Real Salt Lake's youth team came home from Madrid earlier this week disappointed, which in and of itself isn't surprising. What is a surprise, however, is the reason for the frustration.

For a team that went to Madrid hoping not to get clobbered in its three group games like D.C. United did the year before, RSL's under-18 squad left the U-18 Club World Cup second guessing itself about what could've been.

Playing against youth teams from some of the top clubs in Europe, RSL earned a pair of draws in its first two games but missed out on advancing out of group play with a 1-0 loss to Spain's Rayo Vallecano in the group finale.

"It was kind of a good thing to see the disappointment in the guys after the third game. Some of the guys' heads were down and they were thinking we should've got through," said RSL assistant coach Brian Johnson, who accompanied the youth team to Madrid as the technical director. "And I don't think they would've thought that two weeks before that game."

Johnson believes the RSL U-18 team — a combination of the best players from the RSL Utah and RSL Arizona youth teams — got better and better throughout the tournament.

It tied Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) 1-1 in the opener, followed by a 3-3 draw with Espanyola (Spain) in its second group game.

The first game set the tone for perhaps the best showing ever by an MLS team at the U-18 Club World Cup. Partizan Belgrade was last year's runner-up, and despite losing some key players to the professional ranks it was still one of the tournament favorites.

RSL fell behind 1-0 but rallied for the tie.

"We're going in thinking let's not lose by five or six goals every game. When we played the first game and we tied 1-1, I think right away the guys knew we can do this. There was a bit of a belief going through the team," said Johnson.

The scouts started to take notice as well, but Johnson doesn't believe that was of any concern to the players.

"I don't think they were going there with the intent of a scout seeing them and possibly getting signed next year. I think they were going as our club team," said Johnson.

RSL qualified for the prestigious tournament by winning last year's MLS Sum U-17 Cup. Prior to heading to Spain, Johnson reminded his players they weren't just representing themselves and Real Salt Lake, but all of MLS as well as the United States.

They definitely made a big impression, and Johnson believes with more resources young soccer players in this country will be able to more consistently compete with the best players in the world.

"It was nice to see how we can compete with 17- and 18-year-old players who are getting ready to if not already signed to some sort of professional contract. Our guys who are going to be juniors or seniors in high school or freshmen in college are competing and can play at that level as well; they just need to be surrounded by it every day. That's what we lack here," said Johnson. "These kids from the other countries we played against, they're together eight, nine, 10 months a year, where with us it's a few months a year. I think once we get that, we'll be able to make a big jump forward."

A new group of RSL youth players will defend the club's MLS Sum U-17 Cup later this summer, with the winner again being invited to compete against the best of the best.

E-mail: jedward@desnews.com