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SANDY — Real Salt Lake hosts the Seattle Sounders in Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday night for the first time since Seattle took the 2012 Major League Soccer championship race away from the Claret and Cobalt in its fortress just four months ago during the 2012 MLS playoffs.
“(Seattle’s) a team, I think, that we match up particularly well with,” RSL head coach Jason Kreis told ESPN 700 in a radio interview Thursday. “Typically I feel they’re going to be pretty darn good soccer games — both teams want to play, want to be able to dictate the tempo and the flow of the match and that typically provides good games.”
The match is just the Salt Lake club’s second home match of the season, and RSL will be fighting for all three points that are on the line.
“We will push for the three points and we will push for them from minute one to minute 90,” Kreis told ESPN 700. “We want to be the aggressors. We want to be an all out attacking style when we play at home. We want to give our fans something to cheer about and be excited and to walk away feeling like they are entertained. So it won’t be any different Saturday night. Every time we step on the home pitch we go after the three points and that’s our clear objective.”
The Salt Lake club’s roster will be much more full than it was last weekend against F.C. Dallas with the return of five RSL regulars who have been on international duty for three different countries. RSL defenders Abdoulie Mansally (Gambia), Tony Beltran (USA), midfielder Kyle Beckerman (USA), goalkeeper Nick Rimando (USA) and striker Alvaro Saborio (Costa Rica) are all slated to be available for Kreis against the Sounders.
“When you’re missing five players to international duty and we’re missing another six to injury, we have to feel good about coming back home now and having a lot more players available for us this weekend,” Kreis told ESPN 700. “Very eager to get Kyle Beckerman, Tony Beltran, Nick Rimando, Abdoulie Mansally and Alvaro Saborio all back in the mix and available for this weekend.”
The Claret and Cobalt roster may also see the return of playmaker Javier Morales, who is nearing the end of his recovery and closing in on returning to the pitch, possibly even for Saturday.
“We’re close,” Kreis told ESPN 700 about Morales’ return to the pitch. “He has now had two full weeks of training, is looking pretty darn sharp, is looking pretty hungry and I think is getting very close to being considered — already thinking about how we might be able to use him this weekend.”
Following Saturday’s match with Seattle, the Salt Lake club will return to MLS action the following weekend as they hit the road for two matches — facing the Colorado Rapids April 6 in the second leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup, and then facing off against the Vancouver Whitecaps April 13 for the first time this season.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
