Costa Rica’s 2-2 draw with China at the brand-new Estadio Nacional in San José, Costa Rica. Both players will be out for the match in Portland as they prepare for another match with their national teams.
 
ZAREK VALENTIN WITH  U.S. U-20’S FOR CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP: Chivas USA defender Zarek Valentin, drafted by Chivas USA this offseason out of the University of Akron, is with the United States Under-20 National Team for the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Guatemala. The team plays against Suriname on March 29 and Panama on April 2, and if the U.S. reaches the quarterfinals of the tournament, it will have qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, taking place in Colombia from July 29-August 20. For more information, please visit ussoccer.com.
 
CHIVAS USA UNDER-18 GOALKEEPER DIEGO CHACON JOINS GUATEMALA U-20 TEAM: In addition to defender Zarek Valentin, Chivas USA has another representative at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, in Chivas USA U-18 goalkeeper Diego Chacon. The young goalkeeper will be representing the host nation, Guatemala, in the tournament, which takes place starting in a week.
 
SACHA VAN DER MOST NAMED CHIVAS USA DIRECTOR OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT: Sacha van der Most Spijk has been named Chivas USA Director of Youth Development. In this role, van der Most will manage the Youth Development Coaches and the Scouting Network. In cooperation with Technical Director, Nick Theslof, van der Most will help with the transition of Youth Development players to the professional level.  Youth teams, or ‘Fuerzas Básicas,’ are a critical element of Chivas USA, since these programs offer opportunities to young players in the community, with the goal of providing players to the first team.  Chivas USA’s Youth Development Teams comprise three squads (U-14, U-16, U-18) that are funded entirely by the club. To join these teams, players are invited after being identified by a member of the team’s coaching staff. The U-16 and U-18 teams compete in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, a nationwide league founded in 2007 in which 78 of the country’s top youth clubs, as well as U.S. youth national teams, participate.
 
FROM CDCHIVASUSA.COM AND MLSSOCCER.COM:
·         Fraser looking for the solution after loss to Colorado
·         View the best photos from the match against the Colorado Rapids
·         Manchester United returns to U.S. to play in MLS All-Star game
 
CHIVAS USA SCHEDULE: MARCH 28-APRIL 9*
 
Following is Chivas USA’s latest schedule of travel, events, matches and practice sessions:
Monday, March 28                 Travel to Portland
Tuesday, March 29                Chivas USA @ Portland Timbers (U.S. Open Cup), 7:00 p.m. PT, Merlo Field at the University of Portland
Wednesday, March 30           Travel to Toronto
Thursday, March 31              Training in Toronto (Time and Location TBD)
Friday, April 1                        Training in Toronto (Time and Location TBD)
Saturday, April 2                    Chivas USA @ Toronto FC, 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT), BMO Field
Sunday, April 3                       TBD
Monday, April 4                     TBD
Tuesday, April 5                     Training, 10:00 a.m., Field 6
Wednesday, April 6                Training, 10:00 a.m., Field 6
Thursday, April 7                   Training, 10:00 a.m., Field 6
Friday, April 8                        Training, 10:00 a.m., Field 6
Saturday, April 9                    Chivas USA vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. PT, The Home Depot Center
 
*Subject to change. For latest information, or if you plan on attending a session, please contact Chivas USA’s Communications Department.
 
cdchivasusa.com