sam stejskal
The latest issue of ESPN The Magazine hit news stands this week, with Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando featured prominently in a photo spread.
Rimando appeared in in a shoot for "The Perfect Issue," taking ESPN Mag writer Doug McIntyre through the process of making a diving save as a smaller - Rimando's just 5-foot-9 - 'keeper. The spread - part of a series called "So Crazy, It Just Might Work - can be seen by clicking here.
Rimando and the rest of Real Salt Lake squad will head to Southern California on Thursday for the team's second leg of preseason. The Claret-and-Cobalt will train at the University of California-Irvine from Jan. 31-Feb. 8, playing UC-Irvine in a friendly on Feb. 4 and taking on the Galaxy at the Home Depot Center on Feb. 8.
Real Salt Lake added forward Joao Plata on Wednesday morning, sending a 2015 MLS SuperDraft second round pick to Toronto in exchange for the Ecuadorian attacker.
The diminuitive Plata, who had 10 goals and nine assists in 52 career games across all competitions with TFC, will bring a bit of a different element to the RSL attack, with his pace and trickery sure to give opposing defenders fits in 2013. Plata was awarded the 2011 George Gross Memorial Trophy after being named the 2011 Nutrilite Canadian Championship MVP.
Plata featured three times for Toronto against RSL, playing the first half in RSL's 3-1 home win over TFC on June 25, 2011, going the full 90 - and scoring the winning goal, see video above - in the Reds' 1-0 win over RSL on Aug. 13, 2011 and coming off the bench for 22 minutes in RSL's 3-2 home win against Toronto on April 28 of last year.
The USMNT will play its first match of 2013 on Tuesday night, when it will take on Canada at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston (7 p.m. MT, ESPN2).
Real Salt Lake’s Kyle Beckerman and Tony Beltran are both on the U.S. roster for the match, and several outlets are predicting that both Claret-and-Cobalt players will be in manager Jurgen Klinsmann’s starting lineup.
Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl and Pro Soccer Talk’s Steve Davis both have Beckerman and Beltran pegged for the First XI. Beckerman in particular is getting a lot of press, with Fox Soccer’s Kyle McCarthy and American Soccer Now’s Josh Deaver both writing extensively about how the Claret-and-Cobalt captain has taken a leadership role in the U.S. camp.
While Beckerman is getting more publicity, Tuesday’s game is undeniably bigger for Beltran. Unlike Beckerman, who has 23 senior national team caps, Beltran has never appeared for the USMNT and will be looking for his first cap on Tuesday. A good performance against Canada could also net Beltran a spot on the roster for the U.S. Hexagonal opener at Honduras on Feb. 6, a roster that Beckerman is likely to make regardless of how he performs in Houston.
Beckerman and Beltran are both expected to return to RSL for the team’s third and final preseason leg at the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup from Feb. 11-24.
Make sure you watch both Kyle and Tony in action on Tuesday night.
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – There were a few great quotes and notes that didn’t quite make the final cut of the written and video features about the Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy that we published on Monday morning.
Here are a few of those quotes and anecdotes:
Real Salt Lake General Manager Garth Lagerwey:
On what RSL wants to get out of the RSL-AZ Academy, beyond simply developing professional players:
“I think the goal here, especially within a residential setting, is not only to create good soccer players but to create good people. We’re proud of the fact that we’re beginning to sign professional soccer prospects out of the academy but we’re also sending far more kids to college. These are kids sometimes of limited means where the opportunity to go to college can be potentially life changing. I know our partner [Grande Sports Academy Owner] Ron Burks has been instrumental in laying the foundation for that as one of the core values of the academy, and I think that those twin objectives are not only compatible but mutually beneficial for us.”
On where he sees the RSL-AZ Academy in 5-10 years:
“Ideally we’ll have identified every soccer prospect in Utah and Arizona from the age of 12 or 13 and have had them here for five years of growth, development, coaching and skill enhancing. Hopefully we do it in such a way that instead of players that need to go to the minor leagues or train with the first team for a year or two [before playing for RSL], we’re coming down here and saying, ‘We think this guy is better than somebody on our team and we’re going to sign him tomorrow.’”
On what it would mean to have a RSL-AZ graduate emerge with the Claret-and-Cobalt first team:
“I think it’d be huge. I think it’d be the validation of everything we believe in down here and it’d be a validation of all the money we’ve spent down here – and it’s been a significant investment that we’ve made. I think that that’s going to be important not just for a kid or recruiting kids to the academy, but I think it’d be tremendous for our fans to see a truly homegrown player with a local connection, the kind of local boy who grows up in the academy and plays for the first team. I don’t think there is a more powerful image that you can send the Salt Lake community and fan base in terms of us being a long term part of the social fabric.”
On if developing Home Grown players through the Academy is more important to a small market team like RSL than a bigger market team like L.A. or New York:
“Absolutely, absolutely. That has to be the foundation of what we do. We have to be a reflection of our community and we have to play in a way that comports with the values of our community, and I think developing players locally is a big part of that.”
Real Salt Lake-Arizona U-18 midfielder Haeden Turner
He didn’t quite make it into the final draft, but RSL-AZ U-18 player Haeden Turner was a huge help in the reporting of the written story on the academy. The injured midfielder was very gracious with his time on two separate (unplanned) occasions.
A Canadian who came to Casa Grande in August 2011 after spending the previous two years at then-English Premier League club Bolton Wanderers, Turner said he loves the RSL-AZ Academy and really appreciates its emphasis on both education and soccer, something he didn’t really experience while in England.
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. - Real Salt Lake had the final practice of its Casa Grande camp on Sunday, training for a little over 90 minutes ahead of Monday's preseason opener against the Denmark U-20 national team.
Sunday's practice was relatively light, with Claret-and-Cobalt Head Coach Jason Kreis putting his charges through some technical work before giving the team a tactics talk ahead of Monday's match. Expect Kreis to give minutes to plenty of players on Monday, as the technical staff will likely use the match to evaluate as many untested players as possible.
Be sure to follow the @realsaltlake Twitter account for live updates of Monday's game, which will kick off at 11:30 a.m. MT at Grande Sports World. We'll have full postgame coverage of the Claret-and-Cobalt's preseason opener here on the official website.
RSL will head back to Salt Lake City following Monday's game. The team will remain in Utah on Tuesday and Wednesday before departing on Thursday for Irvine, Calif. for the team's second leg of preseason. The Claret-and-Cobalt will train in Irvine from Jan. 31-Feb. 8, when they will return to Salt Lake again before heading back to Arizona for the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup from Feb. 11-24.
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. - Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jason Kreis gave his first update of RSL's preseason camp after training on Friday, sharing his thoughts on how things have gone in Casa Grande and outlining some of the defensive work the Claret-and-Cobalt have done in Arizona.
RSL will have a double session on Saturday. It should be lots of fun - it poured rain in Casa Grande overnight and continues to do so this morning. The fields are pretty soaked, the players are dressed up in their rain gear and we're all ready for some serious slipping and sliding.
After a somewhat lengthy offseason hiatus, Kickin' it with Kwame makes its triumphant return with an episode from Casa Grande. Kwame talks to RSL newcomers Cole Grossman and Devon Sandoval in this edition of the show - Don't miss it.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil arrived at RSL's preseason camp in Casa Grande, Ariz. late on Tuesday night, joining the team after spending the last week or so in camp with the U.S. U-20 national team in Puebla, Mexico.
Claret-and-Cobalt Head Coach Jason Kreis gave Gil the day off on Wednesday, with the California-native watching his teammates from the sideline in the team's lone practice of the day. The 19-year-old midfielder is expected to start training with RSL on Thursday, when the team will have its second two-a-day session of the preseason.
Unfortunately for RSL, Gil won't be with the team all that long, as he's expected to leave the Claret-and-Cobalt in early-February for a U-20 training camp ahead of the Feb. 18-March 3 CONCACAF U-20 Championships in Puebla. The top four teams in that tournament will qualify for the U-20 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in Turkey from June 21-July 13.
We caught up with Gil towards the end of the day on Wednesday, talking to him about his offseason experiences with the U-20's and his expectations for himself in what could be a very big 2013 season. We'll publish written and video features off of those interviews later in the week.
Real Salt Lake selected rookie forward Devon Sandoval in the second round of last Thursday’s SuperDraft, trading up two spots to take the University of New Mexico striker 29th overall. An Albuquerque, N.M. native, Sandoval was incredibly excited to join RSL after training with the club for a week last summer.
Here are 10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Devon:
As told to Sam Stejskal:
- The past few weeks have been crazy, going from the MLS Combine in Florida, back home to Albuquerque for a couple of days, then to Salt Lake City and now here in Casa Grande, Ariz. for preseason. It’s a little hard to describe what it’s all felt like but I’m just really happy to be here and I feel really blessed.
- I got to train with RSL for a week last summer on RSL-AZ Academy director Martin Vasquez’s recommendation and it went really well and I really enjoyed my time in Utah. I loved the coaches and I loved the team; it really is like a family and that’s the type of environment I wanted to play in. I think that this is the type of environment that can push me to be the best I can be. Coach Kreis has put together a really special place here and I’m really happy to be a part of it.
- Going into the draft I was hoping RSL would pick me up. Once I saw that in the second round they traded up I was really, really hoping they were going to call my name and when they did it was a really great feeling.
- I watched the draft at my Dad’s condo in Albuquerque. I was watching it with my Mom – my Dad was actually out of town – but my Mom, my grandparents, my girlfriend, my sister, one of my aunts and cousins and one of our family friends were there. It was nuts when I got picked. My girlfriend was recording the draft and when they said “University of New Me…,” you couldn’t even hear the rest, my family just went crazy. I was just sitting there, happy, smiling, but they went crazy, jumping up and down and screaming and all that.
- I played college soccer at the University of New Mexico in my hometown of Albuquerque. Being able to play there was a dream come true. I had grown up watching the Lobos play and just being able to play there in front of my family and friends, just the home crowd, it was really cool.
- Part of the reason I’m super excited about coming to Salt Lake is that my family will be able to come support me. They’ll be making trips out there and they can always drive to Colorado and Dallas when we’re on the road too, so I’m really happy with where I’m at.
- I’ve only spent a week there, but so far I like Salt Lake a lot. I love the snow; flying in and seeing all of it was really cool.
- I’m definitely a target forward. Obviously I want to make myself known for scoring goals and just being someone who works hard, never gives up and fights for the ball and my team. That’s how I try to play, just give 100 percent effort the whole time.
- There’s been a lot of talk about cutting my hair by some of the guys at camp. I started growing it out my freshman year in high school and they shaved it then, so my sophomore year it was long. Then I went to college and freshman year they shaved it again, so – again – it took until my sophomore year for it to get grown back out. Now they’re talking about cutting it again so I’m going to avoid them as much as I can.
- My main focus is definitely soccer. Everything I do is done to be the best player I can be and helping this team hopefully win Cup. I used to snowboard but I gave that up a few years ago because I didn’t want any freak injuries or anything. I do like to watch other sports, I like to watch football and I’m a big 49ers fan, so I’m pretty happy with where they are right now. I also love watching extreme sports like snowboarding and skateboarding - I grew up doing both. Other than that I’m a family guy. When I’m not playing soccer I’m either hanging out with my girlfriend or with my family.
U.S. Soccer announced on Tuesday that San Jose defender Steven Beitashour and Colorado forward Edson Buddle have both left Jurgen Klinsmann's January camp due to injury.
While unfortunate, Beitashour's departure opens the door wider for RSL defender Tony Beltran to pick up his first U.S. senior cap in the Americans' Jan. 29 friendly against Canada at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Beltran, New York defender Connor Lade and Hertha Berlin youngster Alfredo Morales are now the only three right backs in Klinsmann's camp. Beltran is by far the most experienced of the three, with his 110 professional regular season appearances dwarfing Lade's 26 and Morales's 11.
Of course, Beltran isn't the only RSL player currently in U.S. camp. Captain Kyle Beckerman is also training with the national team in Carson, Calif. He's been a favorite of Klinsmann's since the German took over in August 2011, regularly appearing for Klinsmann in friendlies and World Cup Qualifiers alike.
Let's hope Beltran and Beckerman get the start next Tuesday against Canada. They've both certainly earned it with their stellar play on the field and hard work off of it.
Both players are expected to return to RSL for the Claret-and-Cobalt's third and final preseason leg from Feb. 11-24 at the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson, Ariz.