It was only his first year with Colorado, but it didn’t take long for Rapids midfielder Jeff Larentowicz to immediately pick up on the fact that the rivalry between Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids was real.
“I walked out on the field and I noticed our traveling fans in the stands and got a sense for how up for it they were,” Larentowicz told MLSsoccer.com about his first Rocky Mountain Cup experience last season. “It does have the potential to be one of the biggest rivalries. The proximity of the teams and the relative dislike we have for each other is something you need for a great rivalry.”
The dislike Larentowicz references has been years in the making. The former Revolution midfielder says he remembers watching the Rapids celebrate on RSL’s Rice-Eccles Field in a postgame celebration following a regular season match in 2006 that saw Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts and Rapids captain Pablo Mastroeni come face-to-face on the field.
If there are any postgame celebrations from the Rapids in Wednesday’s first regular-season tilt between the two sides at Rio Tinto Stadium (9 pm ET, MatchDay Live), it will likely mean that the Rapids will have brought RSL’s 36-game home unbeaten streak to an end.
“I wasn’t aware it [the streak] was still going,” Larentowicz said. “Maybe it’s an added incentive to break streak but streaks are always broken and they don’t usually matter. It’s about our performance and how we show ourselves as professionals in the game.”
Much has been made of the fact that Real Salt Lake’s run to the finals of the CONCACAF Champions League has won the support of MLS clubs and players around the league, including LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan, who lost MLS Cup 2009 at the hands of RSL.
However, if there is one team and one group of MLS fans that would have a good reason not to be cheering for RSL, it would be archrivals Colorado.
“I don’t see Colorado fans and the Colorado Rapids get a cut of whatever happens with Salt Lake [in CCL],” Larentowicz said. “It’s something that’s been a target for the league and there’s a general good feeling from what happens."
“But if you’re a Rapids fan, you’re a Rapids fan. And if you’re a Rapids player you’re a Rapids player. I’m not actively rooting for them to lose, but when I’m watching games, I’m relatively indifferent.”
It’s all about the Rapids for Larentowicz. RSL’s upcoming series against Mexican powers Monterrey is the farthest thing from his mind. He’s worried about the defending MLS Cup champs bouncing back from a deflating 3-0 loss to FC Dallas last weekend, which he criticized as being “incredibly flat.”
“Losing that game brought us back to the surface,” Larentowicz said. “Fortunately for us, probably one of two biggest games of the year for us is just quickly around the corner.”
