10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Tony Beltran

by Sam Stejskal / RealSaltLake.com

foto by Boz

2. Outside of that the majority of the way I spend my time, my biggest hobby or pastime is reading. It’s kind of nice that what I do for a profession allows me a lot of time to read. It’s something I grew up doing, something I’ll always do.

Real Salt Lake’s Nick Rimando picks up Week 12 Save of the Week award

by MLSSoccer Staff / MLSSoccer.com

Real Salt Lake veteran netminder Nick Rimando claimed the Week 12 Save of the Week award with another stunning stop against Chivas USA. Over half of the fans who voted selected his kick save on a blistering shot from Goats forward Jose Erick Correa as the best of the lot.

Real Salt Lake could host a second U.S. Open Cup match this season

by Kira Terry / KSL

A victory over the Silverbacks next Tuesday in the third round would give RSL the hosting rights to a fourth-round match on June 12, where it would face either fellow MLS side San Jose or the USL’s Charleston Battery.

Real Salt Lake: RSL set to host 3 matches in 8 days at Rio Tinto Stadium

by Conner Johnson / Deseret News

“I’m so sure all the guys are excited. We can’t wait to get back in the Riot,” said fullback Lovel Palmer at Thursday’s training session. “The fans, they’ve been longing to see us, and as you can see in the training, the intensity is very high. Everyone is pretty much waiting on Saturday to get on the field and get going.”

Tactical Preview: Real Salt Lake

by Jeff Crandall / Chicago-Fire.com

The Fire head west to Utah on Saturday night after dropping two games against the Union both at home and in Philadelphia. The team is without a goal in three games and face a daunting task against \ in-form Real Salt Lake (7:30pm CT on My50). RSL swept Chivas aside last weekend, cruising to a 4-1 victory. Here are some things to look out for from a tactical perspective.

Chicago Fire vs. Real Salt Lake – MLS #11 – Fireside Chat With RSL Soapbox

by Ryan Sealock / HotTimeinOldTown.com

I exchanged questions with Matt Montgomery over at RSL Soapbox ahead of tomorrow’s fixture. These two teams don’t play each other often, but when they do there is usually never a shortage of action. Enjoy, and we’ll see you back here for this afternoon’s preview, followed by the gamethread and recap tomorrow.

SOUMARE: “I’ll be ready to play” on Saturday vs. Real Salt Lake

by Jeff Crandall / Chicago-Fire.com

“It’s weird and only in this league will you see that,” the veteran defender told reporters Thursday night. “To turn around and play alongside the guys you’ve been fighting against twice in a row, it’s weird.

2 MLS players with Chicago ties look to stop Fire

by Orrin Schwarz / Daily Herald

Former Chicago Fire center back Kwame Watson-Siriboe, 26, has often partnered on the RSL back line this season with Aurora native Chris Schuler, a 25-year-old Waubonsie Valley High School graduate who had played every minute of every game this season until coach Jason Kreis gave him the game off last weekend against Chivas USA.

Amid lawsuit, internal strife, XanGo sponsorship future seems uncertain

by Matt Montgomery / RSL Soapbox

“A co-founder of exotic juice maker XanGo LLC – one of Utah’s most successful brands – has filed a lawsuit claiming his partners are looting the company for exotic vacations and luxury gifts.”

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A Review of the D By the Numbers

by Charles Barnard / From the Upper Deck

By now, readers of this blog should be familiar with my minutes per team goal stat (MpTG). Today I thought I would mix it up a little bit. Instead of looking at it as an offensive stat, I thought I would modify it to look at how RSL is playing defensively. Some of my findings were very surprising to me.

foto by Boz

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RSL sees forward progress

SLTrib.com

“There’s no doubt,” the coach said this week. “I’m really pleased with how we’ve built things so far. The progress we’ve seen in our players, the depth in every position, I think it allows us to make very decisions … with guys so they’re not pushing through anything.”

foto by Boz

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Everybody Wins: Real Salt Lake, Nick Rimando delighted with Goalkeeper Rotation for USMNT

MLSSoccer.com

“I think it’s great that I can stay here,” said Rimando. “I had a conversation with Jurgen and he asked what I felt, and also [there is] a big possibility of going in for all of July, so he wanted to be fair to RSL and also fair to me.

“We came up with the conclusion of not going for the Germany game and the Belgium game and I almost was going to go in for Jamaica, but there is one last game we will have in the [RSL] homestand, and [RSL head coach] Jason [Kreis] talked him into letting me stay.”

foto by Boz

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RSL Looking to bring road success home

SLTrib.com

“We’ve got so much confidence on the road right now,” defender Tony Beltran said. Coach Jason Kreis “has us going out there and really just trying to dictate our style of play, not playing to the other team, the crowd, just really trying to stamp our game. … It’s been really encouraging and now we have to take what was positive from those performances and roll that into this next four or five games.”

foto by Boz

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Chicago Fire’s Maicon Santos still out with nagging shoulder injury, won’t play against Real Salt Lake

MLSSoccer.com

“He’s able to do stuff with the ball, but the problem is, it’s when there’s no contact,” Klopas said. “When he’s able to do stuff inside, like do pushups where he can push with his whole body weight so he can hold guys off [he'll be ready] … He’s still a ways away from that, though. He can’t apply any pressure or hold guys off.”

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