RSL players wowed at taking field with stars

Every player growing up has idols. A poster of Larry Bird or John Elway on the wall, a Mark McGwire or Gordie Howe picture. Saturday night, Real Salt Lake players were presented with the chance to play against some of the best players in the world. The heroes who adorn the walls of soccer players all over the world. Real Madrid has many "Michael Jordans" of the soccer world.

"It was awesome," said RSL's Jason Kreis. "It was everything that we all dreamed and hoped it would be. It was a chance of a lifetime and it is something that I will never forget."

To try to explain to the non-soccer fan exactly the caliber of each player, and how famous and important each individual is on Madrid, is impossible. To tell someone that the team may actually be better without David Beckham on the pitch simply does not make sense. But Salt Lake's players get it.

"They are what you write about them and what you hear about them," said Chris Klein. "The thing that most impressed me was watching them train and react all week. The way they handled themselves and conducted themselves, the way they handle the fans and the media. It has to be taxing on them, but they carried themselves so well. They were professionals through and through. We could learn a lot just by watching them."

The fact that RSL got to play against a team full of superstars was not lost on any of the players. However, while Kreis and Klein were very complimentary, Andy Williams had a little different opinion.

"It was great, but to me it was just another game," he said. "I've been involved in a couple of games like this before, and while they are a great team, I still think we played with them."

Real Salt Lake did contend. It created scoring chances and played attacking soccer. After absorbing perhaps 10 minutes of shock at being on the same field with the compilation of talent, it created chances and pushed forward. Williams felt that while the RSL players adjusted, it may have been the referee that didn't recover. The official awarded a penalty kick in the 44th minute that resulted in Madrid's first goal of the 2-0 win.

"I think it was the referee that separated us," Williams said. "I thought we played well the first half, but after that PK it was different. I didn't think it was a PK, but it was an MLS ref and he was probably as star-struck as the rest of the fans."

The technical skills displayed by Madrid truly showed why it is one of the premier clubs in the world. The players each have something special that is hard to point out exactly why they are at that level, but Klein said while hard to describe, it was clearly evident.

"Their athletes aren't any better than our athletes, it is just in the minute, small details that separates them. They just do all the small things so well. They do everything to perfection," he said.

How will RSL or an MLS team reach that level?

"It takes time," said Klein. "You have to continue to work. We have the right idea, but they have been living and breathing soccer over in Europe for hundreds of years, but it is going to take time and I think we are well on our way."

---

E-mail: mblack@desnews.com