Crew v. Aston Villa Tonight!

By: scott | July 28th, 2007

I hope everyone will make it out to the big exhibition game tonight at Crew Stadium (weather permitting I guess. I certainly wouldn’t want to be in our black and gold aluminum wonderland if a storm stirs up–If there are weather issues, maybe we can all hang out with these guys from the Crew Supporters Union– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPGf-cMjues–who says soccer doesn’t fly in the midwest?).

Personally I am pretty excited to see Martin O’Neill’s boys in Ohio, particularly if they give us half of what they gave in Toronto the other night (4-2 Villa win). Of course, unlike Toronto (who played really well) we’re going to win. In particular keep an eye out for Gabriel Agbonlahor bombing down the right hand side. He’s incredibly quick and if Rusty’s in for all or some of the game, he’s going to have to be on his horse back there. Also, keep an eye on Luke Moore (Wednesday’s hat-trick hero), Nigel Reo-Coker, and Gareth Barry. Reo-Coker and Barry are England regulars and should make for a strong midfield when the Premiership season gets started next week. For those of you who don’t know the man, Martin O’Neill was a tremendously successful manager at Celtic for several years and seems, by all accounts I’ve seen, to be a top class guy. So, we’ll feel sorrow for him in defeat (right?).

Regarding the response I’ve already gotten since starting this position–thanks for the positive feedback. I’m going to try and be regular about posting (school schedule permitting), be sure to keep me honest.

I also want to thank Barrak for bringing a couple things to my attention. First, the Hunt Park Insider is an incredible resource for Crew information. They’re a heck of a lot more “with it” than I am, with training reports, access to players and coaches, as well as an established history upon which to draw. Definitely check them out. Second, on HPI, Walt’s Practice Report contained the following:

There is only one Schelotto!?
Or so I thought. When arriving at practice last Saturday morning there was Schelotto decked out in Crew training attire jogging away from the rest of his teammates. With an important match looming the next day this could not be good news. Quickly I searched for someone to provide the answer for this lack of participation. What do you mean, Guillermo is right there with this teammates came the reply. Somewhat bemused, I quickly learned that the jogging Schelotto was not Guillermo, but his brother. Now this indeed had to be a good omen. Now there are two Schelotto’s in Columbus. Watch out MLS!

In Argentina, Guille has many nicknames, one of which is El Mellizo, the Twin. His twin brother Gustavo also played at Boca and at a number of other clubs in Argentina and Europe (including Boca, Racing, Gimnasia, Rosario Central, Villareal, and the USL’s Puerto Rico Islanders). Now, I haven’t seen any other reports of Sigi going in for the other half of the Schelotto legacy, but it might be interesting, if not confusing for opposing defenses. Gustavo’s wikipedia page lists him as “retired” but you never know in international football (right, Francesco Totti?).

One other note before I head out to pregame festivities. Danny Szetela is the new toast of the States and I for one hope he gets a European contract. As much as he impressed the other night versus Toronto, I think this guy could be the real deal and there’s no place better than Europe to develop the skills needed to be worldclass. So, Danny, as much as we love you, get the hell out of here. Go to Europe, become a megastar, come back to visit sometime. Ohio is like a good mom, always cheering and always up waiting when you get back.

Enjoy tonight Crew Nation, I’ll report on the game asap.