Rio Tinto Stadium: Home of Real Salt Lake(credit:
Wikipedia)
Real Salt Lake will be bidding to maintain their perfect start to the 2011 Major League Soccer season against Colorado Rapids tonight.
RSL top the Western Conference having taken a maximum nine points from their first three games – beating San Jose Earthquakes, Los Angeles Galaxy and New England Revolution – and captain Kyle Beckerman is keen to see the team extend that run for as long as possible.
He told mlssoccer.com: “We’re now really concentrating on getting as many wins in the first half of the season, and get out to a big lead.
“I think I’ve seen other teams do it in the past. I look around the league, and think that when we play our best we can beat anybody, and should beat anybody.”
They now face a second-placed Rapids team that also collected nine points from their opening three games, but the MLS Cup holders suffered a setback when they slipped to their first defeat of the season at FC Dallas last Friday.
And coach Gary Smith told mlssoccer.com: “We were beaten fair and square in that game and we all know we need to get back on track.
“There is no better occasion to do that than playing against Salt Lake and we will all need to be in the right mental place for that one.
“It’s going to be a tough encounter and we will be ready for it.”
Watch Real Salt Lake v Colorado Rapids live at 365, kicking off at 02.00 GMT.