Sunday: Colorado Rapids – Everton Toffees

By: Kyle | August 2nd, 2008

Man, it’s been a slow week; kind of a downer, really. Between that and the loss against Columbus which was more of a fist fight than a soccer game, if this were a bye week like originally scheduled, the only thing keeping me going would be the knowledge that the first football game of the year is Sunday (if you are reading from outside the US, just don’t bother asking).

But I’ll gladly miss an exhibition game between two teams I hardly care about in order to see the match the Rapids managed to put together this weekend: vs. Everton. I still don’t think it will be real to me until I see them take the field, but our Rapids are playing a EUFA-Cup-class team (or is it Europa Cup or whatever that thing is called now?).

There are two stories around this game that I find interesting: first is seeing Tim Howard back here. Any US fan loves the guy, but I’ve never had the chance to see him play in person. He played in the Chicago – Everton game a few days ago, so I do hope he’s their keeper on Sunday.

The other interesting dynamic is the Terry Cooke – Phil Neville story. They go way back to when Terry was on pace to be the next big thing in English soccer while in the Man Yoo youth club in 1995. He and Neville were both in the club and were roommates. I can’t imagine that you can room with someone, become English youth national champions with him, and not have it be odd to play against him 13 years later, especially under circumstances that must seem odd to English sensibilities.

As for the match itself, the Premiership first kick is two weeks away now, and Everton is clearly not fit yet, having lost to Chicago 2-0 on Thursday (Chicago’s shutting out EPL teams now, too? Good lord). This won’t be a gimme for either side, but I am sure that watching the Colorado midfield do its thing against a club like Everton is going to be something pretty incredible to watch.

It’s just an exhibition match, so there’s no TV or anything (maybe there is somewhere on the Everton side of things, but I don’t know). So if you only go to a few games a year, this is one to go to. I’m surprised there are any tickets left, but there are so if you like soccer and you live in Colorado, this is a must see match.