MLS Real Salt Lake

RSL downed in international friendly

July 23, 2008 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SALT LAKE CITY (Wednesday, July 23, 2008) - Real Salt Lake could not overcome a pair of goals by Deportivo Saprissa in the second half, as the Costa Rican powerhouse held off a late charge by the home side to post a 2-1 victory in front of 12,211 people at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Goals by Saprissa FW Ronald Gomez and MF Armando Alonso four minutes apart around the hour mark would give the visitors a 2-0 cushion, and while RSL DF Chris Wingert got one back in the 90th minute, it wasn't enough to keep Salt Lake from losing its second exhibition against an international club team in as many tries this month. The contest was a friendly in name only, as the increasing hard feelings finally boiled over in the 83rd minute, when Real Salt Lake FW Yura Movsisyan and Saprissa DF Gabriel Badilla were ejected for their parts in a scuffle near the Saprissa penalty area.

Real Salt Lake (6-6-6, 24 pts.) will have the day off on Thursday before getting back to training over the weekend in preparation for its return to MLS play on Monday, July 28, when Toronto FC (6-6-4, 22 pts.) will come to Rice-Eccles Stadium for a 7:00 p.m. kick-off on the hill.

For the full MLSnet.com recap of tonight's contest, click on the link below:

http://real.saltlake.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080724&content_id=175165&vkey=news_rsl&fext=.jsp&team=t121

International Friendly

Real Salt Lake 1 : 2 Deportivo Saprissa (CRC)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Rice-Eccles Stadium - Salt Lake City, UT

Scoring Summary:

SAP - Ronald Gomez (Walter Centeno) 58)

SAP - Armando Alonso (Gabriel Badilla) 62

RSL - Chris Wingert (Tino Nuñez) 90

Misconduct Summary:

RSL - Dema Kovalenko (caution) 19

SAP - Bryan Oviedo (caution) 21

RSL - Alex Nimo (caution) 29

SAP - Carlos Chacon (caution) 80

RSL - Yura Movsisyan (ejection) 83

SAP - Gabriel Badilla (ejection) 83

Real Salt Lake (4-4-2): GK-Kyle Reynish; DF-Dustin Kirby, DF-Matias Mantilla, DF-Jamison Olave (Nat Borchers 45), DF-Ian Joy (Chris Wingert 45); MF-Dema Kovalenko (Fabian Espíndola 45) (Kevin Reiman 69), MF-Kenny Cutler, MF-Alex Nimo (Javier Morales 45), MF-Kyle Beckerman (Adam Acosta 62); FW-Kenny Deuchar (Yura Movsisyan 45), FW-Robbie Findley (Tino Nuñez 45)

Shots: 11; Shots on Goal: 9; Saves: 0; Fouls: 11; Corner Kicks: 4; Offsides: 5

Deportivo Saprissa (5-3-2): GK-Keylor Navas; DF-Victor Cordero (Randall Porras 79), DF-Gabriel Badilla, DF-Alexander Robinson, DF-Andres Nunez (Yader Balladarez 67), DF-Bryan Oviedo (Carlos Chacon 73); MF-Walter Centeno, MF-Manfred Russell, MF-Armando Alonso (Jervis Drummond 73); FW-Alejandro Alpizar (Jose Luis Cordero 59), FW-Ronald Gomez (Ever Alonso 62).

Shots: 10; Shots on Goal: 2; Saves: 8; Fouls: 16; Corner Kicks: 4; Offsides: 4

Attendance: 12,211

Referee: Edvin Jurisevic

Referee's Assistants: Brad Jensen, Tyler Ploeger

4th Official: Jeff Young

Time of Game: 1:54

Weather: Clear & 84 degrees

RSL Post-Game Quote Sheet

Real Salt Lake 1 : 2 Deportivo Saprissa

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

RSL HEAD COACH JASON KREIS

On his team's defensive performance:

"I think we did, in the first half, what we have been doing for several weeks now. We were a compact unit, we were defending together, and everything was pretty clean in the first half. In the second half we made a tactical change, we changed our formation, and I think that caused us some problems."

On the team's overall performance in its second friendly of the month:

"I think overall it was a better game for us [compared to the other friendly game vs. Santos]. I thought we created a lot more than we did in that match, and some of the younger players had a better game tonight than they did against Santos. There were some good signs out there."

On new acquisition Robbie Russell:

"He's athletic, he's a versatile player, and he's experienced. We're very pleased to be bringing back another American player that now has international experience. Robbie can play several positions; we're not exactly sure which one we'll put him into."

RSL MF KYLE BECKERMAN

Overall thoughts on the friendly:

"The game got pretty heated out there, and that's something you don't want to see in a friendly like that. But it's tough, you play a good international team who plays in the heat, they play on turf, and they pass the ball really well, so it's going to be a tough game for us. When you go with a line-up like we did, you just try and get a good training session out of it."

On playing in a modified line-up:

"I thought everybody worked hard, and we played the best we could. They were a better passing team than we were. In the first half, their formation seemed to rattle us a bit. We had some good things at times, but they were a good team that plays good soccer."

Check out the Real Salt Lake Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from July 23, 2008


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