MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake and Rice-Eccles Stadium to host US World Cup qualifier

Published on March 1, 2005 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SALT LAKE CITY (Tuesday, March 1, 2005) – Real Salt Lake and U.S. Soccer announced today that the United States Men's National Team World Cup Qualifier against Costa Rica will be held in Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, June 4, at 5:30 p.m. MT. Included in the biggest international event to hit Utah since the 2002 Winter Olympics will be the second half of that night's doubleheader, with Real Salt Lake hosting FC Dallas immediately following the U.S.-Costa Rica contest.

"Working with Rice-Eccles Stadium and the Utah Sports Commission to bring U.S. Soccer events to Utah is emblematic of the world-class soccer Real Salt Lake represents," said RSL General Manager Steve Pastorino. "This event will showcase two of our marquee players, Clint Mathis and Eddie Pope, and provides significant value to our season ticket holders, who receive this game as a ‘thank you' from RSL for their tremendous support."

Real Salt Lake season ticket packages for the inaugural 2005 campaign at Rice-Eccles Stadium are now on sale. The RSL 2005 season package features 21 games, including all 16 MLS regular season games, the USA-Costa Rica World Cup Qualifier and four special bonus games. The National Team match at Rice-Eccles is the second of five qualifiers in this final round on the road to Germany 2006 to be played in the United States. Tickets for the June 4 doubleheader will range from $25 to $68, with on-sale details to be announced in the near future. Interested fans should contact the Real Salt Lake Ticket Office by calling (866) 9-SOCCER.

"We're excited about the opportunity to play in Salt Lake City," said Arena. "Real Salt Lake and the fans will provide the U.S. team with a venue which we can truly call ‘home.' I look forward to the game on June 4, and hopefully it will be the first of many games for the national team in Utah."

Mathis and Pope kicked off training camp with 20 other MLS players at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., yesterday, invited by U.S. Men's National Team manager Bruce Arena to prepare for friendlies against Colombia and Honduras later this month and the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Mexico on March 27 and Guatemala on March 30. This will be the first trip for the U.S. Men's National Team to both Salt Lake City and Utah. In 2003, the U.S. Women's National Team topped Ireland 5-0 in preparation for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup in front of 19,584 fans.

The U.S., along with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago, are competing in a 10-game, round-robin format from Feb. 9 through Oct. 12, 2005, with the top three teams automatically advancing to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The fourth-place team in the "hexagonal" will compete in a two-game playoff to be held Nov. 12/13 and Nov. 16 against the fifth-place finisher in Asian qualifying for the right to advance to Germany.

The U.S. Men's National Team is coming off an exciting 2-1 victory on Feb. 9 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Goals by Eddie Johnson and Eddie Lewis earned the U.S. three valuable points for a win in the first qualifying match of 2005. The next qualifying match for the U.S. sends the team to Mexico City to face rival Mexico on March 27. Three days later, the U.S. returns home to host Guatemala in Birmingham, Ala. The team will have more than two months without a qualifying match before returning to action on June 4 in Salt Lake City. At stake for the U.S. over the 10-game qualifying schedule this year is a berth to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

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