Chivas USA players (left to right) Sasha Victorine, Jesse Marsch, Jonathan Bornstein, and Zach Thornton joke around while waiting for the team's bags in the San Jose airport.Chivas USA arrived Friday evening in San Jose ahead of Saturday night’s match against the Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m., and will be broadcast live in Southern California on W Radio 690 AM, and tape-delayed on FS West at 10:00 p.m. (pre-game show starts at 7:00 p.m. on W Radio and 9:30 p.m. on FS West).
One player who is traveling with the team for the first time in 2009 is midfielder Sasha Victorine, who has not yet played this season due to a knee surgery he underwent last October. The UCLA grad and SoCal native arrived at Chivas USA in a mid-season trade last year, and had 2 goals and 1 assist in just 5 games (4 starts) before suffering the knee injury that ended his season.
Victorine is excited to have the chance to be back on the road with his teammates.
“You definitely forget what it’s like traveling when you haven’t been there for a while, but it’s good,” he said after the team landed in San Jose. “It’s nice to get out and feel the camaraderie with your teammates when you’re on the road. I’m excited no matter what, just to be out, and hopefully get the chance to play.”
As for the opportunity to potentially play in tomorrow’s match, Victorine knows that it will take some time for him to adjust from practicing with his teammates, which he has been doing since March, to an MLS match.
“It’s a different experience,” he said. “Practice is practice, but you can’t get the same atmosphere as a game, just because of the speed. I think that’s the key, why it’s taken a little bit longer [to return from injury], just getting back up to speed and quickness and the rhythm. I feel pretty good. I think it’s going to be a little while until I’m all the way back, feeling 100% comfortable, where I think I should be, but it’s a process.”
After Saturday night’s match in San Jose, Chivas USA will face Real Salt Lake at The Home Depot Center on May 9 at 7:30 p.m. PT. For more information on either game, or to purchase tickets to the Red-and-White’s next home game, please call 1-877-CHIVAS-1 or visit cdchivasusa.com.
