MLS US Open Cup qualifying - Real vs. Rapids
Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids9:00pm EST
The final MLS qualifying match takes place tonight as Real and the Rapids battle again for Rocky Mountain supremacy.
A little over a month ago Salt Lake won their only match of the season when they beat Kansas City 2-1 to advance to this game. At the time, the season was still young, but now with just four points from seven outings, they need something to give them a spark. I expect new coach Jason Kreis to treat this match as if it were a final and field most of his regular eleven.
The Rapids, while in a bit of a better position, also find themselves in a bit of a slump as they have only scored four goals over their last four matches and have been winless at home since April 7. That said, they are sitting in second place in the West so things are not all that bad. Because of this I suspect they will start about 7 of their regulars and bring in others as needed.
As far as watching, listening or in any way enjoying this game, well you'll have to buy a ticket and see the game in person as it will not be available anywhere (unless you count MLS's matchtracker as somewhere).
The winner of this match will become the eighth MLS team to earn a spot in the Open Cup.
My prediction is a shock win by Real, probably off a penalty kick or some strange turn of events.
RSL 1-0 CR
Labels: Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake, US Open Cup, US Soccer
posted by Mike H at 2:02 PM
1 Comments:
The thing is, neither of these teams like each other. And while the Rapids aren't going to field all their starters, the ones they field are going to be hungry to show they deserving a starting spot. In the case of RSL, what do their starters have to prove? If you're Harris or Chris Brown, what's Kreis going to do? Bench one of them for Jaimie "I should've finished college" Watson?
It's a bit chilly and drizzling in Denver right now. I wouldn't be surprised if less than 5K show up tonight.
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