More than national pride is at stake for Real Salt Lake as they faces Mexican club Chivas de Guadalajara in a rare late-season friendly Wednesday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
RSL sees this game as more than just an exhibition match. For the Claret-and-Cobalt, it offers the perfect opportunity to measure progress since a disastrous 3-0 road loss to FC Dallas put the team's fading playoff hopes on life support.
"We're looking forward to it," midfielder Will Johnson said. "We wanted to have another game right away after the Dallas game. It's not for points, but it's for pride and it's to show our fans we're a decent team."
Winning over skeptical fans won't be the sole objective when Salt Lake hosts CD Guadalajara. Each player in the squad will be looking to prove his worth to head coach Jason Kreis and demonstrate if they are deserving of being awarded significant playing time -- or even a starting spot -- when RSL returns to MLS action against New York next week.
Kreis essentially threw open starting jobs and playing time when he turned a two-week break from MLS play into a de facto late-season training camp. He put his players through rigorous fitness drills and has tried out several new tactical elements in hopes of shaking his team out of the late-season doldrums that had settled upon them.
"We've treated this break as a mini-preseason and I would love to not be in that position," Kreis said. "I would love to have come off a win and said, 'OK, everything is good. Have an enjoyable time.' But desperate times call for desperate measures."
If Kreis hoped to send his team a message, it seems to be working. Kreis noted that he has seen some positive things in these more rugged training sessions. Players are working harder and putting in a more consistent effort than what he had seen previously.
Up and down the roster, everyone seems to understand that there is no longer any room for error if RSL hopes to continue its season beyond October.
"We let ourselves get to this point, so we got to get ourselves out," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "The coaches definitely aren't holding back. We're feeling it."
Kreis is pleased that Real get a chance to test itself against a club like Chivas. The Mexican club is one of only two -- along with Club America -- to have never been relegated from the Mexican Primera Division. Chivas is the winningest Mexican team, having won 11 first division championships compared to 10 for America.
While it would be nice to get a victory against another Mexican team, Kreis is more concerned with seeing a strong effort from his players. He indicated that everyone who is able will get a chance to audition themselves on Wednesday.
"We're going to see a lot of players play -- mostly to figure out who wants to start in that Wednesday game against New York," Kreis said. "So, really, it's all out there for the players to make the decisions."
RSL hopes this game also represents the first step forward to saving a once-promising season that has turned sour amid dropped points and inconsistent performances. Johnson said a turnaround will not happen though, if the players themselves don't make it come about.
"Guys just need to step up at this point," Johnson said. "We need to make plays. We need to cut out the stupid mistakes and try to salvage something out of this season. One more mistake and that's it."
Real could be a little shorthanded in their back line on Wednesday night. Robbie Russell is likely questionable after missing Tuesday's training because of an illness. David Horst could also be unavailable after getting his foot stepped on in the same training session.
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com
