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SANDY — In a friendly match between preseason-form Eintracht Frankfurt and midseason-swing Real Salt Lake, one of the second-division Real Monarchs made the difference.
Andrew Brody scored the first goal of the match just 10 minutes in, and Eintracht forward Nicolai Muller equalized in stoppage time to give Real Salt Lake a 1-1 draw with visiting Eintracht Frankfurt in an international friendly Tuesday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
"It's always an honor to get called up," Brody said. "The biggest thing for me being part of the second team is just to always be ready when called upon.
"They called me up, and I made sure I was ready, prepared right — and got rewarded with the goal."
The match was played without RSL's usual starters until the 82nd minute, when rookie Corey Baird replaced Luis Silva. While nine players in the team's starting XI held RSL contracts, only two — Silva and returning forward Joao Plata — were regular contributors to the first team over the last few weeks.
“I thought Plata did very well," RSL coach Mike Petke said. "We saw a lot of things that we’ve been demanding of him. His quality on the ball is always good; it’s never a question. And I thought he had a great attitude tonight, as well as Luis.
"They're still a huge part of this team, big players, and they led this team — not only in on the field but in their attitude.”
But Tuesday night was a chance for some young guys to impress — and it was Brody, the Monarchs scorer with two goals in USL play, gave the hosts an early advantage. The 23-year-old second-division forward finished off a cross from Joao Plata and smashed the ball past goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald that put Salt Lake up 1-0.
"I know how good of a player Plata is, so when he got in space, I knew he would beat his man and I just had to get in the box to be an option," Brody said.
Petke asked Tuesday for players like Brody to "make it hard on me" to make selection decisions as RSL begins the back-half of the Major League Soccer season Saturday at Minnesota United, and he got just what he wanted.
"Brody got the start and did excellent. He’s a bundle of energy, non-stop, and he has quality about him," Petke said. "There's a reason why (the Monarchs staff) and I met a lot in the preseason, and went over the way this club wants to play. You can see when they come up, they fit right in."
Brody was one of three graduates of RSL’s academy in the starting lineup, with four more on the bench (Justen Glad, Danny Acosta, Brooks Lennon, Bofo Saucedo). Petke's gameday roster was littered with players with second division and RSL academy experience, as well as players who have lacked minutes with Salt Lake recently, like defender Taylor Peay and midfielder Pablo Ruiz.
The combined squad of RSL and Monarchs players held a 1-0 lead in the first half, when they out-shot the German side 7-6 and held the Eagles without a shot on goal.
But results weren't everything during a mid-week friendly that wasn't part of the season-ticket holder package as Real Salt Lake sits fourth in the league's Western Conference.
"You’ve got to enjoy these types of competitions," said Peay, who grew up in Salt Lake City and attended Brighton High School. "It was fun and I really enjoyed it."
