Colorado went to Mexico hoping that they could steal a win. Santos obliged them by starting their reserves. Then we found out the Rapids started half of their reserves and that was the end of that hope.
Colorado controlled play for much of the first half, but every time the ball got to the attackers it died.

By JOSÉ M. ROMERO

These last two days of CONCACAF Champions League group matches have not been kind to American MLS teams.

The Colorado Rapids, despite deploying front-line players in a clear effort to win, became the third U.S. club in two days to lose its finale of group play after Wednesday night's 2-0 loss to Santos Laguna in Torreon, Mexico.

So, yeah, about that whole post where I said the Rapids will be beat by Metapan and the roster selection was not great. Well Colorado proved me an idiot with a 3-1 win last night. The reserve squad, lead by Steve Guppy and augmented by Wells Thompson and Tyrone Marshall, pulled together in a tough environment and dominated the scoreboard.

The Colorado Rapids entered Tuesday night sitting atop their CONCACAF Champions League group with a chance to move themselves in pole position for a quarterfinal place.

Santos Laguna had other plans.

The visitors from Mexico turned Dick's Sporting Goods Park into their own personal playground, demolishing a make-shift Rapids defense with speedy wing play and precise passing on their way to a 4-1 victory.

Colorado sent a young team down to Honduras, and you could tell from the play. The Rapids had few chances last night and were under siege most of the game. They managed a 1-1 draw and the one point is a good result given their youth, but 3 points was there for the taking had the coaching staff done a better job managing the squad over the last couple of weeks.

Has hell frozen over all of a sudden? What magic and mystery has happened down in Mexico. Last week we saw FC Dallas achieve history with the first ever MLS victory on Mexican soil against UNAM Pumas. The big question that came out of this was whether the Seattle Sounders would have that same magic against the defending champions in Monterrey.

The Rapids have taken 19 players on the long trip to Honduras, their first trip outside the U.S. & Canada for a meaningful game in 13 years. Tomorrow they face Real Espana in San Pedro Sula in their second Champions League match. While Pablo, Pickens, Wynne, and Smith stayed in Colorado the rest of the starters traveled with the team and will be available for selection.

An interesting discussion came up on BigSoccer this week about how the Red Bulls have started a lineup of 11 players from 11 different countries. So I decided to take a look at the Rapids roster to see how close I could come. I can come up with a Rapids lineup of 11 players who have eligibility for 11 different national teams, but one has already passed on it.

This year starts on a much better note than the last 3 years. Before our first kick of 2011 we'll be raising our 2010 Champions banner (I assume)! That's a much better place to be than on a 3-year playoff drought like last year. With the added CONCACAF Champions League games the Rapids have a full schedule this year.

Sorry for the false alarm on the game stream last night. Turns out it was only available in the Seattle area. The Rapids lost 3-1, but the Rapids didn't give up a goal until 3rd string keeper Steward Ceus was subbed in, and the last two came after Gary Smith made wholesale changes to the lineup.
Meanwhile there's news on a couple of players.

The Rapids have finished their games in Arizona. Over the last 5 days they have faced Kansas City, Columbus, and La, finishing with 2 wins and a draw.
Game 1 - Sporting Kansas CityStarting 11: Pickens, Kimura, Wynne, Moor, Wallace, Nyassi, Larentowicz, Nane, Thompson, Folan, Cummings
29 of the 30 players on the trip played in the 120 minute session, only Mastroeni got the game off.

Welcome back, friends and readers, from the holiday breather. I hope you are all refreshed and ready to go as the new year starts and the championship hangover fades.

With the MLS roster now expanded from 24 to 30 players and the reserve league's rebirth, the Rapids have to start the challenging process of putting together a roster that will be able to meet a host of demands in 2011.