after you get traded, you want to make a point to show up the last team."
Not only do both teams come into the match with a forward out for payback, but they also are in similar situations. They are the two newest teams in the league, and they both sit on the bottom of their respective conferences. Even more, both teams believe they are better than their records indicate.
Toronto is 4-7-2, with 14 points at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Real are 1-5-6, with nine points and on the bottom of the Western Conference.
This is the first meeting between the teams.
"They don't have the results to show how good they are," Real coach Jason Kreis said. "It's a group of guys that is working extremely hard, it's a group of guys with a lot of ability, and there are some individual players with a lot of ability."
To be sure, RSL will keep a close eye on Cunningham during the match.
"Obviously, we are aware of who their dangerous players are, we had one here for a year and a half, so we are focused on that and we realize it's going to be an emotional game," Kreis said. "Everybody knows enough about this league to know what Jeff Cunningham is capable of, and that's a lot. So we've got to be keyed in on him, and we've got to be keyed in on a couple of other guys they have that are good players, and then just go out and play our game on our home turf."
Eskandarian said Real is feeling confident about Wednesday's match. RSL won its first game of the season, 2-1 against D.C. United, 10 days ago, and would like to start a win streak after a week and half of rest.
"We've got to come out and prove it each week," Eskandarian said. "It doesn't matter how much work you put in or how confident you are unless you show up on game day and prove it. And that's what we would like to do on a consistent basis."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
