Scoreboard

CCL Preview: All or nothing for RSL as Herediano visit

October 23, 2012
realsaltlake.com

Real Salt Lake vs. CS Herediano
RIO TINTO STADIUM, Sandy, Utah
CONCACAF Champions League, Group 2
October 23, 2012
10 pm ET / 8 pm MT, FOX Soccer

 

RSL Injury Report:

  • OUT: GK Lalo Fernandez (R wrist fracture)
  • DOUBTFUL:  DF Kwame Watson-Siriboe (R leg strain); DF Jamison Olave (L quad strain)
  • QUESTIONABLE: MF Ned Grabavoy (R quad strain)
  • PROBABLE:  DF Chris Wingert (turf toe); DF Tony Beltran (R knee soreness); FW Fabian Espindola (general soreness)

RSL Disciplinary Status:

  • FW Alvaro Saborio - SUSPENDED - 2 Cautions in Group Play

DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE HERE (PDF)

CCL QUARTERFINALS ON LINE FOR RSL:

Real Salt Lake knows it needs EITHER a 2-goal win OR a 1-0 shutout victory on Tuesday against Costa Rican champion Herediano to advance to the 2012/13 CCL Quarterfinal Stage next March.
 
Jason Kreis’ team returned to Utah from Panama  following a dramatic, 1-0 road win at Tauro FC, its Group 2 CCL hopes still alive and its destiny still controlled after gathering all 3 critical points in a must-win match.
 
The win - secured by an Alvaro Saborio penalty kick in the 93+’ after the RSL Golden Boot leader was hauled down in the box by the Tauro GK - improved RSL to 2-1-0 (6 pts) in the Group 2 standings, behind Costa Rican champion Herediano (3-0-0, 9 pts).
Herediano - which defeated RSL in San Jose back on July 31 by a 1-0 scoreline - then defeated Tauro FC 2-1 to set up the winner-take-all match in Sandy ... 
 

WATCH: Kreis, Beckerman scout Costa Ricans

YET ANOTHER SELLOUT CROWD IN SANDY:
 
Tuesday’s CCL match and Saturday’s Oct. 27 MLS regular-season finale against VAN are both expected to fill to capacity, extending the RSL-record streak of sellouts at Rio Tinto Stadium to 6 consecutive games entering the playoffs, as well as a team-record 10 th and 11th of the season.
 
Dating back to June 20, RSL will have filled Rio Tinto Stadium to capacity in 9 of its final 12 games, entering its Playoff series against Seattle ...
 
SABORIO OUT, OLAVE AGGRAVATED:
 
RSL will be forced to play Tuesday without leading scorer FW  Alvaro Saborio due to yellow-card accumulation, as the Costa Rican international was cautioned after whiffing on a rebound of his saved shot and kicking a Tauro defender on Sept. 18 in Panama.
 
Also potentially missing on Tuesday is 2010 MLS Defender of the Year and perennial All-Star DF Jamison Olave, who suffered another hamstring strain in last week’s 0-0 draw at SEA, his fourth game back after a quad strain suffered at Herediano on July 31 caused the hulking Colombian to miss 7 consecutive games.
 
RSL could see the return of MF Ned Grabavoy, who has missed the last 3 games due to a quad strain suffered in training on Sept. 25.
 
HEREDIANO REWIND:
 
Real Salt Lake dropped its 2012/13 CONCACAF Champions League opener on July 31 at Herediano with an 0-1 loss against SC Herediano at Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica.
 
RSL came out flat, allowing a 14’ goal to the home side’s Elias Aguilar in a game marred by a Nat Borchers red card in the 57’ and a Jamison Olave injury a few minutes later.
 
RSL came out flying in the 2nd half, exerting a ton of pressure on Herediano prior to the Borchers injury, playing nearly the full 15 minutes in the offensive third prior to the Borchers red.
 
The loss in the 3-team, 4-game group stage opener pressured RSL to sweep Tauro FC and now either win via shutout or by multiple goals Tuesday in the Herediano visit to Rio Tinto Stadium.

FAMILIARITY WITH CCL DEMANDS:

RSL boss Jason Kreis has several players at his disposal who have seen their mettle tested in CCL play, as 14 of the 20 players who traveled to Herediano in July boast CCL experience with RSL.

Another three of this year’s newcomers - DF  Kenny Mansally (New England Revolution, 2007), FW Justin Braun (Chivas USA, 2008), MF Jonny Steele (Puerto Rico Islanders, 2009) - have first-hand CCL experience with other teams.

 

GETTING TO KNOW ... CS HEREDIANO:

Player to watch:

FW  Victor Nuñez:  The 32-year-old forward – and teammate of RSL’s Álvaro Saborío on Costa Rica’s 2006 World Cup squad – led Herediano with 18 total goals in the 2011 Invierno and 2012 Verano campaigns ... Nuñez has scored five goals in 17 appearances for the Ticos ...

Stadium:

Home Stadium: Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero

CCL Stadium: Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica

Herediano normally plays its home league matches at Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero, a 15,000 seat venue with a turf field located about 10 kilometers north of the Costa Rican capital of San Jose ...

However, Herediano hosted its CONCACAF Champions League game against RSL at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, a one-year-old, 35,000 seat stadium with a grass field that serves as the permanent home for the country’s national team ...

RSL’s Costa Rican international Álvaro Saborío is very familiar with the Estadio Nacional, having scored the first goal in stadium history during its inaugural match in March, 2011 ...

CS HEREDIANO CONCACAF Champions League History:

Qualification method: Costa Rican Verano Champion

Previous CCL appearances: 2009-2010, 2011-12 Herediano returns this year for a third try in the CONCACAF Champions League ... It qualified for the 2012-2013 tournament as the Verano 2012 champion ...

The club was eliminated in the Group Stage of the 2011-12 CCL, finishing in last place in Group D, behind Mexican club Monterrey, Seattle Sounders FC and Guatemalan club C.S.D. Comunicaciones ...

Herediano fell 2-6 on aggregate to Mexican club Cruz Azul in the 2009-10 competition’s Preliminary Round ...

CS Herediano Club History:

CS Herediano is one of the oldest clubs in Costa Rica. Founded in 1921, Herediano was the first Costa Rican national champion and has since collected 22 league titles ... In 1987, they became the first team in CONCACAF to reach 20 league titles ...

Last year, Herediano ended a 19-year championship drought, riding some brilliant attacking play at the end of the season to win the Verano 2012 tournament on May 19 and qualify for the current CCL tourney.

Though they aren’t the most domestically decorated team in Costa Rica, Herediano is considered the Costa Rican club team with the most international experience

... The club qualified for the old CONCACAF Champions Cup six times (advancing as far as the semifinals in 1989), won the 1988 “Copa Camel” and has now qualified for CCL play on three occasions: 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2012-13 ...

C.S. Herediano’s official constitution was signed in June, 1921 ... The club started to take shape shortly thereafter, successfully lobbying the Costa Rican government to form a FA and winning the inaugural national championship before the end of the calendar year ... The club would go on to win six national titles – including four in a row – in its first decade of existence ...

Herediano has undergone a significant amount of turnover since winning the championship, most notably losing second-leading goalscorer Jorge Barbosa in the summer transfer window.

Only two Costa Rican teams have had more success than Herediano - perennial powers LD Alajuelense, and Deportivo Saprissa ... RSL defeated Saprissa - also FW Alvaro Saborio’s former club - 3-2 on aggregate, in the semifinals of the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League ...

Two of RSL’s current players - MF Will Johnson & MF Ned Grabavoy - each appeared in all 15 of RSL’s previous CONCACAF matches, while only DF Tony Beltran did not start in the 2010/11 CCL Final amongst Kreis’ current projected XI (Robbie Russell).

 

EXTENDED HOME DOMINANCE:

Despite 5 home losses this year and 9 in the last two seasons, RSL’s 2-1 home win Sept. 22 against Portland improved the club to 60-12-18 in its last 90 home games since the beginning of 2008, Jason Kreis’ first full season at the helm ...

In that span, RSL has outscored opponents by 112 goals (175-63), with a 49-9-20 reg. season mark (145/51), 6-1-0 CCL record (17/5), 3-1-1 playoffs (5/2), 1-1-0 Open Cup (3/3) and 2-0-1 int’l exhibition (5/2) ...

All-time, RSL is now 64-28-33 in MLS regular-season play during 8 seasons at home, outscoring opposing sides 205-123 ...

LONE CCL HOME LOSS A HEARTBREAKER:

Tuesday night’s game is only RSL’s second at home since dropping the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League Final 2nd leg at Rio Tinto Stadium back on April 27, 2011, allowing an Humberto Suazo goal in first-half stoppage time to stand up following a 2-2 road draw south of the border at Estadio Tecnologico ...

RSL now missing Alvaro Saborio (yellow card suspension), Jamison Olave (injury), Andy Williams (retired) & Robbie Russell (traded) from the XI against Monterrey ...

RSL Captain  Kyle Beckerman missed that milestone game due to a yellow card in the previous leg, as RSL failed to hoist a trophy at home for the second time in as many tries in front of the Rio Tinto Stadium faithful, also falling 0-1 at home in the 2008 Western Conference Final against New York ...

In the team’s last home CCL game in mid-August against Tauro FC, RSL earned a 2-0 home victory over the Panamanian champions ... Early 2nd-half goals by FW Alvaro Saborio and Captain Kyle Beckerman – both set up by an especially spry Paulo Junior - proved the difference in a match dominated by RSL, which outshot the visitors 16-3 (8-2 on goal) ... RSL was poised to pour it on and boost the side’s goal differential in the match, but Beckerman saw straight red in the 72nd minute for dangerous play, extending his foot back for a high ball and catching an opponent he didn’t see in the midsection.

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