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SANDY — The U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team, including three Real Salt Lake players, arrived in Utah Wednesday to begin preparations for its CONCACAF Gold Cup match with Cuba on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The trio of RSL players won’t be wearing the Claret and Cobalt for the next few days while they are here, but will be sporting the U.S. crest and will even be housed with the USMNT rather than their families.
“It will be a little strange, but it will be special,” defender Tony Beltran told the media Wednesday. “The fact that I’m with the USMNT and I get to play at Rio Tinto in front of my own fans, in front of my own family is fantastic.”
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando agrees it’s different not being with the Salt Lake club while in town, but says he received a taste of it last month when the team played at Rio Tinto and the familiarity of fans and the stadium helps.
“It will be weird wearing a different crest (in Rio Tinto), but once you cross those lines I’m familiar with those fans and the field so hopefully it will feel the same in that aspect," Rimando added.
The USMNT kicked off its group stage Gold Cup opener in Portland Tuesday as it hosted Belize. The U.S. side dominated the game in a 6-1 win.
Since being with the USMNT this month, Kyle Beckerman and Rimando have both seen action in its last two games — Tuesday’s match and an international friendly last week. Beltran, however, has yet to see minutes. He said he is ready if called upon Saturday.
“I know what I need to do,” said Beltran. “It’s just continue to work hard every day, showing Jurgen (Klinsmann, USMNT head coach) and the rest of the staff that I do belong here, they made the right decision to call me in and if they call upon me for minutes on the field, then I’m ready to step in.”
Beckerman, a midfielder who’s been a regular call up, has 25 caps and one goal on the international stage for the USMNT. Beltran, who’s with the USMNT for just the second time, has one cap while Rimando has six caps for the stars and stripes.
Cuba is the second Gold Cup group match the U.S. team will play during the month-long tournament. All three RSL players will remain with the USMNT through July 16 when it faces Costa Rica for the last match of the group stage.
Saturday’s match is the second for the USMNT at Rio Tinto this summer, the only venue to host the team twice this year. Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
