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MLS Real Salt Lake

RSL Players and Coaches Head to Bradenton, Fla. for First Leg of Preseason Training Camp

January 31, 2006 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SALT LAKE CITY (Tuesday, January 31, 2006) - Real Salt Lake's 2006 season begins today as the team departs for its first leg of preseason training camp at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The team reported to camp yesterday that will take them to Florida, Utah and Southern California as it prepares for its season opener against Chivas USA on Sunday, April 2 at The Home Depot Center.

"Today we are embarking on the 2006 preseason with 39 players who will be fighting for 28 spots," said RSL Head Coach John Ellinger. "Through trades and drafts we have been able to add several talented players to our preseason roster. As a coaching staff we are eager to see the competitiveness of the players we have brought into camp."

Real Salt Lake's primary training destination will be Ellinger's former home, the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla, for a three-week stretch from Feb. 1 to Feb. 17. The team will participate in a week of two-a-day training sessions prior to the commencement of exhibition games. RSL is currently slated to match up against the U.S. Amateur Team (Tuesday, Feb. 7), MetroStars (Wednesday, Feb. 8), U.S. U-17 Men's National Team (Thursday, Feb. 9), Columbus Crew (Sunday, Feb. 12), Kansas City Wizards (Wednesday, Feb. 15) and D.C. United (Feb. 17).

The team will then travel to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. where they will spend 14 days training before returning to Salt Lake City, Utah on Thursday, March 3. Players will enjoy two days off before continuing training camp in Salt Lake City for eight days. RSL's final leg of preseason training concludes at the University of Redlands, Redlands, Calif. beginning Wednesday, March 15. The team is currently scheduled to face the Los Angeles Galaxy reserves (Friday, March 17), Chivas USA (Sunday, March 19) and the University of Portland in Portland, Ore. (Saturday, March 25).

"While we expect it be a much more competitive preseason than a year ago, the ultimate goal is to be build a cohesive team that exceeds past the 2006 season," said RSL General Manager Steve Pastorino.

RSL amassed a 5-3-4 preseason record during 2005, with wins against the San Jose Earthquakes, Columbus Crew, Kansas City Wizards, U.S. Amateur Team and Beira Mar Algarve from Spain.

2006 RSL PRESEASON SCHEDULE (Dates/times subject to change)

DAY/DATE OPPONENT/EVENT SITE RESULT/TIME (MT)

Wednesday, Feb. 1 Training Camp Begins IMG Academy - Bradenton, FL until Friday, Feb. 17

Tuesday, Feb. 7 U.S. Amateur IMG Academy - Bradenton, FL 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 8 MetroStars IMG Academy - Bradenton, FL 8:00 a.m.

Thursday, Feb. 9 U.S. U-17 Men's National Team IMG Academy - Bradenton, FL 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 12 Columbus Crew* Spartan Stadium - Tampa, FL 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 15 Kansas City Wizards IMG Academy - Bradenton, FL 8:00 a.m.

Friday, Feb. 17 D.C. United IMG Academy - Bradenton, FL 8:00 a.m.

Friday, Feb. 17 Training Camp Continues Ft. Lauderdale, FL until Thursday, March 2

Monday, March 6 Training Camp Continues Salt Lake City, UT until Sunday, March 12

Thursday, March 16 Final Leg of Training Camp Univ. of Redlands, Redlands, CA until Friday, March 24

Friday, March 17 Los Angeles Galaxy Reserves Home Depot Center - Carson, CA 11:00 a.m.

Sunday, March 19 Chivas USA Univ. of Redlands, Redlands, CA TBD

Saturday, March 25 University of Portland Portland, OR 8:30 p.m.

*Second Annual Tom Fitzgerald Memorial Soccer Festival in Tampa, Fla.

REAL SALT LAKE PRESEASON ROSTER (as of January 31, 2006)

# Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Hometown College Status

-- Adam Acosta FW 6-1 185 08/03/1982 Salt Lake City, UT Redlands

2 Nelson Akwari DF 6-0 180 02/04/1982 Houston, TX UCLA

-- Mehdi Ballouchy MF 5-11 165 04/04/1983 Casablanca, Morocco Santa Clara Gen.adi

-- Jake Besagno DF 6-2 185 01/21/1984 Maple Valley, WA Seattle

20 Nikolas Besagno MF 6-0 175 11/15/1988 Maple Valley, WA -- Gen.adi

4 Paul Broome DF 5-9 150 06/06/1976 Dallas, TX Southern Methodist

11 Chris Brown MF 5-11 170 03/10/1977 Portland, OR Portland

25 Gustavo Cabrera DF 5-11 165 12/13/1979 Guatemala City, Guatemala

-- Jeff Cunningham FW 5-8 155 08/21/1976 Crystal River, FL South Florida

17 Kenny Cutler MF 5-9 140 03/08/1982 Richmond, VA Clemson

12 Leslie Fitzpatrick MF 5-6 160 11/11/1978 Port-of-Spain,Trinidad Columbia

21 Sergio Flores DF 5-11 168 02/22/1985 Smithfield, UT --

-- Willis Forko DF 5-10 168 11/12/1983 Houston, TX Connecticut

-- Scott Garlick GK 6-2 195 05/29/1972 Phoenix, Arizona San Diego

8 Adolfo Gregorio MF 5-9 165 09/01/1982 Hilmar, California UCLA

-- Atiba Harris FW 6-3 195 06/09/1985 St. Kitts & Nevis --

-- Chase Harrison GK 6-3 170 04/02/1984 Huntington, WV Virginia Tech

-- Christian Jimenez MF 5-10 165 11/03/1986 San Dimas, California South Florida Gen.adi

-- Ryan Johnson MF 6-1 180 11/26/1984 Boston, MA Oregon State

-- Chris Klein MF 6-1 180 01/04/1976 St. Louis, MO Indiana

32 Cameron Knowles DF 6-3 195 10/11/1982 Auckland, New Zealand Akron

19 Luke Kreamalmeyer MF 5-9 155 09/28/1982 Edwardsville, IL Bradley

9 Jason Kreis FW 5-10 155 12/29/1972 Omaha, NE Duke

-- Chris Lancos DF 6-1 175 07/12/1984 Middletown, NJ Maryland

31 Michael Lookingland DF 6-2 180 09/12/1983 Fallston, MD Bucknell

18 Jay Nolly GK 6-3 210 01/02/1982 Littleton, CO Indiana

27 Kevin Novak MF 5-8 150 09/01/1982 Huntington Beach, CA Loyola Marymount

-- Noah Palmer GK 6-3 195 04/21/1983 Williamsburg, VA Maryland

23 Eddie Pope DF 6-1 180 12/24/1973 High Point, NC North Carolina

-- Jeff Rowland FW 6-1 175 06/18/1984 Albuquerque, NM New Mexico

15 Robert Scarlett MF 5-7 140 11/11/1978 Kingston, Jamaica --

-- Douglas Sequeira MF 6-1 180 08/23/1977 San Jose, Costa Rica --

14 Melvin Tarley FW 6-1 175 10/31/1982 Munroeville, Liberia --

-- Carey Talley MF 6-2 180 08/26/1976 Cordova, Tennessee North Carolina

-- Daniel Torres DF 5-11 158 10/14/1977 Moravia, Costa Rica --

24 Seth Trembly MF 5-6 140 03/21/1982 Littleton, CO --

-- Diego Walsh MF 6-0 180 12/08/1979 Santos, Brazil Southern Methodist

22 Jamie Watson FW 5-9 150 04/10/1986 Dallas, TX North Carolina Gen.adi

7 Andy Williams MF 5-8 155 09/23/1977 Chicago, IL Rhode Island

(Preseason trialists in italics)

Head Coach: John Ellinger (Bradenton, FL)

Assistant / Goalkeeper Coach: Peter Mellor (Long Boat Key, FL)

Assistant Coach: Brian "BJ" Johnson (Livermore, CA)

Director of Player Development: Brian Kamler (St. Louis, MO)

Head Athletic Trainer: Jacob Joachim (Portland, OR)

Team Administrator: RJ Noto (Pittsfield, MA)

Equipment Manager: Nelvin Wilson (Grants, NM)

Press Officers: Ronell Hugh (Knightdale, NC)/ Trino Martinez (Fallbrook, CA)/ Trey Fitz-Gerald (Albuquerque, NM)

RSL'S POPE & KLEIN ADD GOALS IN IMPRESSIVE USMNT VICTORY: RSL DF Eddie Pope and newly acquired MF Chris Klein each provided a goal in the U.S. Men's National Team 5-0 win over Norway at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. on January 29. Pope reached another milestone in his illustrious career earning his 75th cap for the USMNT while playing 83 minutes and scoring the third goal for the U.S. off an assist from fellow DF Todd Dunivant in the 67th minute. The goal against Norway marked Pope's seventh goal of his MNT career.

Klein was a second half substitute entering the game in the 77th minute for MF Pat Noonan, and notched the fifth and final goal for the U.S. MNT from a MF Landon Donovan assist in the 87th minute. The Indiana University product notched his fourth goal for the MNT. The continues its flurries of friendlies against Japan at SBC Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, February 10 at 9:00 p.m. MT, live on ESPN2. The schedule for the U.S. MNT 2006 international friendlies leading up to the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 follows:

Day Date Matchup Time (MT) LOCATION

Fri. Feb. 10 Japan 9:00 p.m. SBC Park, San Francisco, Calif.

Sun. Feb. 19 Guatemala 12:00 p.m. Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas

Wed. March 1 Poland 12:00 p.m. Fritz-Water-Stadio, Kaiserslautern, Germany

Wed. March 22 Germany 12:00 p.m. Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany

All games televised live on ESPN2

RSL TO THANK SUPPORTERS AT USA-JAPAN WATCH PARTY ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10: Real Salt Lake, in conjunction with Major League Soccer, invites fans to come join the Supporters and RSL front office staff at Iggy's Sports Grill located at 677 South 200 West in Salt Lake City on Friday, February 10 with kickoff at 9:00 p.m. MT as they thank The Loyalists and Rogue Cavaliers Brigade for winning the ESPN Supporters Challenge. In conjunction, fans will be able to watch the U.S. Men's National Team battle Japan at SBC Park in San Francisco, Calif. on the big screen television in the back room at Iggy's, live on ESPN2.

The Loyalists and Rogue Cavaliers Brigade teamed up to participate in the challenge at RSL's last ESPN2 game against Chivas USA on August 6, 2005. The two supporter groups earned the honor by beating out the supporters of the 11 other teams from around MLS. As part of the winning the competition, The Loyalists and Rogue Cavaliers Brigade will be featured in the 2006 MLS advertising campaign.

MLS CUP RETURNS TO PIZZA HUT PARK ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12: Major League Soccer today announced that its championship game, MLS Cup 2006, will be held at the state-of-the-art Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas on Sunday, November 12 (live on ABC Sports at 1:30 pm MT). The announcement was made during a press conference at Pizza Hut Park featuring MLS Commissioner Don Garber, FC Dallas Investor/Operator Lamar Hunt, Frisco Mayor Mike Simpson and FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock.

MLS Cup returns to Pizza Hut Park for the second consecutive year. In the 2005 championship, the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated the New England Revolution, 1-0, in front of an overflow crowd of 21,193 at the new stadium. The 2005 championship game was the first of many world-class soccer events for Pizza Hut Park. The venue hosted the annual Interliga Mexican professional club tournament in early January and will later host two major international matches. The United States plays Guatemala on February 19 and Mexico takes on Ghana on March 1 at Pizza Hut Park.

Ticket prices will range from $35 to $150. In early summer all FC Dallas season ticket holders will have first priority on the purchase of MLS Cup 2006 tickets to be followed by a private corporate sale and then a public registration for a Random Computerized Drawing, which will assure fans on a nationwide basis that they will have access to 10 percent of the seating capacity of Pizza Hut Park. The Public-On-Sale-Date will then take place in the early fall for all remaining tickets. More information on MLS Cup 2006 tickets is available by calling 1-888-FCD-GOAL or visiting www.fcdallas.net.

2006 RSL SEASON, MINI-PLAN AND FLEX TICKET PACKAGES ON SALE: The RSL 2006 season ticket package features 20 games, including all 16 MLS regular season games and four special bonus games. Real Salt Lake's season ticket pricing remains level with the 2005 prices, and consists of Youth (15 and younger) and Adult in five price levels. Prices for the 2006 season ticket packages are $200 adult ($180 youth) for the North Goal, $300 adult ($240 youth) for the Corner Flag, $400 ($320 youth) for East Sideline, $500 ($400 youth) for VIP and $1,000 ($1,000 youth) Club seats.

The 2006 mini-plan features 10 games (to be announced once the MLS 2006 schedule is announced), including nine MLS regular-season games and one special bonus game. Real Salt Lake's mini-plan ticket pricing consists of Youth (15 and younger) and Adult in four price levels. Prices for the 2005 mini-plan season ticket packages are $130 adult ($110 youth) for the North Goal, $180 adult ($150) for the Corner Flag, $220 adult ($180 youth) for East Sideline and $300 adult ($230 youth) for VIP seats.

To add more options for fans, RSL is also offering the flex season ticket package, which is comprised of twenty vouchers of the same price category (North Goal, Corner Flag, Premium and VIP) that allows the purchaser to determine which games they would like to see in the regular reason and how many tickets needed for that game. Prices for the 2005 Flex Package are $280 for the North Goal, $340 for the Corner Flag, $440 for the East Sideline and $560 for the VIP seats. Tickets can be redeemed in the following way: one could use all the vouchers and bring 20 people to one game or 4 people could attend five games. Flex vouchers are discounted from the day of game pricing making it an even greater value

All tickets can be purchased by visiting the RSL Ticket Office at 515 South 700 East, #2R, SLC, UT 84102, by logging onto www.RealSaltLake.com or by contacting the Real Salt Lake Ticket Office at (866) 9-SOCCER.

ACCESS REAL: Real fans can now receive up-to-date information on the team by signing up for the RSL Weekly Newsletter on our website at http://real.saltlake.mlsnet.com/MLS/rsl/fans/.

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