Revs Ready for Familiar Foe

Square Off Against Atlante in Semifinals of SuperLiga

July 30, 2008

By Sean Donahue

Who: Atlante F.C. at New England Revolution
What: SuperLiga Semifinal
Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.
When: Wednesday, 8:00 p.m. (Telefutura, MLSNet.com)

The New England Revolution are one win away from hosting the SuperLiga final at Gillette Stadium, and with the Houston Dynamo winning the other semifinal, that match could prove the perfect opportunity to avenge their losses in the past two MLS Cups.

The Revs can't think that far away, however, because to get there they will need to defeat Atlante F.C., the champions of Mexico's 2007 Apertura (opening) league.

Jeff Larentowicz and the Revs square off with Mexico's Atlante tonight. (CHRIS ADUAMA/aduam.com).

The Revs defeated two Mexican opponents (Santos Laguna and CF Pachuca) by identical 1-0 scores before tying Chivas USA to advance to the semifinals at the top of Group B. With no experience or even much knowledge of their Mexican opposition, the Revs started off both matches in a 4-4-2 formation and focused on avoiding defensive mistakes while feeling out their opposition. In both games, the opportunities on the offensive end didn't come until later in the match.

Things may be a bit different on Wednesday, however, with the Revolution facing Atlante, a team they lost to 1-0 back in March during the MLS preseason. That match turned out to be a physical affair with the referee issuing 11 yellow cards and three ejections. And since this game could be the second of four potential match-ups between the teams this year � if the Revs advance to the group stages of the CONCACAF Champion's League � both teams will want to avoid a repeat to prevent any needless suspensions or injuries.

"It was nothing," said Revs� assistant coach Paul Mariner of the exhibition fracas with Atlante. "To be honest, the field wasn't the greatest field in the world and I think players were getting a little bit frustrated on both sides. Both teams were a little frustrated with themselves. There is no animosity at all. Those games are forgotten. It was a great work out for us and I'm sure they got the same impression."

While midfielder Jeff Larentowicz, one of the players red carded in the preseason match, feels there may be some animosity left, he recognizes the need to get past that.

"[There is] probably a little bit [of animosity left]", said Larentowicz. "Maybe you'll see guys you recognize from last time, but it's not about us playing in the preseason. It's about us winning this game. Obviously it is different when we are going to play at home, we are going to play in the middle of our season and we can't get homered by the refs and the field and everything thing like that."

The big question in this one is who steps up in Michael Parhurst's absence now that he is away with the Olympic team. The possible return of some key players could help. Taylor Twellman, Mauricio Castro, Adam Cristman, Gary Flood, and Pat Phelan all returned to training this week and are getting close to making their return to the squad. If Flood or Phelan is available, Larentowicz may be asked to play in the backline; something he feels is a possibility.

But the Revs know they will have to be at the top of their game again to match their higher paid Mexican opposition. Even if the preseason friendly gave them some idea about Atlante, the team as usual is focused on their own performance and not so worried about the details of their opponents.

"We know that they are very technical and that they are a very good team," said Mariner. "They are a very well balanced team. But they are in the preseason a little bit. They've got some games under their belt now, but really it's all about us to be perfectly honest. We need to get our game going. We are at home in front of our fans, so we are really looking forward to it."

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS: Blink Del.icio.us Digg
Furl Google Simpy Spurl Technorati Y! MyWeb