MADRID (March 3, 2007) - Overcast skies enveloped Ciudad Real Madrid for the first time this week, joining the dampness of the morning dew in welcoming Real Salt Lake to the facility this morning. Head Coach John Ellinger's team arrived at the breathtaking complex an hour earlier than normal, in order to allow the team to engage in a post-training weightlifting workout. RSL enjoyed a free afternoon for its most significant block of rest time during the trip, with many of the players taking advantage of the time to tour the famed Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in advance of Sunday night's La Liga match between los Merengues, Real Madrid, and Getafe.
After a period of extended stretching designed to mitigate the effects of Friday's strenous "two-a-day" sessions, RSL focused on crisp passing with both feet for 10 minutes. Then the team broke into several groups of five for a 4v1 drill designed to encourage accurate passing and controlled touches in tight spaces. FW Jeff Rowland (left ACL) and DF Nik Besagno each watched the full-speed drills anxiously, anticipating the arrival of team orthopedist Dr. Andrew Cooper from Utah on Sunday, hoping to be given final clearance and approval for full contact drills with no restrictions. RSL DF Danny Torres was even further limited on Saturday, spending nearly two hours on a stationary bike due to a slight ankle sprain suffered in Friday's afternoon session.
With the three RSL goalkeepers - Nick Rimando, Chris Seitz and Kyle Reynish - working on their own with GK coach Peter Mellor, the remainder of the team then broke into two groups for small-sided games focusing on possession, two-touch attacking and high defensive pressure. One game briefly paused when DF Eddie Pope won the ball and proceeded to nutmeg an unsuspecting MF Freddy Adu, causing both to break down in laughter after Pope completed the next pass to Chris Klein. Pope's focus and increased vocal leadership has been noticed by teammates and observers during both the Florida and Spain preseason stints for RSL, with the former U.S. National Team standout and three-time World Cup defender enjoying his first international preseason trip with his MLS club, previously spending parts of February and March of each year with the U.S. in either training camps or competitive events.
The bulk of training consisted of the team divided into three groups, including 'keepers, facing off on a short field with full-size goals, with the benefit of "channel" players in the attacking half. Designed to again emphasize possession and creation of offensive opportunity, balanced with high-pressure defense, Ellinger added a new wrinkle today, with errant passes over the channel players' heads or defensive clearances which are not converted into a successful counterattack counting as a point against the offending team. The spirited, high-intensity 8-v-8 games are played to 3 points, with winner staying on and losing team swapping with the channel players, positioned near each post and wide on the flanks.
Carey Talley, Jamie Watson, Christian Jimenez and French Ivorian trialist Jean-Martial Kipre each scored on brilliant finishes during the 45 minutes, with Panamanian FW Luis Tejada demonstrating an ability to bring the ball down, hold on to it and provide service on teammates' runs, as well as going right at defenders. In addition to Tejada, first-year RSL players Kyle Brown and Dustin Kirby looked strong today. Following Kipre's particularly impressive strike and later when the 22-year old, playing left back, recovered from an offensive run to get back and win the ball in the corner, Klein tried to bait Ellinger into giving the youngster an encouraging "tre bien," since MF Mehdi Ballouchy, the lone RSL player fluent in French, is not present to communicate. Ellinger, however, in full Spanish mode, mustered exclamations of "bueno!" on both occasions, bringing smiles to the faces of those within earshot.
During the final game, the winning team of Klein, Adu, Talley, Kreis and others playfully promised to give the winners one more game, to further assert their dominance of the day's competition, but were rushed off to the Ciudad Real Madrid for the weight training portion of the day's schedule. Adu was featured in Marca, one of Spain's two sports dailies, with his "International" feature focusing a full page on the young "estadouninse" including several color photos and a Q&A, parts of which can be found at http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/la_entrevista/es/desarrollo/745862.html. Adu and Chris Seitz stayed up until nearly midnight Madrid time to find out that the U.S. U-20 World Cup squad has been drawn into Group D for this summer's Canadian tourney, joining Brazil, South Korea and Poland in what is certain to be labeled the "Group of Death."
Adu, the team's captain, had this to say about the draw:
"I think we obviously have a hard group but I'm excited about this opportunity. "We are going to find out how good we are playing against these teams and if we play well enough to get out of the group we will be well prepared for the second round because all three games are going to be tough. Brazil always has one of the best teams in every age group and it's a great opportunity for us to show we can play against the best in the world on the world stage. People are going to be watching and it is going to be a great atmosphere I'm sure. I'm looking forward to it."
Courtesy of Jerry Seiner Chevrolet, along with KSL, KALL 700 AM the Zone and The Salt Lake Tribune/Deseret Morning News and Fronteras, six native Utahns arrived at the team's host hotel mid-afternoon, understandably exahusted after the nearly 18-hour trip from Salt Lake, through Atlanta, on to Madrid. They did catch part of lunch with the team, and will attend Sunday's game at the Bernabeu, where Real Madrid can pull within one point of rival Barcelona with a win over relegation-threatened Getafe. This is a huge week for los Madridistas, who host Getafe on Sunday without Roberto Carlos or Ruud van Nistelrooy, both of whom are expected to be rested, thereby saving the world-class duo for Wednesday's Champions League clash at Allianz Arena vs. Bayern Munich. Madrid enters the Bayern contest with a 3-2 advantage from the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal tie, which will force the team to wait until Thursday to concentrate on the upcoming weekend's trip to rival Barcelona, a game which is already gripping the Spanish media, who are promoting their 15-hours of live gameday coverage next Sunday from Barcelona as well as being rife with rumors of coaching changes, player moves and other speculation which will only increase the heat of the country.
