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reprint of COLORADO RAPIDS NEWS RELEASE -- byline Ben Grossman
NEWS RELEASE
DENVER (Thursday, February 5, 1998) - The Colorado Rapids depart Friday for Major League Soccer's spring training in Orlando, Fla., and will be giving tryouts to two local players and a former World Cup star for Switzerland over the next two weeks.
Colorado College product Andre Nunely and Littleton native Anthony Latronica will accompany the team to Orlando to try to impress Rapids coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick. Nunely is a strong defender who spent 1997 with the A-League Colorado Foxes, while Latronica was an All-American goalkeeper at the University of Rhode Island.
Perhaps the most intriguing non-roster invitee to Orlando is former Swiss World Cup star Thomas Bickel. Bickel, who has started more than 50 games for his country, played for Switzerland in the 1994 World Cup, including a 1-1 draw against Marcelo Balboa and the USA. Three years ago voted Player of the year in Switzerland, Bickel was most recently with Kobe Vissel in the J-League, Japan's First Division.
CREW, UNITED WILL BE EARLY TESTS: The Rapids open the 1998 exhibition season against the Columbus Crew on Saturday night in Orlando. The Rapids will then look to exact revenge on MLS Cup '97 champions D.C. United when the teams face each other on February 10 for the first time since D.C.'s 2-1 win in the championship game.
BALBOA AND HENDERSON LOOKING FOR GOLD: The Rapids will be without stars Marcelo Balboa and Chris Henderson, as the duo are in California competing with the U.S. National Team in the Gold Cup. The USA opened the tournament with a 3-0 thrashing of Cuba. Henderson came off the bench for the final 20 minutes, while Balboa found himself on the bench as U.S. coach Steve Sampson experimented with different combinations at the back.
Fri., February 6 Depart for Orlando Sat., February 7 Game vs. Columbus Crew 3:30 pm MST Tue., February 10 Game vs. D.C. United 5:30 pm MST Thu., February 12 Game vs. USISL JacksonvilleCyclones 4:00 pm MST Feb. 13, 14 or 15 Game vs. MLS team TBD TBD Mon., February 16 Depart for training and games in Mexico Week of March 2 Press conference introducing draft choices TBD
| Rapids 1998 Pre-Season Roster | |||||||
| No. | Player | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Birthdate | Hometown | College |
| 17 | Marcelo Balboa | D | 6-1 | 175 | 8/8/67 | Cerritos, California | San Diego State |
| 8 | Paul Bravo | M | 6-0 | 175 | 7/19/68 | San Jose, California | Santa Clara |
| 24 | Paul Grafer | GK | 6-3 | 184 | 8/7/74 | Pt. Washington, New York | William & Mary |
| 1 | Marcus Hahnemann | GK | 6-3 | 218 | 6/15/72 | Bellevue, Washington | Seattle Pacific |
| 23 | Wolde Harris | F | 5-10 | 190 | 1/26/74 | Kingston, Jamaica | Clemson |
| 19 | Chris Henderson | M | 5-10 | 150 | 12/11/70 | Everett, Washington | UCLA |
| 3 | Sean Henderson | M | 6-0 | 160 | 7/25/72 | Everett, Washington | UCLA |
| 15 | Tahj Jakins | D | 6-2 | 182 | 11/11/75 | Huntington Beach, California | UCLA |
| 14 | Chris Martinez | D | 6-2 | 190 | 12/25/70 | Denver, Colorado | Clemson |
| 20 | Ross Paule | M | 5-10 | 160 | 4/4/76 | Cordova, Tennessee | Creighton |
| 11 | Adrian Paz | F | 5-10 | 168 | 9/9/68 | Montevideo, Uruguay | -- |
| 10 | Steve Rammel | F | 5-9 | 160 | 4/20/68 | Woodbury, New Jersey | Rutgers |
| 4 | Steve Trittschuh | D | 6-0 | 170 | 4/24/65 | Granite City, Illinois | Southern Illinois |
| 2 | Peter Vermes | D | 6-1 | 175 | 1/21/66 | Delran, New Jersey | Rutgers |
| PROJECT-40 ALLOCATION: | |||||||
| 22 | Joey DiGiamarino | M | 5-10 | 160 | 4/6/77 | Corona, California | Cal-State Fullerton |
| 1998 DRAFT CHOICES: | |||||||
| Jason Boyce | F | 5-7 | 150 | 10/14/75 | Hollywood, California | Washington | |
| P.J. Brown | D | 6-1 | 175 | 10/10/73 | Bellvue, Washington | Azusa Pacific | |
| Julio Cengarle | M | 6-3 | 205 | 3/31/71 | Clifton, New Jersey | Montclair State | |
| Tayt Ianni | D | 5-8 | 155 | 12/6/71 | Los Gatos, California | UCLA | |
| Tyrone Marshall | F | 6-2 | 180 | 11/12/74 | Lauderhill, Florida | Florida International | |
| Marquis White | F | 5-7 | 145 | 3/1/69 | San Rafael, California | San Francisco | |
| NON-ROSTER INVITEES: | |||||||
| Thomas Bickel | M | 6-1 | 170 | 10/10/63 | Del Ray Beach, Florida | -- | |
| Anthony Latronica | GK | 6-1 | 190 | 8/8/75 | Littleton, Colorado | Rhode Island | |
| Andre Nunely | D | 6-0 | 170 | 5/22/74 | Denver, Colorado | Colorado College | |
| Carsten Siersbaek | M | 5-8 | 160 | 3/27/74 | Denver, Colorado | -- | |
| RAPIDS NUMERICAL ROSTER | |||||||
| No. | Player | Pos. | Place of Birth | Last Club | |||
| 1 | Marcus Hahnemann | GK | Seattle, Washington | Seattle Sounders (A-League) | |||
| 2 | Peter Vermes | D | Willingsboro, N.J. | MetroStars | |||
| 3 | Sean Henderson | D | Everett, Washington | Tus Celle (Germany) | |||
| 4 | Steve Trittschuh | D | Granite City, Illinois | Montreal Impact (A-League) | |||
| 8 | Paul Bravo | M | San Jose, California | San Jose Clash | |||
| 10 | Steve Rammel | F | Bridgetown, N.J. | D.C. United | |||
| 11 | Adrian Paz | M | Montevideo, Uruguay | Columbus Crew | |||
| 14 | Chris Martinez | D | Parker, Colorado | Colorado Foxes (A-League) | |||
| 15 | Tahj Jakins | D | Salt Lake City, Utah | UCLA | |||
| 17 | Marcelo Balboa | D | Cerritos, California | Leon (Mexico) | |||
| 19 | Chris Henderson | M | Edmonds, Washington | Stabeck (Norway) | |||
| 20 | Ross Paule | M | Memphis, Tennessee | Creighton University | |||
| 22 | Joey DiGiamarino | M | Corona, California | Cal-State Fullerton | |||
| 23 | Wolde Harris | F | Kingston, Jamaica | Colorado Foxes (A-League) | |||
| 24 | Paul Grafer | GK | New York, New York | L.I. Rough Riders (A-League) | |||
| Thomas Bickel | M | Biel, Switzerland | Kobe Vissel (J-League) | ||||
| Jason Boyce | F | Hollywood, California | Univ. of Washington | ||||
| P.J. Brown | D | Bellvue, Washington | Azusa Pacific Univ. | ||||
| Julio Cengarle | M | Rosario, Argentina | Maunabo (Puerto Rico) | ||||
| Tayt Ianni | D | Lodi, California | Orange County Zodiac (A-League) | ||||
| Anthony Latronica | GK | Englewood, Colorado | Univ. of Rhode Island | ||||
| Tyrone Marshall | F | Kingston, Jamaica | Florida International Univ. | ||||
| Andre Nunely | D | Denver, Colorado | Colorado College | ||||
| Carsten Siersbaek | M | Fredericia, Denmark | Vejle (Denmark) | ||||
| Marquis White | F | San Rafael, California | San Francisco Bay Seals | ||||