Real Salt Lake looks to make a point tonight

LEHI — Since their club came into existence 41/2 years ago, Real Salt Lake's players have had a few opportunities to play against some of the biggest soccer clubs on the planet.

Another such opportunity awaits them tonight.

In the mold of facing Real Madrid in 2006 and Boca Juniors in 2007, RSL will welcome another big-time opponent to this state when Club America, one of the two giants of Mexican soccer, visits for a friendly match at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Kick-off is scheduled for 6 tonight, with an at-capacity or near-capacity crowd expected.

"It's always a great experience to be able to play against a club with a history like Club America," said RSL defender Nat Borchers. "They've won a lot of championships in Latin America, and they've got a lot of really good players with European experience. For us, it's a big challenge. It's a marker for us to see how well we can perform against them, and we're obviously looking to play well."

RSL coach Jason Kreis echoed the sentiments. While Club America hasn't won a league title since 2005, the giant Mexican club has won 10 titles in the history of professional-league soccer in Mexico (second only to arch-rival Chivas' 11 titles) and has never been relegated from the Mexican Premier Division.

Kreis faces the unenviable task of trying to juggle multiple objectives during tonight's match, but he quickly pointed out that it will be an opportunity for RSL to show what it's made of.

"I think it's a little bit of a balancing act because there will be unlimited substitutions and just because we haven't had some of our players play a whole lot of matches for us without the reserve league," said Kreis. "We are gonna try and get everyone on our roster into the game, but we're also gonna put out a very strong lineup for at least the first half, probably at least 60 minutes."

During that time, Borchers and Co. hope to make a statement against one of the hemisphere's biggest names.

"The fact that we have a stadium that's world-class, the fact that we have fans that have been just phenomenal — this season and last — it's really imperative to put on a good showing," said Borchers. "It just would go a long way if we can get a result against a team as good as Club America.

"It's not just training. It's not just an exhibition. It's a game that we want to win and want to play well in, and we want to prove that we can play with the best of the best."

Real Salt Lake vs. Club America

Tonight, 6 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium

Radio: 700 AM, 1600 AM.

TV: None.

e-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com