BEAZ ON THE WAY BACK: One of the pleasantly surprising elements to the training camp in Chicago is the presence of former Chicago Fire MF DaMarcus Beasley. The 23-year-old celebrated his birthday today while undergoing rehabilitation with the team this week, with an eye towards being fit enough to participate in the upcoming crucial qualifiers against Costa Rica and Panama. In the most recent installment of ussoccer.com's popular all access video, Beasley discusses the horrifying tackle, updates his progress, and outlines his goals for the next two weeks. Stay tuned for "Beasley, Part Two" tonight, when he reviews his season with PSV and previews the USA's upcoming World Cup qualifiers. For more information on Beasley, log onto www.ussoccer.com.
QUOTES FROM CAMP ... ONLY AT USSOCCER.COM: Following training today, ussoccer.com caught up with U.S. Manager Bruce Arena, defender Eddie Pope and midfielders Landon Donovan and Clyde Simms to get their thoughts on England and the USA's current preparations. For all of their thoughts, log on to ussoccer.com's exclusive on-site coverage of the U.S. Men's National Team at http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=178767&itype=113&icategoryid=65
RSL TO HOST THE CHICAGO FIRE: Real Salt Lake (3-4-2, 11 pts.) continues its run at home this week in its first match against the Chicago Fire (4-4-1, 13 pts.) on Saturday, May 28, at Rice-Eccles Stadium at 7:30 p.m. MT, before seeking revenge against Western Conference leaders FC Dallas (5-1-3, 18 pts.) at home at 8:00 p.m. MT on Saturday, June 4, live on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain.
RSL boasts an undefeated mark of 3-0-1 at home this season, and has earned 10 of its 11 points this year at Rice-Eccles, where RSL has won two straight. The Chicago Fire and FC Dallas games conclude a run where four of five RSL games have been at home. Beginning with the June 11 game at Los Angeles, RSL plays six of nine games on the road leading into the July 30 MLS Sierra Mist All-Star Game in Columbus.
1280 THE ZONE EXPANDS RSL POST-GAME SHOW: Due to popular demand, Real Salt Lake's English-language radio partner, AM 1280 The Zone, will expand its game-night post-game show from 15 minutes to a full hour beginning with this weekend's RSL-Chicago Fire contest. This weekend's show will feature listener call-ins for the first time and will be hosted by The Zone's "Sports Saturday" duo of Scott Gerrard and Spencer Checketts, whose weekly show runs from 12 noon - 2:00 p.m. each Saturday.
CHILEAN POWERHOUSE EN ROUTE TO SLC: RSL will host its first-ever international friendly two weeks from today against South American powerhouse Universidad Católica on Wednesday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. MT at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Católica suffered a 2-1 loss to Everton on Saturday and currently holds the top spot in the Chilean First Division with a 13-2-3 record, outscoring opponents 36-12.
The game is included in RSL's 2005 full season ticket plan and is marked as "Bonus Game A" in season ticket packages. Ticket prices for this international match are consistent with single-game ($14 for north goal, $18 for corner flag, $25 for premier east and $32 for VIP west). Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Utah Ticket Office at 451 South 1400 East, logging onto www.utahtickets.com or by contacting the Rice-Eccles Ticket Office at (801) 581-UTIX. Groups of 20 or more should contact Real Salt Lake by calling (866) 9-SOCCER.
"DRIVE FOR FIVE" ROCKIN & ROLLIN: RSL's "Drive for Five" has pulled Real to within 150 season tickets of accomplishing its stated goal of 5,000 full season equivalents for its inaugural MLS season due to local fan support, and it continues its final push to accomplish its goal prior to June 10. Fans can continue to help RSL reach it goal by purchasing flex-plan, mini plan or pro-rated season ticket packages. The deadline for reaching 5,000 is Friday, June 10, 2005.
JOIN THE JUNIOR LOYALISTS: RSL invites local youth fans ages 14 and under to join the RSL Kids Club, known as the Chevron Junior Loyalists, by signing up at Carnival Real's Chevron booth! This Saturday, May 28, kids 14 and younger who join will receive a FREE replica Real Salt Lake jersey! The Chicago Fire game represents the first of five Junior Loyalist "build-a-uniform" dates, with the other RSL memorabilia nights as follows:
DAY/DATE GIVEAWAY
Saturday, May 28 Replica jersey
Wednesday, June 22 Replica shorts
Saturday, Aug. 13 Replica socks/shinguards
Saturday, Sept. 3 RSL soccer ball
Saturday, Sept. 24 RSL uniform/bag
TRINI DUO BACK ON INTERNATIONAL DUTY: RSL MF Leslie "Tiger" Fitzpatrick and DF Marlon Rojas have returned to international duty after being called into Trinidad & Tobago's National Team camp this week in preparation for tonight's friendly against Bermuda. Fitzpatrick and Rojas rejoin their RSL teammates Thursday in Salt Lake City, and will be available for its home game against the Chicago Fire on Saturday, May 28 before being expected to return to Trinidad for CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers on June 4 (Panama) and June 8 (@ Mexico).
RSL TRAINING ON GRASS THURSDAY, FRIDAY: Real Salt Lake will test the newly-installed grass surface at Rice-Eccles Stadium Thursday and Friday at 9:00 a.m. MT, prior to Saturday night's MLS regular-season contest against Chicago. The Fire arrive in Utah on Friday and will be available to media following Friday's 4:00 p.m. walk-through at the stadium.
RSL INJURY/SUSPENSION/NATIONAL TEAM DUTY REPORT:
PLAYER STATUS INJURY
DF Rustin Pierce PROBABLE L hamstring tightness
MF Leslie Fitzpatrick PROBABLE L groin strain
GK DJ Countess PROBABLE L shoulder subluxation
DF Nelson Akwari OUT Yellow card suspension
MF Leslie Fitzpatrick PROBABLE T&T National Team Camp
DF Marlon Rojas PROBABLE T&T National Team Camp
DF Eddie Pope OUT USMNT Camp
VOTING FOR 2005 MLS ALL-STAR GAME NOW LIVE ON MLSNET.COM: Fans can now cast their votes for the MLS All-Stars who will take the field against English Premier League club Fulham FC in the 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game. On July 30, "MLS All-Stars Take on the World" as Major League Soccer's best take on Fulham FC at Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH in a game televised nationally on ABC Sports (1:30 p.m. MT). Fans can vote for the starting XI by filling out the online ballot on the League's official website www.MLSnet.com until Friday, July 8, 2005. Fans can vote for 11 starting players from a pool of 144 total candidates via the online ballot - one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders and two forwards. A maximum of 10 ballots may be submitted per person per day and there are no limits on how many days fans can vote. The online fan balloting will comprise 25 percent of the total, with MLS coaches and GMs (25 percent), media (25 percent) and players (25 percent) accounting for the remainder. The following eight RSL players are under consideration for the midseason game:
POS. PLAYER
GK DJ Countess
DF Eddie Pope
DF Rustin Pierce
MF Chris Brown
MF Brian Kamler
MF Clint Mathis
MF Andy Williams
FW Jason Kreis
GET YOUR FLEX ON WITH NEW SEASON TICKET OPTION: To add more options for fans, RSL now offers the Flex Season Ticket Package, which is comprised of twenty vouchers of the same price category (North Goal, Corner Flag, Premium and VIP) that allows the purchaser to determine which games they would like to see in the regular season and how many tickets needed for that game. Prices for the 2005 Flex Package are $260 for the North Goal, $320 for the Corner Flag, $440 for the East Sideline and $560 for the VIP seats. Tickets can be redeemed in the following way: one could use all the vouchers and bring 20 people to one game or 4 people could attend five games. Flex vouchers are discounted from the day of game pricing making it an even greater value. Vouchers can be redeemed in advance through the Real Salt Lake Front Office by mail or in person or on the day of the game at the Real Salt Lake Customer Service Window. Seating is best available per price category at the time of redemption. The June 4th US-Costa Rica and RSL-FC Dallas doubleheader is not included in the flex package.
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS ON SALE: Real Salt Lake single-game tickets for its inaugural 2005 season at Rice-Eccles Stadium continue to be on sale both online and at the University of Utah Ticket Office, located at the Stadium's south end. Individual game prices are $14 for north goal, $18 for corner flag, $25 for premier east and $32 for VIP west. Individual game tickets can be purchased by visiting the Utah Ticket Office at 451 South 1400 East, by logging onto www.utahtickets.com or by contacting the Ticket Office at (801) 581-UTIX. Fans are continued to be encouraged to purchase in advance.
ACCESS REAL: Real fans can now receive up-to-date information on the team by signing up for the RSL Weekly Newsletter at the fans section of RealSaltLake.com.
