A scoreless end to the offseason
By: Ian Rose | April 1st, 2007RSL finished off its preseason against their bitter rivals the Colorado Rapids with an exhibition match in Las Vegas last night. At full time, we had seen a bit of spark from some of the Salt Lake stars, but a lack of finishing quality that didn’t inspire a lot of hope for the coming MLS campaign. The scoreless draw began with the Rapids looking to be the stronger, more aggressive side. There were a few good opportunities for Colorado in the first twenty minutes or so, all handled well by Nick Rimando. Nicolas Hernandez and Herculez Gomez both had good early shots and forced diving saves by Rimando. (Note to self: name first-born son “Herculez”. The Z makes it even cooler) In fact, Rimando’s play between the posts was probably the most encouraging bit of this match for Real. Nick Seitz may be a great hope for the future, but for now, the job is clearly Rimando’s. He can’t be too happy about being traded away from Real and then back in the span of two weeks in February, but his frustrations are not evident in his play. Here’s hoping the Real fans and management make him feel as welcome as possible – it may be him and not Freddy Adu that is the most important key to success this season.
Speaking of the young lad, Adu had a few nice chances in the first half. His 24th-minute shot bounced unluckily off of the crossbar, and he was blocked on a hopeful free kick. He looked confident, and if he takes his chances, goals will come. The fact that the Rapids were a man down for most of the second half (after a double yellow on Brandon Prideaux) made the draw that much less impressive for Real, but preseason matches are always a little hard to evaluate. We have six days to wait before we can really start to see what’s in store for 2007 – RSL opens their MLS season on April 7th at home against FC Dallas.
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Category: Team News
Tags: Brandon Prideaux, Colorado Rapids, Freddy Adu, Herculez Gomez, MLS, Nick Rimando, Nick Seitz, Nicolas Hernandez, Preseason analysis, Real Salt Lake, RSL, Team NewsSubscribe
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