CCL Preview: RSL already facing must-win vs. Tauro FC

Real Salt Lake vs. Tauro FC
RIO TINTO STADIUM, Sandy, Utah
CONCACAF Champions League, Group 2
August 21, 2012
10 pm ET / 8 pm MT, FOX Soccer

RSL Injury Report:

• OUT: GK Lalo Fernandez (wrist fracture), D Jamison Olave (hamstring strain)
• DOUBTFUL: D Chris Schuler (foot bone bruise)

DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE HERE (PDF)
CCL RULES OF COMPETITION
:

• With so little margin for error under the new four-game CCL group format, it is important to remember the following:
• 1) Goals reign supreme: in order to encourage attacking, open play, CCL Quarterfinal seedings for the 8 group winners is based on goal +/- in group play; total goals scored the next tiebreaker ... Should two teams finish tied atop a group, head-to-head points is primary tiebreaker, then goal differential.
• 2) Yellow Card Peril: players will be forced to serve a one-game suspension in group play every two yellow cards; individual players see their slates wiped clean at the Quarterfinal and Final stages.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DO OR DIE
:

• Real Salt Lake welcomes Panamanian champion Tauro FC to Rio Tinto Stadium Tuesday in Group B Match #2, effectively backed into a corner due to its 10-man, 0-1 loss on July 31 at Herediano (CRC) three weeks ago
• RSL dropped its 2012/13 CONCACAF Champions League opener at Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica coming out flat, allowing a 14’ goal to the home side in a game marred by a Nat Borchers red card in the 57’ and a Jamison Olave hamstring injury a few minutes later
• The loss in the 3-team, 4-game group stage opener pressures RSL into Tuesday’s “Do or Die / Must-Win” match at home match against Tauro FC, needing a sweep against the Panamanian champion and a win by multiple goals on Oct. 23 in the Herediano visit to Rio Tinto Stadium (in order to control one’s destiny)

CCL 2012/13 GROUP SCHEDULE:
WATCH: RSL discuss CCL expectations

• CONCACAF held its 2012/13 Group Draw back in May, RSL finding out that its 2 group opponents are Costa Rican champion Herediano and Panamanian champion Tauro FC
• RSL’s 2012 Group Schedule:
• Day Date Opponent Kickoff/TV Tues. July 31 RSL @ Herediano (CRC) L, 0-1
  Tues. Aug. 21 RSL v TAURO FC (PAN) 8p MT/FSC
  T-Th Aug. 29 RSL bye week
  Wed. Aug. 30 Herediano @ Tauro FC 6p MT
  Tues. Sept. 18 RSL @ Tauro FC (PAN) 6p MT/FSC
  Tues. Sept. 25 Tauro FC @ Herediano 8p MT
  T-Th. Sept. 26 RSL bye week
  Tues. Oct. 23 RSL v HEREDIANO (CRC) 8p MT/FSC
  

Getting to know Tauro FC:

• Full Name: Tauro Futbol Club
• Founded: 1984
• League: Liga Panamena de Futbol
• City: Panama City, Panama
• Stadium: Estadio Rommel Fernandez
• Honors:  Panamanian league - 9 (1989, 1991, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2003, 2007 Apertura, 2010 Apertura, 2012 Clausura)
• Official Website: http://www.taurofc.com
• Current Roster: http://www.concacafchampions.com/page/CL/TeamRelatedLink/0,,12856~8136~1,00.html
• CONCACAF Team Profile:  http://www.c o n c a c a f c h a m p i o n s . c o m / p a g e / C L /TeamProfileDetail/0,,12856~1102370,00.html
• Nicknames: Los Toros de Pedregal; El Mas Laureado
• Player to Watch: Tauro is guided by Panamanian international forward Luis Renteria and forward Edwin Aguilar, with the roster being bolstered by the additions of Colombian midfielder Carlos Salazar, who previously played in Iran, Costa Rica and Chile, from Colombia’s Deportivo Pereira, and right back Manuel Asprilla from the Tigres UANL U-20 squad 

History:

• Tauro has won a record 11 Panamanian titles and is making its fourth CONCACAF Champions League appearance. In 2008-09, Tauro upset Major League Soccer’s Chivas USA to reach the Group Stage ... On May 22, Tauro defeated Chepo 2-1 to win the Clausura title and earn a berth once again in the CONCACAF Champions League ... A few days later, Colombian Gonzalo Soto was confirmed as head coach for his third stint as manager, having also guided Tauro to a pair of titles in 2003 ... 
• Tauro plays its home games at 32,000-seat Estadio Rommel Fernandez, named after a Panamanian soccer player who died in a car accident in Albacente, Spain, on May 6, 1993 ... It was home to the Central American Cup and the site of Panamanian World Cup qualifying matches ...
• Founded in 1984, Tauro FC is the most decorated club in Panamanian league history, winning nine titles since the league started in 1988 ... Colloquially known as Los Toros de Pedregal, Tauro is making its fourth appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League, having participated in the 2008-09, 2010-11 and 2011-12 tournaments.Tauro – which is joined by fellow Panamanian club Chorillo FC in the CCL – has a number of Panamanian internationals on the squad, including recent national team call-ups Leonel Parrish, Marcos Sanchez, Ricardo Amor and Jean McLean ... The club also has a Panamanian feel on the bench, with manager Juan Carlos Cubilla one of just three Panamanians currently managing in their domestic league.

MONTERREY REWIND:
RSL Insider: Real Salt Lake preview Tauro FC

• Tuesday night’s game is RSL’s first at home since dropping the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League Final 2nd leg at Rio Tinto Stadium back on April 27, 2011, allowing an Humberto Suazo goal in first-half stoppage time to stand up following a 2-2 road draw south of the border at Estadio Tecnologico
• RSL now missing Nat Borchers (red card), Jamison Olave (injury), Andy Williams (retired) & Robbie Russell (traded) from the XI against Monterrey
• RSL Captain  Kyle Beckerman missed that milestone game due to a yellow card in the previous leg, as RSL failed to hoist a trophy at home for the second time in as many tries, also following 0-1 at home in the 2008 Western Conference Final against New York

HOME DOMINANCE FADING?:

• Despite 5 home losses this year and 9 in the last two seasons, RSL went 3-0-1 in July at home to improve to 57-12-18 in its last 87 home games since the beginning of 2008, Jason Kreis’ first full season at the helm
• In that span, RSL has outscored opponents by 108 goals (170-62), with a 47-9-20 reg. season mark (142/50), 5-1-0 CCL record (15/5), 3-1-1 playoffs (5/2), 1-1-0 Open Cup (3/3) and 2-0-1 int’l exhibition (5/2)
• All-time, RSL is now 62-28-33 in MLS regular-season play during 8 seasons at home, outscoring opposing sides 202-122

SABORIO SHOULDERING SCORING LOAD:
WATCH: CCL 360 - The 2011 Finals

• Despite not being named among All-Stars of any kind - or the July Player of the Month, which he so richly deserved - RSL FW  Alvaro Saborio - the club’s firstever DP - tallied six goals in five July games and added another Saturday against DAL, allowing him to briefly surpass New York’s Kenny Cooper and move into 2nd overall in the MLS Golden Boot race
• Against Vancouver, “Sabo” scored both goals, converting a 1st-half PK and providing the game-winning header in the 58’, rising high to snap down a cross from Javier Morales
• Saborio opened July by scoring 3 goals in 15 minutes against POR on July 7 to snap the club’s 4-game home winless streak in all competitions, dating back to the May 29 U.S. Open Cup loss to Minnesota (NASL)
•  Sabo’s off-the-bench performance Saturday against DAL give the Costa Rican international his club-high 37 goals in 76 MLS games, including 14 game-winning goals to go along with 9 multi-goal games ... In all comps, Sabo has 48 goals in 87 games, w/ 12 multi-goal matches
• RSL is now 27-5-5 all-time when Sabo scores, the third-year MLS player joining Kreis (2005 Open Cup) and Robbie Findley (2009 MLS) as the lone “hat trick heroes” in RSL’s eight-year, 281-game history across all competitions

ALL-TIME CCL HISTORY: 

• Following the Herediano loss, under Jason Kreis RSL has now posted an all-time 6-4-3 mark in its CCL history, going 4-1-1 in group play in the 2010/11 tourney against Cruz Azul (MEX), Toronto FC (CAN) & Arabe Unido (PAN)
• Overall, RSL has outscored its CONCACAF opponents 26/18, with a 17/12 advantage during the group stage
• RSL enters Tuesday having won its first five home games in its 2010/11 CCL foray, prior to dropping the Final, 0-1, to Monterrey (MEX)
• On the CCL road, RSL is now 1-3-3 overall (1-2-1 in group play, with an 8/9 goal differential), the semi loss at Saprissa (CRC) still good enough to advance from the series
• Tuesday’s match is the second of four group matches for RSL in the next 60 days, to be played concurrently with its MLS slate