SALT LAKE CITY - A pair of international friendlies, scheduled smack dab in the middle of the Major League Soccer season, had disaster written all over it.
But for Real Salt Lake, it turned out just right. RSL earned a 2-0 victory against England's Everton FC last Saturday, then played Argentina's Boca Juniors to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday, leaving them unbeaten in international play this season.
"They were very good for us in the end," said RSL coach Jason Kreis. "I really thought going in that they were going to be a hindrance to us, that we were going to have an entire group that really needed a break. But what we have after those games is the team is feeling a little bit re-energized."
Real is going to need every ounce of energy it can find as the second half of the season starts Saturday against the New England Revolution at Rice-Eccles Stadium. With a 1-8-6 record, Real sits at the bottom of the MLS standings, four points behind the Los Angeles Galaxy in the Western Conference.
At the beginning of the season, RSL hardly expected to be in this position. The team felt poised to jump into the action and build a great record by midseason. It did not turn out that way, but players still are committed to their goal of playing in the postseason.
"The goal is still to make the playoffs, and the crazy thing is that we still can," midfielder Carey Talley said. "Other teams have gotten good results for us, and the possibility is that we could very easily make the playoffs. Two or three wins, and we are right back in the mix of it."
Likely, it will take more than three wins to make the playoffs. Last year, RSL went 10-13-9 and still missed out on the postseason. Real played very well in the second half, but this year they will need an even better performance.
After a heavy revamping of the roster, Real may just have the right pieces in place now. The acquisitions of Kyle Beckerman, Alecko Eskandarian, Nathan Sturgis and Robbie Findley should help. Kreis and the rest of the coaching staff used the Everton and Boca Juniors games to experiment with the lineup.
"The coaching staff, they are just working on finding the right combination of players," Talley said. "The personnel is obviously here, now, to be able to compete in our league. It's just a matter of putting the right mixture together."
Kreis said the team got what it needed out of the two recent friendlies.
"We were pleased with what was put out there in the last two games," he said. "What's going to be interesting is for the coaches, it's going to be very difficult for us to choose the 18 for the game, and it will probably get more difficult."
Just as it had for the international games, Real will have a grass surface to play on instead of the artificial FieldTurf at Rice-Eccles stadium. RSL covered the artificial grass with the real thing for the international matches, and left it in place for this weekend's game. Talley, for one, is pleased about it.
"There are no good bounces out there [on FieldTurf], they are all bad," Talley said. "No matter of how much you practice on it, you're not going to get better on it. You have no idea what you're going to get."
Although New England, with the best record in the Eastern Conference, appears to be a favorite, Talley said that anything can happen.
"I definitely think that we can play with those guys; I don't see them as superior to us by any means," Talley said. "They are a good team, and they play a good style of ball. We're looking forward to this game, and I hope they are too."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
