Quakes to open 2009 at home against New England

Darren Huckerby turns the corner on New England’s Jay Heaps. Photo by Joe Nuxoll, centerlinesoccer.com.

If you’re looking to fill in a couple dates on your 2009 calendar, the Earthquakes have released details on the first two games of next season’s schedule. The team will open their campaign on Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium against New England before traveling to RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. to play DC United the next week.

In other news, San Jose head coach Frank Yallop and assistant Ian Russell depart for London later this week, where the two will lead the MLS Generation adidas team on a three-game swing against the reserves of West Ham, Chelsea, and Aston Villa. Their full schedule is available on MLSnet.com.

Yallop and Russell, along with GM John Doyle and goalkeeper coach Jason Batty, will also use the trip as an opportunity to meet with their counterparts at San Jose partner club Tottenham Hotspur and observe some training sessions. The quartet will also attend the Spurs/Manchester United match on December 13 at White Hart Lane.

Doyle has one stop before he arrives in England, however: Jamaica. He will be scouting six matches at the Digicel Cup, a Caribbean tournament which will feature Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Jamaica, Barbados, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Haiti, and Antigua & Barbuda.