RSL 1, Newell’s Old Boys 1 (and other stuff)

By: Fitz | March 6th, 2008

I have returned from a date with Franka Potente. I’m kidding, of course. Our date is tomorrow night.

Having read the official report from the RSL Web site, I did what I could to provide some conversation topics. First, the lineup for Our Royals, with observations:

GK — Nick Rimando.
No surprise. Seitz is in U.S. U23 camp and wouldn’t have started this game anyway. Nick’s the No. 1 guy, as he should be. Didn’t allow a goal during the run of play; he was called for a penalty when he challenged a breakaway and allowed the PK.

D — Ian Joy (Tony Beltran 47), Nat Borchers, Matías Mantilla, Chris Wingert.
This is the same back four that played 60 minutes against the Rapids. The starting quartet will probably come from these guys plus Jamison Olave, who arrived Wednesday (I was wrong in an earlier post). Olave was supposed to have the day off, but he played for about 30 minutes with the reserves when Brendan Tennelle got hurt (RSL didn’t specify). GM Garth Lagerwey seems to love Olave, so the question seems to be, is Wingert gonna keep his starting spot or will Mantilla move outside? Also interesting that Beltran got a look; he was the only sub used by RSL in the first-team scrimmage. Not sure if Joy was hurt or if Kreis just wanted to give him a look for 23 minutes.

MF — Andy Williams, Kenny Cutler, Javier Morales, Dema Kovalenko.
You can’t read too much into this, considering Nathan Sturgis is with the U.S. U23 team, Kyle Beckerman is out with a foot injury and Carey Talley is just getting back from injuries (he played for the reserves). But I must say, Matias Cordoba must really be in the doghouse. If he continues to underperform, then Williams, who assisted on RSL’s goal, might find a spot in the regular lineup.

F — Fabian Espíndola, Kenny Deuchar.
Deuchar’s gonna start. We know that. At least we think we do. But who will his partner be? Under optimum circumstances, Jason Kreis would use this trip to try everybody out. But Yura Movsisyan has encountered paperwork problems (Lagerwey told that to Bill Riley), and Robbie Findley is with the U23s. So Espindola is the winner for today. Indra played with the reserves. If you’re reading from Singapore, hi.

Here’s how RSL scored, according to the team’s official report:

“MF Javier Morales celebrated his homecoming with a 16-yard effort off a well-constructed build-up. The scoring exchange was created when FW Kenny Deuchar gathered a ball with his back to goal in the left side of the penalty area before dishing centrally for MF Andy Williams. The Jamaican playmaker sent a square ball into the right side of the area for a charging Morales, and the Argentine lashed his first-touch strike into the left side of the goal.”

Here’s the lineup from the reserve game:

GK-Kyle Reynish; DF-Tony Beltran, DF-Dustin Kirby, DF-David Horst, DF-Brennan Tennelle (Jamison Olave 31); MF-Kevin Reiman, MF-Alex Nimo, MF-Carey Talley, MF-Matias Cordoba; FW-Tino Nuñez, FW-Indra Sahdan Daud

UP NEXT

Off day Thursday. Our Royals have a scrimmage on Sunday vs. Jockey Club Rosario. Insert your own height joke here.

IF A TIE IS LIKE KISSING YOUR SISTER …

… then it’s time for some Swing Out Sister!

RSL-REAL MADRID EXHIBITION …

… will happen on Aug. 9. So says the Salt Lake Tribune on its Web site. The game will be at Rice-Eccles, because the new stadium won’t be ready.

The better scenario, obviously, would be to play at the new place, but a little something called the actual La Liga season is in the way.

The story is here.

I REGRET THE ERROR

I don’t want to be one of those people who makes a mistake and doesn’t correct it. Yura Movsisyan is, in fact, Armenian. It says so on RSL’s official bio. During the earlier version of this post I made the mistake of writing off the top of my head and naming another country. A sincere thank you for the person who politely pointed that out.