by Jeff Dieffenbach

New England Revolution coach Fernando Clavijo is nearing the end of an exciting week.

Saturday night’s home opener against the Dallas Burn marks the first contest in any sport to be played at owner Robert Kraft’s state-of-the-art CMGi Field.

After four road games, the Revolution bring a respectable 1-2-1 record into the match.

With the MLS capacity of 22,000 seats already sold out, Clavijo expects an overwhelming welcome from the enthusiastic New England fans that have lifted the Revolution’s all-time average home attendance to third despite the poorest winning percentage over the league’s seven year existence.

“No excuses, motivation should not be a factor, we’ll have a great crowd. The crowds in New England have always been great. We have to make sure that we reward them with a great win and a great season.”

On paper, the Revolution have by far their strongest roster ever as they enter the 2002 season. The off-season addition of 2000 scoring leader Mamadou Diallo, U.S. World Cup bound Carlos Llamosa, 2001 scoring leader Alex Pineda Chacon, Steve Ralston, Jim Rooney, Taylor Twellman, and others complements a strong returning core that includes Ted Chronopolous (the only remaining member of the inaugural 1996 team), Joe Franchino, Wolde Harris, Rusty Pierce, goalkeeper Juergen Sommer, and Andy Williams.

Noting this strength, Clavijo acknowledges that there are “a lot of expectations to come out and do well, to perform well and get the win.”

In preparation for the opener, Clavijo and the Revolution hosted a media day on Thursday at CMGi Field. Director of Media Relations Jurgen Mainka led a group of three dozen or so media members and their families on a tour of the spectacular new stadium.

Passing the signature lighthouse and crossing under its accompanying bridge, the tour started in the field level media working room in the Northeast corner, then snaked its way through the East service corridor to the press box elevator at the South end of the stadium. At the top, the elevator doors opened onto an expansive three-tiered press area with a spectacular view of the pitch. Electrical, phone, and network jacks serve a press seating capacity of 150-200.

Taking the elevator back down to the field level, the tour next made its way to the visitor’s locker room. Spacious to be sure, but with a carpet pattern and color scheme surely designed to disorient Revolution opponents with a touch of vertigo.

Finally, before partaking of an excellent lunch that bodes well for the game day customers of the more than 350 concession stands, Mainka led the group out to the field to watch the end of practice and gain access to the players and coaches.

Clavijo’s business card may say Head Coach, but that doesn’t keep him from joining his players in scrimmages. Employing the skills that made him the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Player of the Decade for the 1980s and allowed him to go the full ninety in the US Men’s National Team World Cup victory over Colombia in 1994, he more than held his own against his younger charges.

Decreeing the surface (and not his 46 year old legs) “a little bit slow,” the Uruguay-born naturalized U.S. citizen nonetheless praised the field condition. “We have today, tomorrow, to get used to it. Cut the grass a little bit more, and we’re all set.”

Newcomer and star-in-the-making Taylor Twellman, late of the German Bundesliga’s TSV 1860 Munich reserves, concurred. “Very good, considering that it’s brand new. Not much of a football crown to it, we expected a bigger one.”

Soccer365 asked Twellman, who has two goals in four games, if he’s looking forward to netting the first points in the new stadium. “Yeah, hopefully, we’ll see what goes on. We’d like to get the first goal, the first win, get it going.”

Reminded of the well-played assist from Diallo against Columbus that allowed Twellman to tally the first of his two goals and his first ever in MLS, he commented on whether he owes anything in return. “If it’s me giving it to him, or him giving it to me, it doesn’t matter.”

Are the players hungry to score the first points at CMGi Field? Clavijo certainly thinks so. “Oh, yes, you can see it in the way they practice, everyone is anxious to put the ball in the back of the net.” As for who will be the first, when Diallo’s name was offered, he replied with a smile, “I’ll go with you on that.”

The mood at the stadium on Thursday can best be described as fun. Asked by a young fan about the most important aspect of soccer, another newcomer, Steve Ralston, the league’s leader in career minutes entering the season with 15,500, responded, “I don’t know how many minutes it’s been, but every second’s been fun.”

Clavijo, the architect of the Revolution’s powerhouse roster, gets the last word on fun. Asked if he minded the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots using the stadium in the off-season, he laughed, “We’ll see about lending it to them.”