SANTOS LAGUNA TO FILL VACANT REAL MADRID SPOT
RSL Hosts Defending Mexican Clausura Champs Santos Laguna on July 9
at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Ninth International Exhibition All-Time
SALT LAKE CITY (Thursday, June 12, 2008) – Continuing its tradition of bringing world-class international competition to the State of Utah, Real Salt Lake again partners with XanGo for the third consecutive year to present XanGo Cup 2008. This summer’s international festivities commence with 2008 Mexican Clausura titlist Santos Laguna on Wednesday, July 9, at Rice-Eccles Stadium, with an 8:00 p.m. MT kickoff.
“XanGo is proud to once again team with Real Salt Lake to create a world-class event in our home state,” said XanGo Founder/Board Member Gordon Morton. “The XanGo Cup is a source of pride among XanGo’s employees and our nearly one million independent distributors, and this year with Santos coming to town, there will be special excitement at XanGo since Mexico has emerged as our second largest international market. We hope RSL fans will fill the stadium to support our home town team and to welcome a worthy international competitor.”
Santos, as the team is known colloquially south of the border, becomes just the second club of Mexican origin to visit the Wasatch Front since Major League Soccer officially expanded to Utah in 2004, with fellow Mexican First Division side Monarcas Morelia becoming the first to do so in July 2006. RSL is unbeaten in its last four international friendlies, winning three times and drawing once.
“We are pleased to again partner with XanGo in bringing another international game to Utah,” said RSL President Bill Manning. “It was important to us to bring in a high-caliber team, and I could not be more pleased to host the Mexican League champion Santos Laguna in our first international match of the season.”
XanGo Cup 2008 tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Monday, June 16, at 10:00 a.m. MT at all UTIX outlets, by phone at (801) 581-UTIX, and online at http://www.utahtickets.com/. Tickets for the contest are $30 (Corner/Goal), $45 (Premium) and $60 (VIP), with a $5 discount in each seating area applicable to each ticket bought as part of a group of 20 or more.
Club Santos Laguna will enter its 25th year of existence during the upcoming Mexican Apertura season as the reigning champions of La Primera División de México, this after claiming the 2008 Clausura Championship earlier this month. Santos Laguna was established on August 13, 1983, by Grupo Modelo, the brewery that produces Corona, which explains why the Santos team logo is adorned with the Corona crown and plays at Estadio Corona in Torreón, Mexico.
In its short history, Santos has raked in the hardware, earning three Primera División championships (Invierno 1996, Verano 2001, and Clausura 2008) and the inaugural InterLiga championship in 2004, which earned the squad qualification into that year’s Copa Libertadores tournament. By virtue of their 2008 Clausura championship, Santos will be competing in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League starting this September. Like Real Salt Lake, Santos is in the midst of constructing a brand- new stadium, with the 28,000-seat Nuevo Estadio Corona expected to open in August of 2009.
The club is managed by former Santos forward Daniel Guzmán – a member of the MLS San Jose Clash for a brief stint in 1997 – who was appointed manager in 2006. The captain of Santos and one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of Mexican soccer is former Chivas Guadalajara standout Oswaldo Sánchez, who has been capped 88 times for the Mexican National Team - “El Tri” – in his career.
The Mexican Champions also boast Mexican internationals Fernando Arce, Edgar Castillo, and Juan Pablo Rodríguez. Santos has a strong attack force that features Argentinean playmaker Daniel Ludueña, Ecuadorian international forward Christian “El Chucho” Benítez and Argentine striker Vicente Matías Vuoso, the latter two having scored eight goals in the 2008 Clausura, placing them tied second in La Primera División’s scoring chart for the spring season.
The exhibition against Santos Laguna will mark the first international exhibition of 2008 for Real Salt Lake, which has squared off against eight international opponents in its first three seasons. Last year, Real Salt Lake welcomed four international teams to the Wasatch Front, recording wins over the Fiji and China National Team selections in the spring before taking on English Premier League representative Everton FC and legendary Argentine side Boca Juniors in the first-ever XanGo Cup doubleheader across the Pioneer Day weekend. Wins over Fiji, China, and Everton, and a draw with Boca Juniors brought RSL’s all-time record in international friendlies to 4-2-2.
REAL SALT LAKE ALL-TIME RESULTS VS. INTERNATIONAL OPPONENTS
Date Opponent Result
June 8, 2005 Universidad Catolica (Chile) 3-2 W
August 24, 2005 Harbour View F.C. (Jamaica) 1-1 T
July 19, 2006 Monarcas Morelia (Mexico) 1-3 L
*August 12, 2006 Real Madrid (Spain) 0-2 L
April 18, 2007 Fiji National Team 3-0 W
June 7, 2007 Chinese National Team 1-0 W
*July 21, 2007 Everton F.C. (England) 2-0 W
*July 24, 2007 Boca Juniors (Argentina) 1-1 T
* - Denotes XanGo Cup contest
“XanGo is proud to once again team with Real Salt Lake to create a world-class event in our home state,” said XanGo Founder/Board Member Gordon Morton. “The XanGo Cup is a source of pride among XanGo’s employees and our nearly one million independent distributors, and this year with Santos coming to town, there will be special excitement at XanGo since Mexico has emerged as our second largest international market. We hope RSL fans will fill the stadium to support our home town team and to welcome a worthy international competitor.”
Santos, as the team is known colloquially south of the border, becomes just the second club of Mexican origin to visit the Wasatch Front since Major League Soccer officially expanded to Utah in 2004, with fellow Mexican First Division side Monarcas Morelia becoming the first to do so in July 2006. RSL is unbeaten in its last four international friendlies, winning three times and drawing once.
“We are pleased to again partner with XanGo in bringing another international game to Utah,” said RSL President Bill Manning. “It was important to us to bring in a high-caliber team, and I could not be more pleased to host the Mexican League champion Santos Laguna in our first international match of the season.”
XanGo Cup 2008 tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Monday, June 16, at 10:00 a.m. MT at all UTIX outlets, by phone at (801) 581-UTIX, and online at http://www.utahtickets.com/. Tickets for the contest are $30 (Corner/Goal), $45 (Premium) and $60 (VIP), with a $5 discount in each seating area applicable to each ticket bought as part of a group of 20 or more.
Club Santos Laguna will enter its 25th year of existence during the upcoming Mexican Apertura season as the reigning champions of La Primera División de México, this after claiming the 2008 Clausura Championship earlier this month. Santos Laguna was established on August 13, 1983, by Grupo Modelo, the brewery that produces Corona, which explains why the Santos team logo is adorned with the Corona crown and plays at Estadio Corona in Torreón, Mexico.
In its short history, Santos has raked in the hardware, earning three Primera División championships (Invierno 1996, Verano 2001, and Clausura 2008) and the inaugural InterLiga championship in 2004, which earned the squad qualification into that year’s Copa Libertadores tournament. By virtue of their 2008 Clausura championship, Santos will be competing in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League starting this September. Like Real Salt Lake, Santos is in the midst of constructing a brand- new stadium, with the 28,000-seat Nuevo Estadio Corona expected to open in August of 2009.
The club is managed by former Santos forward Daniel Guzmán – a member of the MLS San Jose Clash for a brief stint in 1997 – who was appointed manager in 2006. The captain of Santos and one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of Mexican soccer is former Chivas Guadalajara standout Oswaldo Sánchez, who has been capped 88 times for the Mexican National Team - “El Tri” – in his career.
The Mexican Champions also boast Mexican internationals Fernando Arce, Edgar Castillo, and Juan Pablo Rodríguez. Santos has a strong attack force that features Argentinean playmaker Daniel Ludueña, Ecuadorian international forward Christian “El Chucho” Benítez and Argentine striker Vicente Matías Vuoso, the latter two having scored eight goals in the 2008 Clausura, placing them tied second in La Primera División’s scoring chart for the spring season.
The exhibition against Santos Laguna will mark the first international exhibition of 2008 for Real Salt Lake, which has squared off against eight international opponents in its first three seasons. Last year, Real Salt Lake welcomed four international teams to the Wasatch Front, recording wins over the Fiji and China National Team selections in the spring before taking on English Premier League representative Everton FC and legendary Argentine side Boca Juniors in the first-ever XanGo Cup doubleheader across the Pioneer Day weekend. Wins over Fiji, China, and Everton, and a draw with Boca Juniors brought RSL’s all-time record in international friendlies to 4-2-2.
REAL SALT LAKE ALL-TIME RESULTS VS. INTERNATIONAL OPPONENTS
Date Opponent Result
June 8, 2005 Universidad Catolica (Chile) 3-2 W
August 24, 2005 Harbour View F.C. (Jamaica) 1-1 T
July 19, 2006 Monarcas Morelia (Mexico) 1-3 L
*August 12, 2006 Real Madrid (Spain) 0-2 L
April 18, 2007 Fiji National Team 3-0 W
June 7, 2007 Chinese National Team 1-0 W
*July 21, 2007 Everton F.C. (England) 2-0 W
*July 24, 2007 Boca Juniors (Argentina) 1-1 T
* - Denotes XanGo Cup contest
(Courtesy RSL Communications)
