RSL loses in youngster lottery

What had a 22.5 percent chance of being a fantastic day for Real Salt Lake on Friday turned out to be just another ordinary day for the last-place team in Major League Soccer.

Despite having the best chance (22.5 percent) of landing 16-year-old forward Israel Sesay in Friday's weighted lottery against 10 other MLS teams, RSL failed to win the teenager's services as he's instead headed to the L.A. Galaxy — which had the second-best chance at 18.8 percent.

The midseason lottery became necessary when Sesay, the Sierra Leone-born player who has lived in Washington, D.C., for the past seven years, signed a contract with the league last week. A member of the U.S. under-17 residency program, Sesay wasn't asked to participate in the Under-17 World Cup currently taking place in South Korea even though he doesn't turn 17 for another month.

The lottery was designed to give the league's worst teams the best shot at winning.

When asked about the lottery following Friday's practice, and an hour before he learned the fate of Sesay, Real coach Jason Kreis seemed upbeat about the prospects of landing the teenager.

"He'll be a Generation adidas developmental player, who won't count toward your full roster, won't count toward your salary cap. For us it's a no-brainer, it's a risk worth taking," said Kreis. "He's a young player, and you hear the same things you hear about a lot of young players, he's got a lot of potential, but who knows?"

It's no longer his worry, however. It's the Galaxy's task to groom him — assuming they don't trade him by week's end.

UNWELCOME BREAK: Nate Sturgis picked a heck of a time to get dinged. The Real midfielder will miss this Sunday's game at Chivas USA with a strained left calf, and he's questionable for next week's two games as well.

The timing stinks. Prior to being traded to RSL this summer, Sturgis spent all of last season with the L.A. Galaxy and then played in nine games this year. With Sunday's game against Chivas and next Saturday's against the Galaxy both being played at the Home Depot Center, these next two weeks were supposed to be a homecoming of sorts for Sturgis.

Instead, he might be watching both games from a television in Utah.

NEWCOMER UPDATE: Argentine midfielder Javier Morales received his final documentation earlier this week, making him eligible to play for Real Salt lake this weekend. The odds of that happening don't seem all that good.