Real opened the game with pressure and threatened early with Findley hitting Keller with a shot in the 3rd minute of play.  Salt Lake continued to pressure and was looking like they were off to a good start when Seattle scored against the run of play with a counterattack in the 11th minute.  Fredy Montero received the ball near midfield for Seattle and played an easy ball over the defense to a wide-open Steve Zakuani who calmly played it past Nick Rimando and the visitors were up 1-0.

Then things started to get uncomfortable for Salt Lake.  Javier Morales had to go out with a groin injury in the 39th minute.  Then Ned Grabavoy and Jamison Olave pulled up with injuries before the half.  Grabavoy was replaced at the half by Nelson Gonzalez while Olave was able to complete the game.

Real jumped out early in the second half and got a great goal from Will Johnson in the 53rd minute.  After throwing the ball in to Robbie Findley, Robbie Russel received a return pass and played a beautiful cross in from the right wing which was met by a diving Will Johnson.  Johnson’s goal allowed RSL to pull level at 1-1.

Real’s good fortune didn’t last long.  In the 72nd minute Nat Borchers found himself slightly turned around by Tyrone Marshall and in attempting to nix a Seattle cross, mistakenly directed it into his own net and Seattle again took the lead.

But as we have come to expect from Real Salt Lake, they refused to give up.  Despite running hard the entire game, RSL turned it up a notch in the last 15 minutes  and played with more energy and determination then they perhaps have played with yet in this early part of the season.  This effort was rewarded when Real earned a corner kick deep in stoppage time.  Nelson Gonzalez took the corner and swung a left footed cross in to Alvaro Saborio who got just enough space between him and his marker to get the ball in the goal.

What a game it was! Despite only earning one point on a night when they outshot and outplayed Seattle, RSL was able to walk away with their heads held high.  They had successfully drawn level after twice trailing by a goal.  They had overcome injuries to two of their motors in the midfield in the first half.  By showing what it means to play as a team and never say die, on the night that they received their championship rings, RSL reminded us why they are the defending champions in MLS.

(To check out some more pics from the match click on the above photo or view Slide Show)

Post-Game Audio

Kreis_Apr2010

Johnson1_Apr2010

Johnson2_Apr2010

Saborio_Apr2010

Beckerman_Apr2010

Williams_Apr2010

Most depressing point?  When asked the likelihood that the season would start on time, he replied “less than 50%”.

Checketts Part 1: Dave Checketts_pt1

Checketts Part 2: Dave Checketts_pt2

Checketts Part3: Dave Checketts_pt3

This time, he interviews Jason Kreis.  You may be interested in Kreis’ response about him getting the coaching job.  The discussion about why winning the Cup was so fulfilling to both him and Dave Checkett’s is also interesting.

Kreis interview

Jason Kreis

Kreis_20100211_edit

Ned Grabavoy

Grabavoy20100212_edit

Chris Wingert

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Alexandre_20100211_edit

Here is the preseason roster:

PreseasonRoster2010

You’ll notice that Dutch winger, Rachid El Khalifi, is listed on the preseason roster, but KIR has learned that El Khalifi is back in Holland looking for other opportunities.  This should come as no surprise as we first learned that he was interested in this back in December.

Rachid El Khalifi: “He’s a little bit of an older player, and may want to play a larger role were he to come back. So I know that he’s exploring all of his options right now. He’s under contract, but with foreign guys we try not to be jerks about it. If they say they want to start somewhere, and want to leave – we try to accommodate them. Those guys may choose to go back home, and get more time at home rather than staying with us and being on the bench. And that’s the decision that Rachid’s making right now.”

Abe Thompson

Thompson_20100211_edit

Rauwshon McKenzie

McKenzie_20100211

Tim Melia

Melia_20100211

Miles Joseph

Joseph_20100211

Justin Davis

Davis_edited

Chris Schuler

Schuler_edited

Kris Banghart

Banghart_edited