TUCSON, Ariz. – The Colorado Rapids will face their first opponents of preseason on Tuesday, March 16, when they take on Portland Timbers and Phoenix Rising FC in two 45-minute halves at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona. Rapids fans can follow the Live Blog on ColoradoRapids.com for real-time coverage of the scrimmages beginning at 12 p.m. MT.
“It’s really all about transferring what we’ve done here in training into the scrimmage and hopefully we can get on the end of a couple things and have a positive result,” Rapids assistant coach Wolde Harris said. “It’s good to get a test outside of the team to see where we really are and measure ourselves against an opponent that we’re going to face during the season.”
The Rapids have been training at Kino Sports Complex since last Monday, with a focus on implementing head coach Robin Fraser’s preferred style of play and integrating several new faces to the group. Colorado added dynamic winger Michael Barrios in January and signed four new Homegrowns prior to leaving for Arizona.
Portland started preseason training on March 3 in preparation for Concacaf Champions League play, which it will begin on April 6 against Honduran side CD Marathón. Phoenix is coming off a successful 2020 campaign in which they won the USL Championship Western Conference playoff bracket. The 2020 USL Championship final was cancelled due to ongoing health safety concerns.
Tuesday’s closed-door scrimmages are the first of six the Rapids will play this preseason. Colorado will play Sporting KC and New Mexico United of the USL Championship on March 20 and March 27, respectively, before playing three friendlies against Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy and Phoenix Rising in the Visit Tucson Sun Cup from April 3 to 10.
