MADRID - The Real Salt Lake delegation began the day with a relatively relaxed attitude, with everyone eager with anticipation for the night's festivities: the much-anticipated La Liga clash between RSL host Real Madrid and 8th-place Getafe, which also calls the Spanish capital home. RSL's 30 players, 10 staff members and the half-dozen Jerry Seiner Chevrolet "Trip to Madrid" winners were all focused on the game, even during their various agendas in the morning.
While the RSL team was eating breakfast at the hotel, the six award winners - courtesy of KSL 5 TV, The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret Morning News and Fronteras - enjoyed Madrid's regional cuisine, "chocolate y churros," with RSL's holding midfield tandem, captain Jason Kreis and Carey Talley. Commonly mistaken for hot chocolate, the thick, syrupy sauce is a favorite breakfast and snack custom for Spaniards, as a dip for different sweetbreads.
The award-winners then broke away for a guided tour of Spain's royal palace, El Prado museum and other sights, while the RSL contingent prepared for another morning session at Valdebebas, the neighborhood home of Ciudad Deportivo Real Madrid, or Real Madrid City. Despite the bus driver missing the exit and giving the team an unanticipated tour of the airport and a golf course, spirits were high as the team arrived on the 10-field complex, with numerous youth games afoot and much of the "primer equipo" (first team) staff preparing for that night's game.
The color of the sun matched the team's yellow XanGo training tops, with a long, deliberate warm-up to loosen the guys after two successive intense days of training. Talley and the veterans made sure that youngsters Nik Besagno and Jamie Watson didn't get away with any trash-talking during the keepaway game that is the informal kickoff of warm-ups, with interest piqued by Jamie's Chihuahua named Beckham, apparently viewed on his MySpace page.
TRAINING TIME: The team then went full-field 11v11 for about 25 minutes, with the current first-choice starting XI - minus Mehdi Ballouchy - facing off against several reserves. GK Nick Rimando backstopped the starters for the first 15 minutes before giving way to GK Chris Seitz, with a backline of Jack Stewart, Eddie Pope, Danny Torres and Willis Forko galvanizing the 4-4-2. Talley and Kreis took their usual positions in the middle of the field, with Chris Klein and Freddy Adu on each flank, and Luis Tejada and Jeff Cunningham up top.
For the second team, Seitz started between the pipes behind Chris Lancos, Dustin Kirby, Steven Curfman and Jean-Martial Kipre. The midfield saw Kenny Cutler and Duke Hashimoto in the middle, with Kyle Brown on the right and Andy Williams on the left, as Atiba Harris and Chris Brown ran from the forward positions.
Cunningham, entering the 2007 season wearing #90, reflective of his career goal total (inspiring conversation among the technical staff of what number his jersey will bear if and when he breaks into triple-digits, debate about league regulations around the world governing such things, along with heated discussion about the validity of radio station sponsorships in the Mexican First Division which apparently have dictated jersey numbers in the hundreds), was the danger man out of the gates for Ellinger's first 11. Cunningham sent the game's first shot just inches wide left of the post and followed that up minutes later with a dipping shot that caused a Seitz kick save.
The central defense combination of Pope and Torres were very solid, as the duo's organization, communication and ability to win every 50-50 ball snuffed several Atiba Harris runs, forcing the former St. Kitts & Nevis track star wide. Torres looked completely recovered from the ankle knock that kept him off the field on Saturday. Pope, meanwhile, was active on set pieces in the offensive third, getting his head on both corner kick and free kick offerings.
Willis Forko made some aggressive, bombing runs up the left side, allowing Adu to pinch in the middle and combine with Kreis, Tejada and Cunningham, whose give-and-go with Kreis allowed the League's All-Time Leading Scorer a beautiful half-volley attempt at goal, where it was saved by Seitz.
Duke Hashimoto and Kyle Brown used their speed and savvy to heighten the scrimmage's intensity, forcing Rimando to make successive saves on a pair of counterattack opportunities. Hashimoto's crossing ability and Harris' variety of runs sparked the second team late, but the scrimmage ended 0-0.
After another 25 minutes that saw various players work on their own - finishing, first touch, long service, penalty kicks, fitness, etc. - the team's minds quickly shifted to the logistics of the RM vs. Getafe game - where the tickets are located within the stadium, should we walk or take the metro, what time should we go, etc.
REMEMBERING MADRID: Duke Hashimoto and Jeff Cunningham were the first to arrive at the famed 80,000-seat Bernabeu, built vertically and located just two stops up the metro subway line from RSL's hotel. Cunningham recounted playing in the legendary venue two years ago for the MLS select team, along with current teammates Jason Kreis and Nick Rimando. Eddie Pope was selected to the team, but an injury which had kept him out of MLS action in August, 2005, prevented him from making the trip.
"That was a tough time," said Kreis, recounting the travels for the MLS Select 0-5 loss. "We arrived in Madrid on an overnight flight from New York at around noon, and then had an 8:00 p.m. training session. Most of us couldn't sleep, even though we were exhausted, until 4 in the morning, and then we slept all day for an 8:00 game."
Cunningham agreed that the schedule was brutal, but remembered most how the fans are right on top of the field, all the way up.
"There is no place for the noise to go except on the player's heads," said Cunningham, who played 45 minutes (second half) vs. Real Madrid that August. "It is so loud, and everything seems to be on top of you.
A huge smile came to Cunningham's face when he recalled the school-yard move he brought to the Bernabeau.
"I don't remember who the defender was, but I had him on my hip and just let the hard-driven pass run up the side of my foot and over our heads," said Cunningham, who turned and ran onto the ball, much to the delight of the crowd. "It was something you would probably never do in a serious game, but hey, you only get one chance, and this time it worked."
VIP TREATMENT: The RSL contingent was split into three groups Sunday at the Bernabeu, with the players and the contest winners from Utah occupying seats on the Real Madrid bench half of the field, in the corner not far from the Ultras, Madrid's long-standing fan club. The RSL coaching and technical staff, along with guests, were seated immediately behind the Madridistas' bench, complete with flat-screen televisions embedded into the bench shields, while a third group, including General Manager Steve Pastorino, watched the game from Madrid's Tribune of Honor, part of 200 luxury seats on the first level occupied by Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon and the club's Directors, many of whom visited Salt Lake last summer.
DÉJÀ VU?: Madrid's 1-1 draw with Getafe followed several parallels from last August 12 at Rice-Eccles, including a packed house, Ruud van Nistelrooy's 44th-minute Penalty Kick, Robinho's magic on the flank, Real Salt Lake in the game program ... yes, RSL was featured in Madrid's news and notes in its tabloid-style game program, with Freddy Adu, Danny Torres, Jack Stewart and Duke Hashimoto shown sprinting across the field in the white XanGo practice jerseys.
NEXT UP: RSL awaits Monday evening's match against Real Madrid Castilla, the team which competes in the Spanish Segunda A Division. The game will be played in Valdebebas at RM City at 5:00 p.m. Madrid time.
