RSL Trio of Seitz, Forko, & Harris Answer the Call for National Team Duty
Three members of Real Salt Lake will have excused absences from their club team for parts of the next two weeks, as GK Chris Seitz, DF Willis Forko, and MF Atiba Harris have all been called into duty for their respective national teams.
Seitz departed the RSL squad on Sunday to head for Chicago, as he was named to the 19-man U.S. Men's National Team roster that will square off this Sunday, Sept. 9, against reigning Copa America champion Brazil in an international friendly at Soldier Field (2:00 p.m. MT, live on ESPN2 and Univision). The 20-year-old Seitz was called in by U.S. Head Coach Bob Bradley to serve as the back-up for the USA's consensus #1 U.S. netminder Tim Howard, this after Seitz's stellar play for the U.S. Under-20 National Team at the World U-20 World Cup in Canada earlier this summer, which included his own 2-1 victory over Brazil in group play. Seitz, one of two players on the U.S. roster looking for his first "cap" at the senior international level, will rejoin his Real Salt Lake teammate next Monday and is expected to be available for RSL's Sept. 12 contest at D.C. United in the nation's capital.
Forko will similarly be looking for his first senior appearance for Liberia, who travels to Rwanda for both teams' final match in Group 5 qualifying for the 2008 African Nations Cup this Saturday, Sept. 8, in Kigali, Rwanda. The 23-year-old Forko, a native of Monrovia, Liberia, will be looking for his first appearance at any level for the "Lone Stars," who, like Rwanda, have been eliminated from advancing to the African Nations Cup finals taking place next summer. Forko is expected to return stateside on Sept. 12, and is expected to be next available for selection when RSL heads north of the border for its first-ever visit to Toronto FC on Sept. 15.
Harris will head to his native St. Kitts & Nevis this week to join the country's Under-23 team for its upcoming Group D matches in the Caribbean Zone Qualifying Tournament leading up to next summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, China. St. Kitts & Nevis will host Group D contests against the Dominican Republic this Sunday, Sept. 9, and Haiti next Thursday, Sept. 13, with both games taking place in Basseterre, St. Kitts. A long-time veteran of the St. Kitts & Nevis National Team system, the 22-year-old Harris will hope to lift the "Sugar Boyz" to the second round of Caribbean Region qualifying, which takes place in October at a site yet to be determined.
RSL Looks to Bump Winning Streak to Three Saturday at Houston Dynamo
After gaining its first road win and first winning streak in League play in over a year, Real Salt Lake (4-11-6, 18 pts.) will look to keep its recent roll going this Saturday, Sept. 8, when the squad heads to the Lone Star State for a stern test against the Western Conference-leading Houston Dynamo (11-7-6, 39 pts.). Kick-off for Saturday's showdown at Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston is slated for a 6:30 p.m. MT start, and the match will be televised nationally on high-definition network HDNet. Fans locally can also follow the action live via RSL's official radio partners - KALL 700 Sports (English) and KXTA-AM 160 "La Bonita" (Spanish). Saturday's contest will mark the second in a four-game road trip and kicks off a brutal stretch of three contests in eight days, which also includes games at D.C. United (Sept. 12) and Toronto FC (Sept. 15). RSL took the first of three meetings with Houston this season by a 1-0 margin on Aug. 4 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the result leveling the all-time series at 2-2-1.
RSL Rewind: RSL Uses Something Old, Something New in 2-1 Comeback Win at Galaxy
Real Salt Lake got goals from rookie FW Robbie Findley and veteran DF Eddie Pope midway through the second half and held on from there to post a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center. The three-point result snapped RSL's 14-game winless streak away from Rice-Eccles Stadium (dating back to a 2-1 win on Aug. 16, 2006 at Columbus) and also gave the Utah squad its first back-to-back wins since last August. The goal for Findley was his team-high fourth on the season and sixth overall on the campaign - the most among MLS rookies - while the tally for Pope was the RSL captain's first since May 14, 2005, breaking a 56-game goalless streak for the legendary defender.
