RSL News and MLS midweek action
June 12, 2008 by f4denz.
Real Salt Lake News
Sounders enlist defender from MLS seattlepi.nwsource.com
In need of some extra bodies to fill out an injury-depleted lineup, the Sounders reached out to Major League Soccer and were given a former No. 1 overall pick. The Sounders added defender Nik Besagno on loan from Real Salt Lake on Tuesday.
RSL: RSL loans former No. 1 pick Besagno to lower-level team sltrib.com
Nik Besagno has yet to make an impact for Real Salt Lake, after the franchise made him the unexpected - and oft-derided - No. 1 pick of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft in 2005. Now, he will try a different path.
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I hope this works out for Nik, his lack of playing time has only added to the problems he has had with injuries, now healthy getting quality playing minutes, even at a USL team will be great to help him regain his form and get valued experience playing. From a RSL perspective this may be a very clever move, since Nik will get great exposure to fans and coaches in Seattle, so could this be a effort to get the expansion Seattle Sounders FC (who are 293 days away from their first action) to work out a trade for the Washington State native? Either way, this is a good move for both RSL and Nik, and could be a very good move for both if it works out to involve the MLS version of the Seattle Sounders.
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RSL’s Williams to play for country real.saltlake.mlsnet.com
When Real Salt Lake head out to Los Angeles for a rematch against Chivas USA this weekend, midfielder Andy Williams will hit the road with a different destination before him. Williams will be away from the club for the next two weeks, joining the Jamaican national team in a pair of World Cup qualifying matches against the Bahamas on June 15 and 18.
Grenada beat Jamaica 2-1 antiguasun.com (it appears the Jamaica really need Andy)
Grenada used second-half strikes from their overseas professionals Shalrie Joseph and Jason Roberts to upset Jamaica 2-1 in their friendly football international at the National Stadium on Tuesday evening. The Jamaicans had taken a first-half lead through England-based Ricardo Fuller, but Joseph and Roberts logged decisive strikes nine minutes apart after the break to snatch victory for the home side.
Soccer season too soon? Deseretnews.com
The $110 million Real Soccer Stadium will host its first game Oct. 9, but city officials and project management say the structure won’t be completely finished in time. Real may have to hire Sandy city firefighters to stand at various places throughout the stadium during the first and second games. The firefighters will watch for fires and help people leave in the event of an emergency because fire notification and suppression systems may not be complete, stadium project manager Mike Steel said.
(in typical salt lake media fashion- a may statement is driven into a tirade about how bad the stadium is and all the things wrong. Funny they didn’t use the statement that with two crews working on the stadium, the only real concern is the south end stands (which are really a state of the art project that is taking a little more time than planned). I never expect fair coverage, but once again another hack job by a bitter person.)
Midweek MLS Action
Houston host Revolution in match up of hot teams
This weeks Thursday night MLS match up feature two incredibly hot teams, Houston after a slow start have only one loss in their last seven matches (4-1-2) get to face the East leading New England Revolution who have only one loss in their last eight matches (5-1-2) at Robertson Stadium. Both teams will be playing with rosters missing many of their stars, for New England they will be missing Kenny Mansally, Shalrie Joseph, and Khano Smith all with their national teams. They will also be without Taylor Twellman who is still out with an ankle injury. Houston is missing Wade Barrett with an injury, and Brian Ching, Dwayne De Rosario, and Pat Onstad who are with their respective national teams. For Houston that means that the players who have scored 9 of their 16 goals this season will be gone, along with their number one keeper, and for the Rev’s they will be missing more than offense as without Joseph, they are missing their anchor in the midfield.
Without these players, who will step up? New England has gotten offense from Dube, who has made the most so far of his rookie season, and from Cristman, as well as from Steve Ralston, and with Matt Reis in goal they are always a threat to win a match. Houston will really have to find someone to step up for their offense as their only player available that has scored more than once this season is Franco Caraccio, good thing that their defense has only given just one goal in their last two matches. Perhaps the biggest factor in this match will be the weather; the heat index is supposed to be 100 plus tomorrow in Houston, so expect to see players struggle with the heat. This is going to be a close match with or without the big stars and I have a feeling that it will end up in a 1-1 draw as New England hold onto their lead in the East and with the point Houston will take over the top of the Western Conference.
Game Guide
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