sam stejskal
Real Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio suffered a slight knee injury while training with Costa Rica and is doubtful to start Friday's World Cup qualifier at the U.S., according to a report from Costa Rican outlet Deportes Repretel.
RSL has been in touch with the Costa Rican federation regarding Saborio's injury and is monitoring the situation closely.
Costa Rica will take on the U.S. in a Hexagonal match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park outside Denver on Friday night (8 p.m. MT; ESPN). The Costa Rican captain, Saborio has one goal and one assist in four appearances - all starts - against the Stars-and-Stripes. Costa Rica has a 3-0-1 record in those games.
Saborio's RSL teammates Tony Beltran, Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando are all in the U.S. squad for Friday's game.
Los Ticos will host Jamaica in another Hex match on March 26.
Real Salt Lake hasn’t ever won at FC Dallas, but it does have plenty of ties to the club.
RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis, Assistants Jeff Cassar and Miles Joseph, General Manager Garth Lagerwey and Color Commentator Brian Dunseth all played in Big D, with Kreis and Lagerwey on the 1997 team that won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the club’s only major trophy to date.
Kreis in particular was very successful in Dallas, scoring 91 goals in 247 appearances for the then-Burn before moving to Real Salt Lake ahead of the 2005 season. Cassar had 33 appearances across two stints in Dallas, Lagerwey had 10 and Joseph and Dunseth both had nine.
Despite his obvious ties to the organization, Kreis indicated after training on Tuesday that the RSL-FC Dallas matchup no longer resonates with him like it used to. He’s clearly all Real Salt Lake, all the time.
RSL will take on FC Dallas at FC Dallas Stadium at 6:30 p.m. MT on Saturday. The match will be televised on ABC4 and Univision and will be broadcast on the radio on ESPN700 AM and 102.3 La Gran D FM/1600 AM.
Miss Nick Rimando's Q&A with KSL 5's Jason Shepherd earlier Thursday?
Don't worry, we've got you covered. Catch the entire chat above - and don't forget to show up to Rio Tinto Stadium prior to Saturday's 4 p.m. kickoff to see a ceremony honoring Nick for becoming the second player in MLS history to reach 100 career shutouts.
According to a tweet from MLSsoccer.com Chicago reporter Anthony Zilis, U.S. Men's National Team manager Jurgen Klinsmann indicated on Wednesday at a Gold Cup press conference in Chicago that Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando will back-up Aston Villa's Brad Guzan for the U.S. while first-choice 'keeper Tim Howard is out injured.
Howard will miss the U.S.'s World Cup Qualifiers on March 22 against Costa Rica and on March 26 at Mexico due to a back injury.
Klinnsmann: (paraphrased) Nice of Friedel to offer, but we're fine with Guzan, then Rimando as backup. #usmnt
— Anthony Zilis (@adzilis) March 13, 2013
JK said Johnson/Hamid are fighting for 3rd GK spot. Tried to get clarification on Johnson's standing, but wasn't allowed to ask #cf97 #usmnt
— Anthony Zilis (@adzilis) March 13, 2013
Fantastic infographic from RSL's Ben Barnes detailing the history of the Rocky Mountain Cup Presented by Mark Miller Subaru ahead of the Claret-and-Cobalt's Saturday home opener at Rio Tinto Stadium against the Colorado Rapids. Check it out:
RSL suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, giving up a second-half goal to fall 1-0 at D.C. United.
Here are a few interesting figures from Saturday’s match:
0-6-3
RSL is now 0-6-3 all-time in matches at D.C. The Claret-and-Cobalt is 0-5-3 at United in MLS matches and 0-1-0 at the Black-and-Red in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup action.
RSL is winless in matches at D.C., Houston, Dallas, Vancouver and Toronto.
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Claret-and-Cobalt rookie midfielder John Stertzer made his professional debut on Saturday, playing nine minutes after coming on in the 81st for midfielder Khari Stephenson. A D.C. area native and University of Maryland product, Stertzer had a number of family and friends in attendance at Saturday's match.
66
Real Salt Lake defender Lovel Palmer made his club debut when he entered Saturday’s match for Abdoulie Mansally in the 66th minute. Palmer had a strong showing on Saturday, bombing up the left flank and nearly scoring an equalizer with a shot from distance.
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Real Salt Lake was shown four yellow cards in Saturday’s match. The Claret-and-Cobalt now has six cards this season, two less than league leaders Chivas USA and tied for the second-most in the league with Sporting Kansas City.
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RSL has won six consecutive Rocky Mountain Cups over the Colorado Rapids. The Claret-and-Cobalt will take on the Rapids in the home opener at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday.
Real Salt Lake will be looking for its first-ever win in the nation’s capital when it takes on D.C. United at RFK Stadium on Saturday (5 p.m. MT on ABC4).
RSL is winless in eight all-time matches in Washington, posting a 0-4-3 record at RFK Stadium in league play and going 0-1-0 at D.C. in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup action. D.C. hasn’t lost a regular season match at home since its 2012 RFK opener – a streak of 16 matches.
RSL does have some good recent history against teams carrying lengthy home unbeaten streaks into their home opener, snapping San Jose’s 18-game home unbeaten streak with a 2-0 win at Buck Shaw Stadium in Sunday’s season opener and breaking L.A.’s 26-game home unbeaten run with a 3-1 win at the Home Depot Center in the 2012 opener. Let's hope the Claret-and-Cobalt can turn that same trick on Saturday against D.C.
Real Salt Lake defender Abdoulie "Kenny" Mansally is dropping his longtime nickname and will now go by his given first name of Abdoulie.
Mansally had been called Kenny for years, picking up the nickname in his native Gambia and going by it throughout his MLS career, which began in 2007 in New England. He said on Wednesday that he made the switch back to his given first name - pronounced ab-do-LYE - in order to remind people of who he is and where he came from.
The 24-year-old Mansally played all 90 minutes for injured left back Chris Wingert in RSL's 2-0 season opening win at San Jose on Sunday. The Gambian international and his Real Salt Lake teammates are traveling on Thursday to the nation's capital ahead of this Saturday's match against D.C. United at RFK Stadium. Kick for the game is at 5:00 p.m. MT on ABC4.
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando earned his 100th career regular season shutout on Sunday at San Jose.
Here are a few of the best saves Nick's made during his RSL career. Some of these stops are truly incredible - I got the chills re-watching them.
It wasn't Argentina at the 2006 World Cup, but RSL's 12 pass sequence to lead to forward Alvaro Saborio's second goal in the 85th minute of Sunday night's 2-0 win at San Jose was still pretty cool.
Check out the full build-up to the goal above.