With CBA in tow, 'exhausted' Beltran preps for RSL's opener at Portland


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SANDY — Real Salt Lake defenders Tony Beltran and Chris Schuler were walking back to their hotel rooms in D.C. on Wednesday night, the team player representatives during long, tumultuous collective bargaining talks with Major League Soccer.

The deal was done, barely, but another thought finally struck Beltran as he turned to Schuler.

They had a game in less than three days.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that,” said Beltran shortly after arriving at American First Field for RSL’s final training session of the week in Utah. “I tried to prepare myself for it, but there really is no preparation for the process. It’s so foreign until you are actually in it. It is mentally exhausting.”

With the deal done, a five-year agreement that includes things like a higher salary cap, a smaller roster and a limited version of free agency, RSL can focus on its 2015 season opener at the Portland Timbers, kicking off Saturday at 8:30 p.m. MST.

With the board-room negotiations finally out of the way, and clear of a whirlwind of an offseason for RSL, it’s time to once again focus on soccer.

“These last two weeks have been a little bit weird, with all the negotiations,” said Jeff Cassar, who enters his second season as RSL’s head coach. “As a coach, you want everybody’s mind on one thing. But I understand what had to be done, and where everyone was working. Now we can move forward and really start to focus on ourselves and Portland.”

The players are ready for games, too, especially the RSL consortium of Beltran, Schuler and goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who flew out of Dulles International Airport at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, arrived at training just before noon, and flew to Portland with the team later that evening.


I've never experienced anything like that. I tried to prepare myself for it, but there really is no preparation for the process. It's so foreign until you are actually in it. It is mentally exhausting.

–RSL defender Tony Beltran


“The mental fatigue is pretty high right now,” Beltran said. “It’s funny, though; as soon as you get out of the car and see the field, I got an immediate boost. I’m glad to be back and it’s nice to be running around again.”

RSL hopes to put to rest a transitional offseason that saw the departure of general manager Garth Lagerwey, central defenders Nat Borchers and Carlos Salcedo, and the loss of veterans Ned Grabavoy and Chris Wingert to former boss Jason Kreis and New York City FC, among others.

Opening on the road at Portland, a team that finished sixth in the West a year ago and now features Borchers and former RSL midfielder Will Johnson, presents enough of a challenge without dwelling on the rest of the drawn-out winter months.

“It’s a great opponent on the road,” Cassar said. “Our players are up for it, it’s a Western Conference game, and it’ll be great to see Nat and Will. But it’s business; we can do all the chit-chat with former players after the game. Before the game, it’s all business.”

All of the moves and questions surrounding RSL have led to a sea of less-than-flattering reviews among MLS pundits across the country. But Beltran and Cassar both said the team doesn’t put much stock in those preseason prognostications.

“People have always said something about us,” Beltran said. “Whatever the conversation is, this group has always gotten it done. I trust in my teammates, in Jeff, in the staff. We’re a good group, and we know how to get to the playoffs and get it done. I’m certain we’re going to do that.”

RSL SIGNS OVALLE — Real Salt Lake also formalized the signing of Arizona academy product Adolfo "Fito" Ovalle on Friday afternoon.

Ovalle, who grew up in Layton, becomes the third Utahan to sign a homegrown contract with the club this year, joining Highland High grad Phanuel Kavita and Park City's Sebastian Saucedo. Ovalle will be the sixth RSL homegrown on this year's roster. Financial details were not disclosed by the team, per club policy.

The 17-year-old midfielder played 54 matches with RSL's U-16 squad from 2012-14, including the USSDA championship-winning squad of 2013. He's been training with RSL's first team since the start of preseason in February.

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