Colorado Rapids have been suffering from several injuries for key players like Jose Mari. Just when it seemed that the 26-year-old will be able to start dominating the midfield, he has suffered yet another injury and will be on the sidelines for up to a month. He has sprained his left ankle and will miss several matches during this period. Mari suffered this injury while playing in the 2-0 win against Vancouver Whitecaps. Colorado Rapids have been one of the best teams in the Western Conference this season. Even though they have been unable to keep pace with Seattle Sounders, they have been doing well.

After failing to win the last two matches, they returned to winning ways with this victory over Vancouver Whitecaps. However, the last two results allowed Seattle Sounders to extend their lead at the top of the table to 10 points after having played just 16 matches. They have by far been the best team in the MLS this season. Mari was a signing from Spanish club Real Zaragoza back in February. He did not take long to settle at the club after managing two goals in the 2-1 win over Vancouver a few months ago.

So far, he has managed three goals and come up with one assist. “I think [right back Marvell Wynne] and [left back Chris Klute] did a really good job in the first half of putting them on their heels and creating imbalances in the midfield, releasing [the attack], and I think a part of that was the stability that Nicky [LaBrocca] and Wattsy [Watts] provided in the midfield, allowing guys to get forward. That was a focus this week. I think they executed it to a ‘T’,” said manager Pablo Mastroeni. Colorado Rapids next take on Columbus crew in a match that will be at home.

FC Dallas were on a very poor run of form that saw them get no victories in the last few matches, but this finally came to an end after a 3-2 win over Colorado Rapids last weekend. After this result, Dallas were extremely overjoyed and they are now very much looking forward to the next match against Portland Timbers. Despite this match being away from home, it is understood that FC Dallas are confident of getting something from the match. It would be a major boost in their race to finish in the top two places of the Western Conference table.

Dallas are level on points with Colorado Rapids as a result of this victory, but they remain three points behind Real Salt Lake. Further, they have also played two more matches than Real Salt Lake, which puts them at a major disadvantage. Hence, they need to get a win against Portland Timbers in order to compensate for it. Fabián Castillo played a key role in the win over Colorado last week. Zach Loyd reckons that the player got a huge amount of confidence as a result of this performance. Castillo is now expected to play a major role in the upcoming match against Portland.

After this match, Dallas take on San Antonio Scorpions in the U.S. Open cup. “Great confidence-building for Fabián going into next week. It was pretty spectacular, just seeing him do what he does: He kind of glides and dances through people. To put that finishing touch was great to see,” said Zach. “We have to be patient with a player that is young but has a lot of potential. I see him working non-stop, and I can’t tell you how much these guys have been improving,” said the manager Oscar Pareja about the potential of Castillo.

After a spell on the sidelines due to an injury, Marco Di Vaio has revealed that he could feature for Montréal Impact in the match against Colorado Rapids this weekend. The player suffered an injury while playing against Sporting Kansas City almost a month ago. He had to be taken off in the 4-0 defeat suffered at the hands of the top team from the Eastern conference. Montreal impact definitely need the presence of quality players back in the team after they have been struggling in the league this season.

They are bottom in the 10 team Eastern conference table with just one win in the last five matches. Any hope of reaching even the play-off position could vanish in the next few weeks if they do not get a couple of wins under their belts. The return of Marco Di Vaio provides a positive reaction for the team. Even as they welcome Marco Di Vaio back into the team, the team has to do without defender Matteo Ferrari for the upcoming match. The defender has failed to feature in only two out of the last 35 matches, but the veteran has been struggling with the calf injury in the last few weeks.

The club’s assistant coach Mauro Biello said that he does not know how long Ferrari will be missing from the team. “Yes, I think I’m ready to go. I trained yesterday, alone at first and then with the team, and today I took part in the whole session. I feel good after the injury. I can go,” said Marco Di Vaio. “I don’t know exactly how long [he’ll be out], but in his case, he felt something and he doesn’t want to tear his calf and miss six-to-eight weeks,” said assistant coach about the injury situation to Ferrari.