SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake today announced its 2008 preseason schedule, with the club scheduled to make a pair of domestic trips to California and Florida in February before embarking on a two-week journey to Argentina in early March. Real Salt Lake will meet as a team and kick off its preseason with fitness testing in Salt Lake City next Saturday, January 26, a full two months prior to the squad taking on the Chicago Fire at Rice-Eccles Stadium on March 29 in each teams' 2008 MLS regular season debut.
The 2008 version of Real Salt Lake will assemble for four days in Salt Lake City beginning next Saturday before embarking on the first leg of the preseason, an 11-day trip to the Southern California cities of Oxnard and Ventura from Jan. 30-Feb. 9. While training and fitness will be the primary focus of the first leg, RSL plans on taking part in two or three scrimmages during its SoCal stay, with the matches to be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Real Salt Lake returns to the Wasatch Front for a four-day stopover before departing on Valentine's Day for South Florida, where the squad will spend 10 days in the Sunrise / Ft. Lauderdale area from Feb. 14-23. RSL will play three contests while in the Sunshine State, with opponents for those exhibitions yet to be finalized.
After another brief layover in Utah, Real Salt Lake will spend "leap day" by hopping down to Rosario, Argentina for a two-week stay from Feb.29-March 12, a trip that will mark the team's first-ever visit to the South American continent. While in Rosario - a city of nearly a million inhabitants located four hours northwest of Buenos Aires on the Parana River - RSL has scheduled another three exhibitions and scrimmages, with two of those coming against Argentine First Division clubs.
After arriving back from Argentina on March 12, Real Salt Lake will spend the bulk of its last two weeks of preseason training in Utah, with the exception of an out-of-market exhibition game scheduled for Saturday, March 22, the site of which will be announced upon receipt of a signed contract. Following two months of preparations, Real Salt Lake will finally kick off its fourth season of MLS play on March 29, when it welcomes 2007 MLS MVP finalist Cuauhtémoc Blanco and the rest of the Chicago Fire to Rice-Eccles Stadium for a 4:00 p.m. MT kick-off.
2008 Real Salt Lake Preseason Schedule
Jan. 26: Players report to Salt Lake City for entrance physicals / fitness testing
Jan.27-29: Training in Salt Lake City (sites/times TBD)
Jan. 30-Feb. 9: Preseason Trip #1 to Oxnard/Ventura, Calif.
- Dates/sites of 2-3 scrimmages TBD
Feb. 10-13: Training in Utah (sites/times TBD)
Feb. 14-23: Preseason Trip #2 to Sunrise/Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
- Dates/sites of 3 scrimmages TBD
Feb. 24-28: Training in Utah (sites/times TBD)
Feb. 29-March 12: Preseason Trip #3 to Rosario, Argentina
- Dates/times of 3 exhibitions TBD
March 22: Exhibition contest - Opponent/Site TBA
March 29: MLS First Kick 2008 - RSL v. Chicago Fire at Rice-Eccles Stadium - 4:00 p.m. MT
