Tuesday: Today's scrimmage against local amateur club Olympique Montreux has been closed to public and media. No information from the team on the reason for this. Speculation could lead you to believe that the team is working on some new wrinkles, or maybe with the approaching transfer deadline (Apr 15th) there is a trialist in the mix. Or maybe they just want to avoid the distractions. Who knows?
Wednesday: off day
Thursday: Training at Rio Tinto Stadium (10 am)
Friday: Training at Xango Field (11 am)
Saturday: Real Salt Lake -vs- DC United (4 pm), Rio Tinto Stadium
Showing posts with label rio tinto stadium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rio tinto stadium. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Schedule this week
Monday, March 2, 2009
Valencia - MLS All-Star Game Opponent?
Steve Goff, the Soccer Insider, is reporting that Valencia is the leading candidate for the All-Star Game opponent on July 29th at Rio Tinto Stadium. He also indicates that a decision is expected next week.
Not quite the top-notch opponent that had talked about in Milan, Inter, Real Madrid, etc. The team is still a quality side and features star striker, David Villa. They currently sit tied for 5th in La Liga.
The team also raised eyebrows in recent weeks for failing to pay their players. This move is likely done in order to help raise some cash to help the team meet their financial obligations.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
New TV Ad
This may look familiar, but this video of the first Real Salt Lake goal at Rio Tinto Stadium that has been floating around the blog-o-sphere has officially been turned into a season ticket TV spot. Enjoy:
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Speculation on All-Star Game Opponent
As most of you know, Rio Tinto Stadium will host this year's All-Star Game which will feature the best of the league against a yet-to-be-named international opponent. The last two years have featured West Ham, from the English Premier League and Celtic from the Scottish Premier League.
If the past is any indicator an announcement will likely come within the next 30 days. My bet is that it will not be an English club, just to add variety to the mix. So who will it be this year? Here are a few intriguing prospects:
Real Madrid
The initial speculation after the announcement of Rio Tinto being the 2009 home for the MLS All-Star Game went straight toward the team that calls the Bernabeu home. The tie-in is obvious as Real Salt Lake and Real Madrid announced a partnership that brought the Spanish club to Salt Lake in 2006 and saw RSL travel to Spain in 2007. The La Liga juggernauts were supposed to also make an appearance in Salt Lake last year, but backed out citing financial reasons. My hunch is that the Real Salt Lake brass would prefer that the All-Star game opponent is NOT Real Madrid, and they would prefer to have them return for a friendly during 2009 to make up for the void that was created last season. This would allow the team to market a top-notch team for the All-Star Game, Real Madrid for a friendly and a WCQ against El Salvador. That would surely sell some additional season tickets.
Barcelona
Of course, Barcelona is another powerhouse in La Liga and has quite a following world-wide. The team features Lionel Messi one of the most exciting young players in the world. In addition, Barcelona has been vying (and is rumored to be close to being awarded) an affiliated team in MLS, located in Miami. So could the league arrange a match with them against the All-Stars in conjunction with an announcement of their Miami affiliate being accepted in the league?
AC Milan
A powerhouse in Serie A, who after a team of lawyers and about $20M, will likely be the proud owner of David Beckham on their roster - is an obvious potential choice. Beckham's time with the LA Galaxy and the fact that he is such a great ambassador for the game would make this a solid opponent. The team ain't that bad either.
Bayern Munich
Although Bundesliga teams don't carry quite the following in the US as EPL and La Liga teams, all MLS fans are sure to recognize this team. Especially after the expected departure of Landon Donovan finds him on the roster of this top-flight European team. MLS fans would be sure to be drawn to this match, and Donovan's appearance for the foreign team would turn on TV sets.
While those would be the most obvious choices, there are others that would be of interest:
AS Monaco
This French side may be middle of the pack in Ligue 1, but they feature former Real Salt Lake midfielder, and US National team member Freddy Adu. And of course when I say feature, I mean rarely plays. I assume that would be a different story if Monaco came to town on July 29th.
Lyon
Another French-side, this time a top-flight one. Lyon has been on a torrid streak and has left victims in their wake all across Europe. The interesting connection is that the team had reportedly agreed to play Real Salt Lake last season to fill the void left by Real Madrid. Apparantly they had an opt-out clause in the contract and exercised it prior to the match being announced.
Boca Juniors
The storied history of this club in Argentina is a strong one, as it has been the breeding grounds for soccer legends that went on to play all around the world. Real Salt Lake faced off against them in an exhibition in 2007, but nobody would complain about a return visit.
C.F. America
This Mexican side is the former club of last year's MLS ALL-Star MVP, Cuahtemoc Blanco. This would create an interesting story and the soccer fanbase in the Salt Lake area would eat this one up. As they would for many top-flight Mexican teams: Santos Laguna, Cruz Azul, etc.
Who is your pick? Who do you think it would be? And who do you want to see?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
WCQ/RSL Roster/Escalada
Apologies for the lack of updates today. I've been under the weather. But there is some news out there:
Lot's of things happening on the WCQ qualifying front:
WCQ at Rio Tinto Stadium
First of all, Real Salt Lake announced today that it has been awarded a World Cup Qualifier at Rio Tinto Stadium. The match will take place on September 5th against El Salvador. Season ticket holders will have the opportunity for a first shot at tickets.
The match is not likely to have alot of consequence in Concacaf qualifying because of it's position in the schedule, and the fact that the two teams occupy opposite ends of the power spectrum in the Concacaf region. However, despite that it will likely be an event not to be missed. Having attended the previous Qualifier held against Costa Rica at Rice Eccles, I'm sure it will be a similar electric atmosphere and a chance to show off the fantastic stadium on ESPN2 to all of the followers of the US National Team.
US -vs- Mexico Qualifier
Wednesday night at Crew Stadium in Columbus will see the US take on El Tri in a renewal of the intense rivalry between the two bordering countries. Make no mistake, these two teams just don't like each other. The match may be a bit less competitive due to some missing faces from the Mexico lineup. See this positional analysis courtesy of Goal.com and this preview on Fox Sports.
Real Salt Lake Roster Tidbits
Keepin' It Real has learned that Luis Escalada was not offered a contract before coming to camp. Although some discussions had taken place, the team was not willing to put pen to paper without seeing him in action in the teams training camp. It's unknown what the exact status is, but I suspect this will unfold over the next couple of weeks.
It is also thought to be likely that Rachid El-Khalifi who is currently under contract with SC Cambuur in the Dutch Eerste Divisie will return to his club after the end of this weeks preseason stint in California. However, that doesn't mean we won't see him in an RSL kit. One possibility is that RSL may choose to try to bring him in during the summer window when his contract has expired with his current club. Presumably RSL has/or will file a discovery on the player if they like what they see.
Michael C. Lewis poses a question first raised here at Keepin' it Real: Despite being currently in camp, will Ian Joy be around for all or even part of this season? From a discussion I had with Ian last fall I know that he is homesick and wants to be closer to his daughter, but he also expressed disatisfaction with his financial situation. His comments at media day seem to indicate that these issues still persist. My guess?: he won't be around at the start of the season, and if he is it will only last until another opportunity comes up as teams in Europe re-tool at the beginning of the summer. But that's just my speculation.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Behind the Shield: Finishing Touches
In case you missed it, check out Behind the Shield, which reminds us that Rio Tinto Stadium is still adding some of those little finishing touches, like below:
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Dan Patrick Show at Rio Tinto on Friday
“DAN PATRICK SHOW” TO AIR LIVE FRIDAY AT RIO TINTO STADIUM
KALL 700 Sports to Host Popular Morning Show in Rio Tinto Stadium Club from 7:00-10:00 a.m. MT; Media Availability with Patrick to Follow at 10:30 a.m.
KALL 700 Sports to Host Popular Morning Show in Rio Tinto Stadium Club from 7:00-10:00 a.m. MT; Media Availability with Patrick to Follow at 10:30 a.m.
Listeners Can Win Chance to Attend Closed-Door Event by Tuning into “Bill and Spence” on KALL 700 Sports Tuesday through Thursday
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
