Behind The Box Score

Nearly a month ago, the Crew went into the match with Cruz Azul with high hopes, and a belief they could take down the Mexican power on their home turf. However, the only thing theyleft with on that late August day was a 5-0 loss in the CONCACAF Champions League game, and a broken spirit. “It definitely stings when you lose that bad. The good thing about the Champions League is it’s group play. We can take them on at our place,” defender Jed Zayner said. The rematch is exactly what they get at Crew Stadium, tonight at 8 pm.

The horrific start for the black and gold led to the blowout; giving up two goals in the first 8 minutes. They also lost Eric Brunner to a red card 30 minutes after the 2 goals, putting the Crew in dire straits, and a deficit they never did get the chance to cut into. “Some things went wrong. Anytime you get a red card against a Mexican team early they’re going to possess the ball and make runs. It’s tough to beat them,” defender Frankie Hejduk said of the beat down on August 26th in Mexico.

The loss stung for Columbus mentally for a while, but the focus now is getting redemption, and getting the chance to enjoy a victory over Cruz Azul this time. “It gives us added motivation to whoop them at home. We have something to prove at home,” Zayner said. “Losing 5-nil at their place, they had a little laugh at us but now this time we hope to have a little laugh at them.”The last home competitive match the Crew lost at home was a 2-0 blanking at the hands of San Jose on June 7th, 2008, almost 16 months since that loss. “We take pride in winning games here. Anything less than three points is a disappointment,” Hejduk said. “We’re going out there for the win and prove that game was a fluke. Not taking anything away from them. They played a great game, actually. You have to win your games at home. If we do that we’ll solidify ourselves in this group.”