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SANDY — Nobody would have blamed Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman if he had asked for a few days off after touching down in Salt Lake City on Thursday morning.
The guy has certainly deserved it.
Beckerman played 270 minutes — plus stoppage time — to account for all three Group Stage games for the United States at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The 32-year-old defensive presence did not see the field during the USA’s 2-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16, and the quick Tuesday elimination-to-Friday night MLS game turnaround saw him play 90 minutes in RSL’s 2-1 win over New England.
Anything he could do to help his club, he said.
“I think it was more important that we come back and help the team, no matter what the results were,” Beckerman said. “The results are going to go up and down throughout the year; every team is going to go through a tough time.
“It’s all about trying to improve our performance, and that’s what the main goal was.”
Beckerman and teammate Nick Rimando, the USA’s third-string goalkeeper in Brazil, were vital pick-me-ups for the Salt Lake side as it snapped a six-match winless streak dating back to the first match without the duo.
Returning to the field at Rio Tinto Stadium, and in a win, made it all worth it, the savvy netminder said.
“The welcome that we got, we knew it was going to be great,” Rimando said. “The fans here are great; they represent at the highest level. Getting back on that field wearing our colors is something i’ve been wanting to do since we left.”
The pair could use some rest, but RSL coach Jeff Cassar doesn’t think they will be asking for vacation time. Salt Lake faces a critical road match against the L.A. Galaxy (5-3-6, 14 points) on Saturday, and a long road after if the team wants to stay in the race for the Supporter’s Shield.
“Going to L.A., that’s another game where these guys want to rise to the occasion,” said Cassar, who mentioned he’ll give Beckerman and Rimando a few days off before re-visiting their status Thursday. “I’ll be really surprised if they don’t want to play in that.”
RSL (7-3-7, 28 points) enters the second half of the regular season in second place in the Western Conference, seven points behind Seattle but two points ahead of Colorado and Dallas. It’s a sizeable amount of ground to make up, but Beckerman and Rimando are confident they can use a few tricks learned from their time in Brazil.
“Whenever you go away with the national team for such a long time, the level you have to play at and the speed of play is higher,” Beckerman said. “I think whenever you come back, you are a little sharper and it usually becomes contagious to the team. Hopefully we can now continue, bring back that sharpness and raise the level of the team that can help us build off this win and get back into the second half of the season.”
Confidence, too, will be key for RSL — and having a pair of U.S. internationals will only help in that regard. Rimando is one shutout away from tying former FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman for the all-time MLS record. Hartman had 112 shutouts in 416 career starts — 56 more starts than Rimando now holds.
“Hopefully we can continue to lead, and do what we’ve been doing,” Rimando said. “I don’t think a ton has to change, at all. We’re the players that we are, the leaders that we are, for a reason. I think the experience just being there (at the World Cup) will help out quite a bit.”
