Chivas USA midfield general and captain Jesse Marsch was pleased his team rose to the physical challenge in their 2-1 home win against Colorado Rapids at the weekend. Speaking after the game Marsch was clear that the level of play will need to be raised this year.

"In the second half when things settled down there was actually some pretty good soccer out there," Marsch said. "The thing I'm most pleased with in the first game is that the soccer was decent in the second half.

"Early on in the year, especially with home games, you want to try and take advantage of them and get three points. Nobody is necessarily sharp yet but these points could come in handy down the road.

"It was physical, more physical than most games and I was glad that we actually rose to the challenge," Marsch said, "to make sure we were ready to dig in, bite and fight a little bit more."