MADRID - Real Salt Lake allowed three goals in the final 20 minutes, including a penalty kick, to drop a 1-3 decision on Monday to Real Madrid Castilla at Ciudad Real Madrid in the Valdebebas region of the Spanish capital.
The "Castilla" squad, hosting RSL for an exhibition on what happened to be the club's 105th birthday, currently sits in 15th place in the Spanish Segunda A division, and is prohibited from promotion due to La Liga rules against the same club's A and B teams competing in the same league.
Nine of RSL's first-choice starting 11 present in Madrid saw 90 minutes of action for the first time this preseason, and Panamanian FW Luis Tejada - who joined the team just six days ago in Madrid due to CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying - tapped home a sitter following a 7-pass RSL attacking sequence which carved up the Castilla defense.</p>
"While we will always be disappointed in this type of result, we accomplished some good things today," said RSL Head Coach John Ellinger, whose squad fell to 3-4-2 on the preseason. "Several guys saw 90 minutes for the first time this preseason - Jeff, Jason, Luis and others - and this was the best game we have had in the first month in terms of creating opportunity, holding our defensive assignments and possessing the ball."</p>
"But we learned a valuable lesson," continued Ellinger. "And that is that no matter how quickly you lose and regain concentration, that you can be punished for losing it. That's what happened today - momentary lapses just killed us. So credit to them, and let us remember that it takes 90 full minutes at the highest level for us to accomplish our goals."</p>
RSL was unlucky not to have scored during the first 70 minutes of scoreless soccer on a windswept day, as GK Nick Rimando, centerback Eddie Pope and the midfield tandem of captain Jason Kreis and Carey Talley effectively maintained RSL's defensive organization, communicating shape needs and attacking options quite effectively. Rimando was forced to make just one quite routine save in his 45-minute appearance, his only other adrenaline-inducing moment coming when he rushed out to cut down a potential breakaway.</p>
Pope, sharing the middle of the backline with Danny Torres as Willis Forko and Jack Stewart manned the rear flanks, exquisitely snuffed numerous Castilla attacks, deftly stepping up and winning balls, cutting off passing lanes and clearly declaring himself the dominant defender on the field.</p>
In the RSL midfield, the offense flowed through Kreis and Talley as link men to Freddy Adu, through whom the first-half attack flowed. Adu permeated down the left side, often cutting into the middle to free space for both Cunningham and Forko. Adu's brilliance shone through several times in the first 20 minutes of the game, combining with Kreis, Talley and forwards Tejada and Jeff Cunningham on several quick pass-run-dribble sequences that sent the Castilla defense scrambling.</p>
On numerous occasions, RSL attackers were whistled offside, while finishing was lacking on several others. The team's high-pressure defense paid off, enabling several quick counters and decisive offensive opportunities for Adu, Tejada, Talley, Cunningham and Kreis setting up each other, with Chris Klein also providing options on the right.</p>
In the game's 69th minute, Adu sent a long, diagonal ball that was tracked by Klein, who slid to corral the ball inbounds, gathered himself and sent a ball inside to Talley. RSL's two-way midfielder then found Cunningham, who dribbled through the box but was finally snuffed by the Castilla 'keeper. A long punt was issued back downfield to Castilla's Javi Rodriguez, who took down the punt, dribbled ten yards, and with a miscommunication between Torres and Forko, launched a 40-yard blast that nestled into the upper 90 above Chris Seitz' left shoulder.</p>
Just four minutes later, Torres was depossessed in the corner of his box, but no foul was called. In retaliation, he pulled the Castilla forward down by his shirt in a struggle for the ball, and the penalty was called. Arroyo converted the spot kick, and Castilla led 2-0.</p>
Pope came off in the 78th minute for former Maryland champion and Leverkusen reservist Chris Lancos, moving Stewart into the central defense. On Lancos' first touch, he won a ball just inside the RSL attacking half, sending an inswinger to a cutting Kreis at the corner of the box. Kreis collected the ball with one touch and then launched a screamer off the crossbar, nearly slicing the Castilla lead in half.</p>
In the 83rd minute, Lancos and Kreis combined to do just that, joining Cunningham and Klein in the sequence that ultimately found Tejada on the doorstep for the score. Again on the right side of the field, Lancos pushed a ball through to Klein, who found Cunningham at the elbow of the penalty box. Cunningham pushed wide to Kreis, whose ball across the goalmouth from the right corner found Tejada waiting for the poke.</p>
Klein narrowly missed a golden chance to knot the game at 2-2 in the 87th minute. Adu sent a looping cross after a Tejada back-heel pass to Cunningham at the top of the box, with Adu running into space on the left and putting the ball far post right on Klein's head. However, the glancing header went just wide right.</p>
Adu, Tejada and Cunningham continued to press forward, combining to create two more chances in the final minutes, none better then creating the corner kick that enabled Kreis to pull the trigger on a low, driven ball neatly saved by the Castilla 'keeper.</p>
In stoppage time, Castilla extended the lead when a non-call allowed Gerard to freely dribble in on Seitz immediately prior to the final whistle.</p>
RSL returns to Ciudad Real Madrid Tuesday for training at 11:00 a.m. The reserve team then faces the Real Madrid "C" team Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. local, with the starters conducting a concurrent training session. RSL closes out its Madrid preseason with Thursday's contest again San Sebastian at 6:00 p.m.</p>
RM Castilla 3:1 RSL
Scoring Summary
RM: Javi Rodriguez - 70'
RM: Arroyo (penalty kick) - 74'
RSL: Tejada (Kreis, Klein) - 83'
RM: Gerard - 92+
RSL Lineup:
Nick Rimando (Chris Seitz 46); Jack Stewart, Eddie Pope (Chris Lancos 78), Danny Torres, Willis Forko, Chris Klein, Jason Kreis, Carey Talley, Freddy Adu, Jeff Cunningham, Luis Tejada.
Real Madrid Castilla Lineup:
Kiko, Velayos, Jordi, Angelo (Arroyo 46), De Paz (Szimon 46), Rodri (Alberto Martin 46), Montiel (Pedro 46), Toto (Gerard 46), Rayco (Roman 46), Ibanez (Javi Rodríguez 58), Fwayo
