Sunday Morning practice for Real Salt Lake
July 27, 2008 by f4denz.
Well since practices are either scheduled for times when I am working, or are at locations I can’t normally get to easily the chance to stop by a practice at RES on a warm Sunday morning was something too good to pass up. So the 10 am practice actually started a bit early and players were divided into a couple groups, not a lot of rhyme or reason to the groups but it appeared that it was a good mix of first and second string and it was nice to see Robbie Russell out there practicing.
Kyle and Yura
Javi and Fabian
Robbie Russell takes a shot
Tino works on Nat
Robbie comes to help Nat out
Dema and Jamison
Kenny’s shot goes a bit high
Yura and Ian trying to beat the heat after practice
Caught and punished
So practice was short just over an hour, with a lot of 5 on 5 and finishing drills. Even in a short practice you could see that the players as well as the coaching staff were taking things seriously. A good healthy completion was clear as the 5 man teams rotated to see who would come out on top of a mini 4 team tourney. Adam Acosta who played the as the “middle” man for both sides in one set of matches looked good and actually had more finishes than any other single player. Robin Fraser was the “middle” man in the other set of matches and he looked good and I joked with him after to see if his coming out of coaching to fill in a roster spot was the other upcoming player announcement. He laughed and mentioned that he isn’t sure too many players would want to be on the pitch with him, I think he might be surprised, but he may be on the receiving end of some friendly fire tackles.
Robbie Russell looked good and in speaking with him afterwards he seems very excited to be here and even while getting settled in he already likes Salt Lake City, and he should be in the 18 for tomorrows match against TFC.
Over all it was an enjoyable way to spend a morning and the team looks relaxed and ready for the match. It was nice to see a couple members of the local media at the practice to do a couple interviews. I will post my match preview and prediction either later this evening or early on Monday.
OFF MY SOAPBOX
Real Salt Lake vs. Saprissa Photos
July 26, 2008 by f4denz.
Warm Ups
stretching is important
Reynish makes a save
Yura practices free throws
Saprissa warming up
Anthems
Prematch huddle
1st Half
Save by Reynish
Save by Navas
Dema attacks the ball
Robbie tries out for the Olympic Keeper jumper event
Kyle on the attack
Robbie heads towards the box
I don’t think their discussing the weather
Olave clears the ball
Joy gets a break away
Navas starts the attack
Half time
Rimando Juggles
Some new faces for the second half
Second half
A. Robinson gets a shot off
Javi takes a free kick
Everyone is happy after the match
Fans get a hand from Borchers and Wingert
RSL’s Sturgis hurt again
July 26, 2008 by f4denz.
When healthy Nathan Sturgis is a soccer stud, the fact that he was selected to the US Olympic team despite having missed most of this season with an ongoing hamstring injury is proof of his quality. The problem is when is Sturgis healthy, we have see under 120 minutes of first team MLS action from him this year, and under 500 minutes since he was acquired with Robbie Findley from the LA Galaxy. His recent injury at the Olympic training camp is one that never should have happened; he never should have been named to the team. He wasn’t healthy and if your not fit enough to play for your club, your not fit enough to play for your national team. Hamstring injuries are ones that can linger for months and in some cases years, one only has to look at this years breakout performance of Edson Buddle in LA as how much a nagging hamstring injury can impact a player, for over a year and a half Edson was nursing an injury and trying to play whenever he could often resulting in making his injury worse. I am not sure if MLS has a injured reserve squad like the NFL, but we need to give Sturgis time to get healthy and get him back to the form he has had in the past.
With the addition of Robbie Russell who has the same level of versatility as Sturgis, who is able to play multiple positions, we should be able to not try to pressure Sturgis into coming back too soon. I find some humor in the mystery and secrecy around the acquisition of Robbie, it seems Garth was fearful that if we expressed our interest that another team would have snapped up his rights in an attempt to “leverage” RSL into making a trade for his rights (see the SL Trib article ).
Not sure if this was a clever move by the FO or not, Russell has suffered a number of injuries that have limited his action over the last couple seasons. Thank goodness there are only 3 more matches on the crap RES calls a surface, and if the reports of Robbie R beating Robbie F’s 40 time, then RSL just picked up a great speedster that will be able to add to our attack.
Other News
Evaluating RSL’s playoff chances James Edwards blog at deseretnews.com
With a 6-6-6 record and 12 games remaining for Real Salt Lake this season, let’s look into a crystal ball and predict the future. How many points does RSL need its remaining 12 games to not only make the playoffs, but to perhaps win the Western Conference.
(well I think this one is simple but requires RSL to perform better on the road with 12 matches remaining a 4-4-4 record in those matches would provide RSL with 16 more points to end with 40 points. I think 40 points is good enough to end in 3 place in the West and that would secure a playoff spot this year. Teams that you would normally worry about like Dallas have some huge issues, and with the impending departure of Kenny Cooper and Juan Toja, they will struggle for the rest of the season. Chivas is a mystery and with their very busy schedule of SuperLiga, Concacaf Champions League, and MLS matches will they have the depth to move up the standings, without Guzan, I don’t think so. Houston is a team that can always surprise people, but the rumors of DeRo heading to Europe would be a blow that the Dynamo would not be able to survive. Colorado could be the dark horse in the west, and have shown they can beat anyone, but they also struggle away from their home pitch. San Jose, well nevermind it isn’t worth the effort. The Galaxy will probably end up winning the West simply because they have so many offensive weapons, the question is will they score 60 goals this season, I don’t think they can equal the MLS record of 85 which was set by LA in 1998, not with the 30 game season. I am going to say the West ends up like this:
LA Galaxy-49 points
Houston- 43 points
RSL-42 points
Colorado- 39 points
Chivas- 39 points
FC Dallas-33 points
San Jose- 26 points
It sure is going to be a long rest of the season for RSL fans, with only 3 home matches in the next 73 days, but hopefully the result will be the soccer gods smiling on us as we play our first playoff game in team history and we do so at our new stadium.)
OFF MY SOAPBOX
RSL vs Saprissa Semi-live blog
July 23, 2008 by f4denz.
Prematch formalities
So before I head to the match and attempt to do a live blog here is the Saprissa roster for those who missed it:
No. Player Pos. Birthdate Birthplace d
1 Keilor Navas GK 12/15/1986 Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica
3 Victor Cordero DF 11/9/1973 San José, Costa Rica
7 Alejandro Alpizar FW 6/14/1979 –
8 Walter Centeno MF 10/6/1974 Palmar Sur, Costa Rica
10 Alonso Solis MF 10/14/1978 San José, Costa Rica
11 Ronald Gomez FW 1/24/1975 Puntarenas, Costa Rica
13 Fausto Gonzalez GK 9/13/1978 Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica
14 Andres Nuñez DF 7/27/1976 San José, Costa Rica
15 Jose Luis Cordero MF 1/31/1987 San José, Costa Rica
16 Gabriel Badilla DF 6/30/1984 San José, Costa Rica
18 Jervis Drummond DF 10/8/1976 Limón, Costa Rica
19 Jairo Arrieta FW 8/25/1983 Nicoya, Costa Rica
20 Celso Borges MF 5/27/1988 San José, Costa Rica
21 Armando Alonso MF 3/21/1984 San José, Costa Rica
26 Manfred Russell MF 9/23/1988 San José, Costa Rica
30 Randall Porras DF 1/28/1979 San José, Costa Rica
31 Michael Barrantes MF 10/4/1983 San José, Costa Rica
35 Jose Francisco Porras GK 11/8/1970 Grecia, Costa Rica
– Carlos Chacon DF 6/3/1988 –
– Yacer Balladares MF 1/22/1987 –
– Alexander Robinson DF 11/21/1988 –
– Ariel Santana FW 1/21/1988 –
– Bryan Oviedo MF 2/18/1990 –
– Bryan Jiménez – – –
Technical Director: Jeaustin Campos
Assistant Coaches: Randall Row, Victor Badilla, Roger Mora Chacon
Physiotherapy Staff: Pier Luigi Morera, Juan Gabriel Rodriguez, Ever Alfaro Vizquez
Team Doctor: Dr. Willy Galves
Prematch weather is hot and sticky it should be about 90 degrees at the start of the match and about 30% humidity, this will probably affect RSL more than Saprissa who are from Costa Rica and a more tropical climate.
Warm ups
Well almost everyone was warming up and I expect a good mix of starters and reserves, and here is a picture of Kenny wondering where all his goals are?
Here is the RSL starting lineup, Olave, Kovalenko, Beckerman, Reynish, Deuchar, Joy, Mantilla, Findley, Kirby, Nimo, and Kenny “ginger ninja” Cutler
This is your surprise guest blogger speaking now… Robbienho just missed latching onto the end of a cross. Nimo just made a nice play in the box but couldn’t get the ball across the face of the goal before the keeper got to it.
Dema’s already been involved in one altercation. I suspect it won’t be the last.
30 minutes in, both teams have had chances to score, but neither team has managed it yet. Saprissa are starting to look more confident as time goes on.
32 minutes… RSL just had another good chance from Deuchar on the right side – the goalkeeper parried the ball away but nobody was close enough to get on the rebound. And Robbie gets open on goal just after that, but the ball gets away from him.
38 minutes… the game is starting to get a little too settled. Lots of passing through the middle third for both teams. Ian Joy makes a nice run down the left flank, but the cross goes to the back post to nobody.
40 minutes… Saprissa nearly scores on a header at the back post but it goes barely wide.
43 minutes… some awesome one-and-two touch passing down the right flank leads to another great chance for RSL. Robbie’s header bounces off the post, though. Boo.
No score at the half. The RSL staffers sitting across the aisle from me are highly amused by my mocking of Denz. Leo’s ATV thingamajiggy sort of scares me also. Uh oh. Denz is coming up here, probably to take the computer away from me… Or not. The kickin’ for chicken screaming makes the baby Jebus cry, just as a side note.
Nunez, Javi, Wingert, Yura, Borchers, and ESPINDOLA are on the pitch starting the 2nd half! Fabi FTW.
Alonso cuts through the middle for Saprissa but doesn’t get a good touch on the shot and it goes out for a corner. The corner kick results in a volley from Saprissa which looked pretty scary from my angle. Another corner for Saprissa, but nothing comes of it.
54 minutes… RSL nearly gets one in a goalmouth scramble, but still no luck. The goalkeeper was beaten but the Saprissa defenders got back to cover.
56 minutes… Yura brings the ball through the center and lays it off to Javi, but the shot was lacking.
57 minutes… Saprissa scores on a chip through the middle to Gomez, who beats Reynish easily. Nobody tracked Gomez coming through – not a pleasant goal to have given up for RSL. Saprissa is starting to make better runs through the RSL defense.
61 minutes… 2 nil to Saprissa. Alonso finds one of those aforementioned seams and busts right through the back line. Reynish gets a touch on it, but Alonso gets the rebound and beats Borchers. Beckerman comes off right after for Adam Acosta. Saprissa just made another substitution, but I missed the player’s name – sorry, lots going on right now.
66 minutes… Saprissa sub. Balladarez comes in for Nunez.
Yura keeps trying to beat people on the dribble (shocking, right?) but it’s rarely been successful. With all of the RSL substitutions, everything looks really disjointed right now.
68 minutes… Fabi comes off for Kevin Reiman. Not sure if he’s reinjured himself or if the coaches are just taking advantage of the free-for-all substitutions that come with friendlies to get him a run out for a few minutes.
72 minutes… another Saprissa sub. Alonso comes off, much to the delight of the RSL defense, I suspect.
The energy in this game is really starting to drag. The two-goal lead for Saprissa has taken the (meager) RSL crowd out of it too – it’s creepily quiet right now. Apparently, they are giving out free churros somewhere, though. Awesome.
78 minutes… Saprissa is bringing Cordero out and Porras on. Chacon just picked up a yellow as well.
79-80 minutes… RSL gets a couple of chances down the left flank but still can’t get a good strike on goal.
FIGHT!!! Saprissa’s keeper came out to deflect a cross and got fouled and then mayhem ensued. Yura got sent off, as well as Badilla. Yura didn’t look happy as he was peacing out – he tried to chase Badilla behind the goal! Apparently, some douchebags threw stuff on the field again too. Uh, Happy Pioneer Day?
85 minutes – RSL has a chance on a free kick, but still nothing doing. Someone put this game out of its misery, seriously.
The last few minutes are getting chippy. Javi and Acosta have both been fouled. Nice free kick from the right side, but Mantilla misses the header.
Right on the stroke of 90 minutes, RSL finally scores. Wingert busts a move right through the middle – not bad for a left back. Saprissa almost counters immediately after, but Mantilla holds off the breakaway, although it may not have been entirely legal.
RSL is playing with a little more urgency in stoppage time, but there can’t be much time left. Javi puts in another free kick, which sails over everyone’s heads for the last play of the game.
Final score: RSL 1, Saprissa 2. Olave is the official MOTM, even though he only played half the game. That’s entirely fitting.
Also, a liveblog shout-out to Mark in Afghanistan. Stay safe!
Fireworks scare me. Almost as much as the fact that they’re playing Coldplay. Anyway, this was another typical friendly performance from RSL, although I didn’t get much of a read on most of the reserve players that participated. Nimo did some nice things, but he only played half the match; Kirby seemed OK, but not exceptional.
Denz’s battery is about to die, so that’s all for now…
Real Salt Lake vs. Saprissa (another friendly)
July 22, 2008 by f4denz.
Saprissa Links and info
Official Home Page
Wow it might be in Spanish but a good looking site, better than anything MLS is putting out. Hey Guys at SUM and MLS take a look and see how it should be done. Pictures of their supporters again well done, a bit much on the smoke and flares but very cool, this club had the marketing and merchandise down. They even have their own brand of soda, now that kicks Xango in the pants any day.
Wikipedia Page Some interesting info on the club and their history, they are the only non Mexican team to represent CONCACAF in the FIFA World Club Cup, and they finished in third place in 2005, not bad. They have 8 players who are on the Costa Rican National Team and last season the team had a 9-2-4 record with 26 goals for and 19 goals against.
Purple reign in Central America fifa.com
There can be no question that Deportivo Saprissa are the undisputed kings of Central American club football at present. Known as El Monstruo Morado (The Purple Monster), the Costa Ricans have been the dominant force on the domestic scene in recent years while also picking up several titles in the CONCACAF region and clinching a notable third place at the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2005.
Pupy Lopez Signs for Victory (at last) au.fourfourtwo.com
Melbourne Victory have signed a second Costa Rican international star with the addition of dynamic midfielder Jose Luis Lopez on a two-year loan from Costa Rican giant Deportivo Saprissa.
CLUB DEPORTIVO SAPRISSA
NUMERICAL ROSTER
No. Player Pos. Birthdate Birthplace d
1 Keilor Navas GK 12/15/1986 Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica
3 Victor Cordero DF 11/9/1973 San José, Costa Rica
7 Alejandro Alpizar FW 6/14/1979 –
8 Walter Centeno MF 10/6/1974 Palmar Sur, Costa Rica
10 Alonso Solis MF 10/14/1978 San José, Costa Rica
11 Ronald Gomez FW 1/24/1975 Puntarenas, Costa Rica
13 Fausto Gonzalez GK 9/13/1978 Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica
14 Andres Nuñez DF 7/27/1976 San José, Costa Rica
15 Jose Luis Cordero MF 1/31/1987 San José, Costa Rica
16 Gabriel Badilla DF 6/30/1984 San José, Costa Rica
18 Jervis Drummond DF 10/8/1976 Limón, Costa Rica
19 Jairo Arrieta FW 8/25/1983 Nicoya, Costa Rica
20 Celso Borges MF 5/27/1988 San José, Costa Rica
21 Armando Alonso MF 3/21/1984 San José, Costa Rica
26 Manfred Russell MF 9/23/1988 San José, Costa Rica
30 Randall Porras DF 1/28/1979 San José, Costa Rica
31 Michael Barrantes MF 10/4/1983 San José, Costa Rica
35 Jose Francisco Porras GK 11/8/1970 Grecia, Costa Rica
– Carlos Chacon DF 6/3/1988 –
– Yacer Balladares MF 1/22/1987 –
– Alexander Robinson DF 11/21/1988 –
– Ariel Santana FW 1/21/1988 –
– Bryan Oviedo MF 2/18/1990 –
– Bryan Jiménez – – –
Technical Director: Jeaustin Campos
Assistant Coaches: Randall Row, Victor Badilla, Roger Mora Chacon
Physiotherapy Staff: Pier Luigi Morera, Juan Gabriel Rodriguez, Ever Alfaro Vizquez
Team Doctor: Dr. Willy Galves
IS Someone High?
Real Salt Lake players excited to play in NFL by Scott Spjut The Regal Seagull
With the anticipated opening of the Sandy stadium only months away, Real Salt Lake players are hoping to finally get noticed by some professional sports teams. “We’ve already received a few tentative offers,” said Julyanne Ryles, spokeswoman for the Real Salt Lake soccer team. “Nothing finalized yet, but we’re hopeful.”
(OK, this has to be some type of prank article or something, but it either is really poorly done, or just a horrible example of someone with too much free time, notice the image is the opening day 2005 lineup, and I have never heard of anyone quoted in the article, has anyone ever heard of this site?)