We’ve got a huge day in the soccer world today as the US Under-23 squad begins Toulon International Tournament play this morning, the Champion’s League Final between Manchester United and Chelsea is set for 12:45 MT, and MLS week 9 action gets an early start with Toronto and DC United kicking off the first leg of a regular season home and home series at BMO Field tonight. We’ll be around throughout the day with a variety of updates on those matches and more. Let’s start it off with this week’s American Soccer Minute as Scott Reynolds previews the week’s slate of MLS action…

The American Soccer Minute - Week 8 Recap

The American Soccer Minute - Week 9 Preview

RSL’s weekend opponent, FC Dallas, today announced that Head Coach Steve Morrow has been relieved of his coaching duties. The Hoops are now winless in their last four matches, and it seems last Sunday’s 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Edson Buddle and the LA Galaxy was the breaking point. Assistant Coach Marco Feruzzi will take the reigns for the team’s week 9 showdown with your own Real Salt Lake in Frisco, though the team is expected to name a long-term successor in the near future. What does this mean for this weekend’s match? Will Dallas rally together in the face of adversity or will their struggles continue as they adapt to a new system and uncertain future?

ded·i·ca·tion - noun

1. The quality of being dedicated or committed to a task or purpose
2. Being one of the select few RSL fans who traveled to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for last Thursday’s ESPN2 Primetime Thursday match vs the Rapids

These fans definitely embody the words dedication and commitment. They headed east (Rocky Mountain Cup in hand) last week to Denver to take in the first leg of this year’s Rocky Mountain Cup series. We just wanted to thank those of you who made the drive and braved the hostile Rapids faithful as they cheered on their hometown team. It looks like they had a great time toting the Cup around town and taking in some midweek soccer action. We’ve got one more trip to Denver, as we close out the regular season with the Rocky Mountain Cup finale. Hopefully, we’ll see an even larger RSL contingent at that game as we bring the Cup back to this side of the Rocky’s for the second straight year. Take a look at the pictures below to get a glimpse of last week’s events…

All photos provided by and intellectual property of Eric Salsbery

It’s another 12 days until Real Salt Lake returns to its Rice-Eccles Stadium home, which means it’s a perfect time to get ready for the team’s return by picking up the Real Sports’ Item of the Week – the 2008 RSL adidas home jersey, available this week for the sale price of $55 at all three Real Sports kiosk locations: Fashion Place Mall (6161 S. State St. in Murray), Valley Fair Mall (3601 S. 2700 West in West Valley City), and Provo Towne Centre (1200 Town Centre Blvd. in Provo).

Real Sports is also continuing this month’s charitable drive for Primary Children’s Hospital, with every Real Salt Lake mini ($10) and size 3, 4, & 5 soccer ball ($20) sold through the end of May resulting in a $5 donation to the hospital. The full list of specials and a calendar of events listed below:

• The Real Sports Autograph Series will take to the road tonight courtesy of their friends at Costco, whose Orem location (648 E. 800 South) will host MF Brennan Tennelle from 6:00-7:00 p.m. MT. The road show then moves on to the Sandy Costco (11100 S. Auto Mall Drive) this Wednesday, May 21, when DF Dustin Kirby will take his turn at the autograph table, also from 6:00-7:00 p.m.
• The fine folks at the Costco in Orem will also host Real Sports and KALL 700 Sports on Tuesday, May 20, with the Utah County locale hosting live, back-to-back remotes of “The Bill Riley Show” (3:00-6:00 p.m. MT) and “RSL Coach’s Corner” (6:00-7:00 p.m.) tomorrow afternoon.
• Remember you can also pick up tickets to all of Real Salt Lake’s 2008 contests at the three Real Sports kiosks, including RSL’s upcoming home contest on Saturday, May 31, against the San Jose Earthquakes.

So get on out and gear up for the team’s upcoming home stand. You don’t want to be the only peeps in the stands without official RSL gear!

With the team headed off for the first extended road trip of the season this Friday, we’ve got a busy slate of training to get in before jetting off to Dallas (ok, Frisco to be exact) for Saturday’s contest. Saturday sees the action scoot off to Pizza Hut Park vs. the FC Dallas Hoops for the first of a stretch of three games in seven days. The guys don’t get any break, however, as they head to Columbus immediately for next Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup play-in game. Take a look at the full schedule after the break…

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Tune in to KSL (channel 5) tonight for Sportsbeat Sunday and catch Real Salt Lake defender Dustin Kirby as he gives the rundown on all things RSL in Kickin’ it with Kirkland (the weekly soccer themed segment with host Tom Kirkland.) From last Thursday’s Rocky Mountain Cup opener, to the team’s upcoming Texas trip to face FC Dallas this Saturday, Dustin will touch on it all. To catch your RSL fix, make sure you’re watching between the 11:00 and 11:30 p.m. portion of the show.

If you’re like us and a big film buff (and obviously a soccer fan, why else would we be here?) we’ve got just the event for you. Tomorrow night sees a pair of films, celebrating women in sports, hosted at the Main Salt Lake Library (210 East 400 South, Salt Lake) at 7:00 p.m. MT. What better way to spend a slow Monday night than taking in a pair of soccer flicks? For full details of the event and films being screened check out the press release after the break…

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As some of you may already know, news came down today that Real Madrid will not be making their previously planned U.S. tour this summer and, therefore, their scheduled return to Salt Lake City this August will not be happening. There is no way around it, that’s a bummer. As you can imagine, most of us here in the office are pretty disappointed by this development. Real Madrid is a world soccer superpower and we were all looking forward to seeing the brightest stars of our sport as they invaded the pitch at Rice-Eccles Stadium. We are optimistic that we could see “Los Galacticos” back in Salt Lake City next summer at our new stadium in Sandy.

What does that mean for this season, however? Don’t worry, we’re in good hands. Bill, Garth and SCP are in serious talks to bring in other first division clubs from around the world (things are still hush-hush and we don’t have any specific details, but from what we hear, it’ll be good.) This is a global game and, as unfortunate as it is to hear Madrid won’t be here, this allows us to go in new and exciting directions. We could potentially see multiple world-class squads come through the Wasatch Front in each of the next few years.

Do you see yourself, or someone else you know, suiting up for RSL in the future? Now’s you chance to give it a shot (assuming your between 15 and 17 years old that is.) Real Salt Lake will be continuing its dedication to youth soccer here in Utah, as the MLS side has announced its intent to field an RSL-Utah Boys Under-17 squad for the upcoming summer. Tryouts for this year’s team, which will consist of players born from August 1, 1990 through July 31, 1993 (U-15 through U-17 age groups), will be conducted at the West Valley Recreation Center (located at 5415 W. 3100 South in West Valley City), with open tryouts set for Friday, May 30, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. MT, and a final, invitation-only tryout to follow on Sunday, June 1, from 3:00-6:00 p.m.

“Real Salt Lake looks forward to fielding another squad full of local talent to play under our banner in 2008, especially with the groundwork we laid last summer,” said Real Salt Lake General Manager Garth Lagerwey. “As Utah’s MLS team, we feel it is vital for kids growing up in our area to aspire to one day put on the Real Salt Lake jersey, and we’ll ensure that the players representing our badge on the RSL-Utah team will be a part of the RSL family.”

Registration cost for the RSL-Utah squad tryout is $40, which includes a numbered Real Salt Lake tryout T-Shirt and a ticket voucher for Real Salt Lake’s MLS regular season contest at Rice-Eccles Stadium against the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday, June 18. Players can pre-register for the tryouts through Wednesday, May 28, by turning in: 1) a completed registration form, 2) a completed Release and Liability form, 3) a copy of the player’s birth certificate, and 4) the $40 registration fee. The registration and Release and Liability forms are available online in the Youth Development of www.RealSaltLake.com. Once all items are completed, they can be turned into the RSL office, c/o Teresa Nelson, either in person or via U.S. mail at: 515 S. 700 East, Suite #2R (Trolley Corners building); Salt Lake City, UT, 84102.

Following up on RSL-Utah’s inaugural season in 2007, year two will see the team compete against fellow MLS youth development sides and other local clubs in various tournaments and friendlies. RSL-Utah fielded two teams last summer, with the RSL-Utah U-16 squad finishing at 2-4-0 and the RSL-Utah U-17’s finishing at an impressive 5-2-1, a point out of first-place in the Super Y-League’s Rocky Mountain Division.

For more information about the 2008 RSL-Utah U-17 program, including tryout and pre-registration information, please contact Teresa Nelson at tnelson@realsaltlake.com or 801-924-8565.

Defending what’s yours is never an easy task, and Real Salt Lake found that out tonight as the Colorado Rapids got the first shot off in this year’s Rocky Mountain Cup series with their 2-0 victory over Salt Lake at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It’s gonna be awhile before Real Salt Lake gets another shot at its archrival (August 29th, to be exact), so we’ll expect plenty of stored up “admiration” from the RSL faithful when the Rapids visit Rice-Eccles later in the summer.

In the meantime, you can get all the details and reaction from tonight’s contest by checking out the MLSnet.com recap and the post-game quote sheet (after the jump).

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