Real Salt Lake expects edge in home opener at Rio Tinto

SANDY — After a disappointing season-opening loss Saturday night in Seattle, Real Salt Lake is happy to be coming back to the friendly atmosphere of Rio Tinto Stadium.

"What we learned against Seattle, big-time, is crowds can make a difference," said coach Jason Kreis. "Surroundings, fans make a huge difference for home teams."

RSL opens its home schedule for the 2009 season Thursday night when it hosts the defending MLS Cup champions from Columbus. As Kreis pointed out, the home team has a decided edge in Major League Soccer. Real was a perfect example of that during last year's regular season when it was 8-1-6 at home, but only 2-9-4 on the road.

"We are very happy to be back," said midfielder/forward Clint Mathis. "We have had great support here, and with good results. Hopefully it won't be snowing and we can get another great crowd out to the stadium to cheer us on."

Playing in front of 25,000 hostile fans pulling for the expansion Sounders was a good experience, but the team is happy not to have that kind of environment to deal with for its second game of the season.

"We know that we want to make this a tough place for other teams to come play," said midfielder Will Johnson. "The crowd helps, but it really helps when we play our attacking style of soccer. If we come out and play the way we want to, we are going to be tough to beat, especially here at home."

Real ended last season with a loss to New York in the Western Conference finals, and one of the worst things about it was that it occurred at home.

"We want to go out and re-establish ourselves here at home," said forward Yura Movsisyan. "We want this stadium to be a place other teams hate to come and play. If we can just relax and go out and play our game, the goals and the wins will come."

INJURY BUG: Defender Ian Joy is still a couple of weeks away from being back to full strength. One of the friendliest players in MLS is out with a pulled hamstring that he suffered in the team's final preseason contest, a 3-1 win over Austin of the USL-1 league. Robbie Russell, who incidentally started at the same position as Joy at the back in several of RSL's games last season, is questionable for Thursday's game as he is still recovering from offseason rotator cuff surgery. He may be on the active roster, but it is doubtful he will be at the fitness level necessary to play more than a reserve role. Luis Miguel Escalada, a native Argentinean on temporary loan from his squad in Ecuador, is doubtful with a sprained ankle. Tony Beltran and Tino Nunez are both probable.