Two Western Conference clubs who finished on opposite ends of the division a season ago face off in their 2007 season opener. Real Salt Lake kicks off their third season aiming for a first-ever trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs. A year ago, FC Dallas won the regular season title in the Western Conference, only to be eliminated by the Colorado Rapids for the second season in a row and be denied the opportunity to play in a first MLS Cup Final in their own stadium.
REFEREE: Jair Marrufo. SAR (bench): Jose Corro; JAR (opposite): David Bragg; 4th: Tim Weyland
MLS Career: 49 games; FC/gm: 29.8; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 11; pens: 21
Games involving Real: P5 W2 L2 T1; FC/gm: 25.0; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 0; pens: 0
Games involving FC Dallas: P3 W1 L2 T0; FC/gm: 31.3; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 0; pens: 1
INJURY REPORT: REAL SALT LAKE - DOUBTFUL: DF Chris Lancos (R quad contusion) ... FC DALLAS - OUT: FW Roberto Mina (L MCL sprain); QUESTIONABLE: FW Dominic Oduro (L hamstring); PROBABLE: DF Alex Yi (L hamstring)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: FC DALLAS: GK Dario Sala (through April 29); DF Chris Gbandi (through April 8)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (8 meetings): Real Salt Lake 2 wins, 9 goals ... FC Dallas 6 wins, 14 goals ... Draws 0
IN SALT LAKE CITY: (4 meetings): Real 2 wins, 6 goals ... FC Dallas 2 wins, 5 goals ... Draws 0
This is the first of three meetings between the teams this season, all in the opening three months of the league campaign. They meet for the only time this year at Pizza Hut Park on May 20, before concluding their league series on June 14 on the Wasatch Front.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
4/8: DAL 2, RSL 1 (Cooper 43; Wilson 57 - Klein 36)
7/22: RSL 0, DAL 1 (Thompson 90)
9/16: RSL 3, DAL 2 (Williams 13; Klein 62; Kreis 72 - Ruiz 4, 45)
9/23: DAL 2, RSL 1 (Ruiz 9; Cooper 14 - Cunningham 48)
A year ago, FC Dallas claimed the season series between the clubs for the second year running, taking three of the four meetings, including both games in Frisco.
Both of Real's victories against the Hoops have come at Rice-Eccles Stadium, a 3-0 on July 23, 2005 and the 3-2 victory on Sept. 16 of last season after going a man down.
Coaches record: John Ellinger vs. DAL: P8 W2 L6 D0 ... Steve Morrow v RSL: first game
REAL SALT LAKE
Real Salt Lake begins their third season looking to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time ever. They've finished in fifth place in the Western Conference in both years of their history, a year ago ending level with the Los Angeles Galaxy two points out of the final playoff spot.
Real concluded their preseason campaign last Saturday with a scoreless draw against the Colorado Rapids in Las Vegas. Colorado played a man down for the final 32 minutes of the contest after Brandon Prideaux was sent off for a second bookable offense, RSL nearly grabbing the win late in second-half stoppage time when Kenny Cutler hit the woodwork.
Here's Ellinger's team: Nick Rimando - Jack Stewart (Nik Besagno 53), Eddie Pope, Danny Torres, Willis Forko - Chris Klein, Carey Talley, Jason Kreis (Kenny Cutler 67), Mehdi Ballouchy, Freddy Adu - Jeff Cunningham (Chris Brown 69).
Coming out of the preseason, Ellinger is hoping his club gets off to a better start this season than it has in the first two. In their inaugural campaign, RSL went 1-3-2 in their opening six games; last year, they got out of the gate with a disastrous 0-5-1 mark, and failed to reach the playoffs both seasons.
"To be honest, I'm more optimistic every year that we're going to come out of the starting blocks a lot better," said Ellinger to the Deseret Morning News. "I think we have a good core that has played a year together, and the fact that we've added several players who I think made us better. So optimistically, I feel we can get off to a better start and get our confidence early."
Ellinger thinks, for starters, he has improved a defense that allowed 49 goals in 32 games last season, most in MLS.
"Right now, Eddie [Pope] and Danny [Torres] have started to form an exceptional central defense corps," Ellinger said. "From what we've seen out of Nick (Rimando), he's playing very well and he's got something to prove. Defensively, we have more depth and more talent than we had the first two years, obviously, so I'm hoping if we keep our main guys healthy we'll be better. We'll try to score as many goals as we can, and if we can cut that goals-against number in half, than we'll be pretty successful as well."
The club's biggest offseason news was the acquisition of Freddy Adu from D.C. United, and it was widely expected he would fill the attacking midfield role he coveted there. But in the preseason, Mehdi Ballouchy had laid claim to that spot in Ellinger's five-man midfield in the 4-5-1 scheme he's settled on during the preparation period.
"Mehdi's been playing at a different level," said Ellinger to the DMN. "Right now we're able to put teams under pressure, more so than we were doing even last year even at the second half of the season. We've created a lot more chances."
And that has meant a move to a wide position on the left for Adu. Ellinger admitted Adu wasn't pleased at first, but has now embraced the plan.
"The initial plan was to stick him in the middle, but as the preseason goes on he seemed to be more valuable playing on the left," said Ellinger. "There was a point where he said, 'I'm not really feeling this position.' I tried to use the analogy that if it's good enough for Ronaldinho, it can be good enough for you, so he's adjusted to that. He feels pretty good now."
FC DALLAS
Steve Morrow begins his first season in charge of FC Dallas, who a year ago finished atop the Western Conference in the regular season, only to be dumped out of the MLS Cup Playoffs at the quarterfinal stage on home turf by the Colorado Rapids.
FC Dallas concluded their preseason with a 1-0 loss to Brazilian outfit Clube Atletico Paranaense on March 31 at Pizza Hut Park, the return match of the USA/Brazil challenge matching the Hoops against their partner club. CAP defeated Dallas 3-1 at Kyocera Stadium in Curitiba, Brazil on March 7.
In the 33rd minute, the visitors got the only goal they would need when CAP forward Ricardinho blasted a shot past Hoops goalkeeper Shaka Hislop for the only goal of the contest. The tally was set up when teammate and fellow striker Dayro Moreno had a perfect touch and found him on the left side of the field with a perfect angle to shoot at goal.
Here's Steve Morrow's team on the night: Shaka Hislop - Bobby Rhine, Clarence Goodson, Drew Moor, David Wagenfuhr - Marcelo Saragosa (Pablo Richetti 64), Juan Toja - Kenny Cooper (Roberto Mina 63), Ramon Nunez (Abe Thompson 79), Arturo Alvarez (Dax McCarty 62) - Carlos Ruiz (Dominic Oduro 62). Substitutes not used: Ray Burse, Aaron Pitchkolan, Blake Wagner, Andrew Daniels
Morrow was aiming to use the match against CAP as the final dress rehearsal before the season opener, and said that his first-choice lineup was on display - though he said there was still room for change.
"I'm looking for those 11 guys to be playing together and have 90 minutes together as much as possible," Morrow said. "I want to give other guys an opportunity to push for a spot as well. There will be a mixture of getting the starting guys playing together and giving a few others chance to win a spot. I still think there are one or two spots still up for grabs and want to give guys the opportunity."
As well, it was a final chance for Morrow's 4-2-3-1 system to go through a shakedown. The change in tactics - particularly in the attacking end - has met with widespread approval from the FCD players.
"I like it (the new formation) because I have more players around me," said Carlos Ruiz, who was named team captain during the week. "I know I need to find spaces because with all of those players around me, I need to make good runs to find spaces behind the defense. When I have Ramon (Nunez), Kenny (Cooper), Roberto (Mina) and Arturo (Alvarez), I have good players around me. At any moment, they can give me a great pass that will allow me to try and score a goal."
In addition, Ramon Nunez has started to make the playmaking role in the center of the park his own. "Steve is giving me the freedom to move around and go left, right or in the middle to get the ball. My job is to get the ball and make the team move," Nunez said. I felt like I was able to do that (against CAP). I was able to get a couple of shots off and create some opportunities, which is going to be my role this year."
With goalkeeper Dario Sala suspended for the first six matches of the season, Morrow wasn't ready to concede the starting job to Shaka Hislop at the start of preseason. But the Trinidad & Tobago international has performed well of late and will be between the posts for the opener.
"I think Shaka has been solid in the last few games," said Morrow. "We have only conceded one goal in the last few games. He's been a lot more solid and I think he's gradually getting back to full fitness. He's worked hard in the last couple of weeks with his sharpness in training and I think that's starting to pay off. I think come the weekend, he'll be ready."
Morrow was also pleased with the holding midfield duo of Marcelo Saragosa and Juan Carlos Toja. While Morrow has made the addition of some steel into the backline a priority during the offseason, he also wanted to see it from his midfielders.
"I think I did (see that toughness against CAP)," he said. "That's a strength for Marcelo. He's very competitive in the middle of the field. He showed tonight that he has a good partnership with (Juan Carlos) Toja and they balanced each other pretty well. Toja has both those qualities where he's great going forward and also showed tonight that he's very willing to work back."
Despite the result, it was still a good final preseason match from the FCD point of view. "In so many ways, it seems that roles within the system are becoming more understood," said Bobby Rhine. "I think guys are asked to do certain things and are starting to understand what those things are. That was evident tonight for the most part."
The Hoops will be without striker Roberto Mina, who suffered a knee injury the final preseason friendly against Paranaense. An MRI showed no damage. "It's nothing too serious," said Morrow to The Dallas Morning News. "Players can come back and play in about a week. He is so strong on his thighs, anyway, that I think he will recover quickly."
