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Real Salt Lake preparing for historic CCL match in San Jose vs. Deportivo Saprissa

RSLSaprissaTraining

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica– A relaxed Real Salt Lake squad went through the paces at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa on Monday in preparation for its CONCACAF Champions League decider against Deportivo Saprissa on Tuesday night (10pm, Fox Soccer Channel).

RSL comes in healthy and in good form, playing the most attractive soccer in MLS and looking every bit like a club capable of posting a win in the hostile environment at Estadio Saprissa.

Real Salt Lake will enter the match holding a 2-0 lead, meaning the pressure will be on the home team to erase the deficit. Defense will be a priority for RSL, but anybody expecting RSL to bunker down is going to be surprised.

“We’re going to come in and try and win, try and be the better of the two teams in the first 15 minutes,” Beckerman said. “If we can really put on some pressure, maybe even get a goal in the beginning, that’s what we’re going to be looking to do.

“In terms of bunkering in, maybe that’s something we’d do at the end of the game and it’s close,” Beckerman said. “But for the most part we’re going to come out and try to win.”

RSL head coach Jason Kreis made it clear that RSL would not be coming to San Jose to defend for 90 minutes, and the reality is that Deportivo Saprissa has been struggling offensively in recent weeks and could be forced to commit extra numbers into the attack. That could play right into an RSL side with the weapons to punish any Saprissa sloppiness.

The leading story lines heading into the match were how RSL would deal with the intimidating atmosphere of Estadio Saprissa and Alvaro Saborio's return to San Jose to take on the team where he enjoyed the best time of his career.

Saborio burned his former club in the first leg, scoring a vital goal, and he could once again find success against a Saprissa defense that will come in short-handed due to suspensions.

As for the environment at the stadium, Deportivo Saprissa is offering 2-for-1 deals in an attempt to draw a large crowd to the stadium after the club drew a meager crowd for its recent league match.

The field at Estadio Saprissa is also in much better shape than it was two years ago, when the U.S. national team came to San Jose and suffered a 3-1 loss in World Cup qualifying. The artificial turf has been replaced with a better, but still not ideal, surface.

The key to the match will rest in central midfield, where Saprissa will be counting on Walter Centeno to work his magic offensively, while the RSL combination of Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman will look to control the action.

“We’ve got a lot of veterans on our team and a lot of guys that have been in situations and environments like this before,” said RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando. “It’s just about us digesting it in the first half and getting through it. If we can get a point or come in at zeros at halftime I think we’re sitting pretty.”

RSL enters the match with all of its key players available, meaning the club will have every chance to make its 2-0 lead stand up and become the first MLS team to reach the CONCACAF Champions League final.

 Here is a CONCACAF preview of Tuesday night's Champions League semifinal second leg:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSmWx7FvCTw]

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What do you see happening on Tuesday night in San Jose? Think Real Salt Lake can hold its lead and win the semifinal series?

Comments

  1. Good soccer bars in Seattle include Temple Billiards, Fado’s and Atlantic Crossing. I’m pretty sure you can watch the games there. ECS meets at Fado’s and Gorilla FC meets at Temple before games so I wouldn’t be surprised if they have members there tonight.

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  2. RSL’s counter should be good enough to stick one in, if it comes first Saprissa is going to push that much more and will probably leak another….EXCITED is an understating my anticipation…GO RSL!

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  3. I chuckled over your comments about RBNY fans being the last people to pick on other team’s names. Red Bulls have the worst team name in MLS and arguably the tackiest team logo. I am not sure why naming a team after one of the world’s most accomplished teams is inferior to naming a team after a consumer product.

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  4. I’m sick of people complaining about the name Real Salt Lake. Get over it already. There are soccer teams around the globe whose names were influenced by big European clubs.

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  5. 1998? So then why did you say history starting in 2009 and not 1999? Actually the LA Galaxy won it in 2000 also.

    So 1998 and 2000, that still makes this the biggest game in over a decade.

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  6. Lovin’ how Kries and Beckerman instill an attacking mindset. With Saprissa missing key defenders RSL will come out relentlessly attacking.

    Let’s go RSL!!

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  7. ya gotta root for a US club even if its not yours, at least at this stage of the competition when they’re so close to the final.

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  8. Santiago Wanderers Chile
    Talca Rangers Chile
    Arsenal Argentina
    Catolica Chile
    Catolica Peru
    ummm…..

    Oh yeah and United here there everywhere…

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  9. When we were in Seattle for the MLS cup we went to a bar called Temple Billiards near the stadium. The guys who run that bar are big soccer fans and way chill

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  10. “playing the most attractive soccer in MLS”

    This made me laugh. Maybe because I was only the smartest kid on the short bus.

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  11. Big Soccer or someone has a really extensive list of teams that got their name from a European team. There’s an Everton in Paraguay or Uruguay or something.

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  12. There’s probably 2-3 teams in the first division of most South American league with names that are borrowed from European teams.

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  13. If we consider history starting in 2009, then yes.

    What about DC winning the Concacaf Champions League Cup and then the Inter-American Cup in 1998?

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  14. besides, there are plenty of teams with same names across the world:

    Inter-Porto Allegre
    Arsenal-Kiev
    Arsenal-Sarandi
    America-Belo Horizonte
    America-Cali
    Racing-Avellaneda, as opposed to Santander…

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  15. I love that the bias has dropped, love the support. RSL and Kreis have noted the recognition from the fans of each team. RSL for life!

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  16. Should they have named themselves Four Loko Salt Lake instead? Maybe Viagra Salt Lake? RBNY fans are the last people who should be picking on another’s team name. Winning makes people forget about awkward names.

    Support the league tomorrow, not fashion or brand identity.

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  17. ya having the same name as another team in Europe is way lame. it’s almost as bad as your team being named after an energy drink! oh….wait a sec…

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  18. CCL>MLS Cup, so this is huge. HUGE.

    The only downside: the Real in Real Salt Lake. The rest of the world will rightfully mock this lame and wholly unoriginal name. An immediate change to FC Salt Lake or Salt Lake FC would be an improvement and would avoid embarrassing MLS.

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  19. Take advantage RSL, it’s not every year an MLS team avoid Mexican teams in the knockout stages of this tournament. ood Luck RSL. Monterrey looks impossible to beat, 2 mexican league titles in the last 4 seasons is pretty good(not to mention that impressive lineup)

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  20. i just moved to Seattle from SLC last week and have been trying figure out the best place to watch the game too. Any Sounders FC fans with ideas?

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  21. An MLS team reaching the final, and hopefully winning it, would be HUGE for American Soccer. People around the world would see an MLS club competing against the other 5 best teams from around the globe. From a true NY Red Bull fan, GO RSL!!!!

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  22. like everyone here, I’m rooting for RSL. But based on recent road performances of MLS teams in knockout stages of the competitton, I predict 4-1 Saprissa (92nd minute winner)… hope I’m wrong…

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  23. as an FCD fan i would rather see RSL win tommorrow than FCD win this weekend… well not really but i just want to see a US team in the final… its about damn time

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  24. Chuck your going to see it tommorow, RSL will try to dictate the pace early in this match to get the all important away goal. If they cannot get a goal in the first 20 I do expect the team to defend in hopes of getting a counter against a team that will be desperate to make up a deficit.

    This RSL team is good enough to win this match in Saprissa! just ask Cruz Azul, who, should they make the final would probably like nothing more than not to face RSL.

    Great to be a fan of RSL but also great to see a MLS club get this opportunity.

    My greatest fear is this match comes down to poor officiating.

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  25. An MLS team that goes abroad with a 2-0 advantage and does not defend with 10 players…..I got to see it to believe it.

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  26. I’d love to watch this match somewhere in Seattle. Does anybody know if it will be on somewhere or have plans to watch at a pub?

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  27. I hope fans of *every* MLS team and even Eurosnobs who are too good for MLS are rooting hard for RSL tomorrow. For soccer in the US this is the most important non-USteam match, probably ever, or at least since the days of the NY Cosmos.

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