Depleted Squads Set to Battle

National Call-ups Rob Revs and Dynamo of Starters

June 12, 2008

By Sean Donahue

Who: Revolution at Houston
Where: Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX
When: Thursday, 9:00 p.m. (ESPN2)

Houston opened the season with a trip to New England and left with the biggest regular season loss in the club's short history. In fact, Houston has never beaten the Revs in five regular season match-ups. But that should come as little consolation to a Revolution side that has fallen in the past two MLS Cup finals to the Dynamo.

Adam Cristman and the Revs will battle Houston Thursday. (Photo credit: Joyce Furia).

Not much is at stake on Thursday, but the first place Revs may face their toughest test of the season so far with several key players away due to international call-ups and injuries.

Shalrie Joseph, who has played every minute this season and arguably been one of the Revs top two performers, will miss the match due to his call-up by the Grenada National Team. Also missing out due to call-ups are Kenny Mansally (Gambia) and Khano Smith (Bermuda).

But the absences don't stop there. Taylor Twellman is still out with a sprained ankle and Gary Flood, the clear replacement for Joseph, is likely to miss out as well with an ankle sprain of his own. The Revs have won with depleted squads before, such as their 1-0 victory in Dallas without six regular starters, but have not yet had to play without Joseph this season and he may well be their most irreplaceable player.

Fortunately for the Revs, the Dynamo are missing a few key players of their own. Goalkeeper Pat Onstad and creative midfielder Dwayne De Rosario were both called-up to Canada, while striker Brian Ching is on international duty with the US. Ching and De Rosario have scored nine of the Houston's 16 goals this season.

This is the final regular season match between the two sides this season with the Revs winning 3-0 in their home opener. The Revs are on a five-match unbeaten run, while Houston has only lost once in their last seven matches after struggling early in the season. The match kicks off at 9:00 p.m.and can be seen live on ESPN2.