Day One is in the books at Grande Sports World in Casa Grande, Arizona, for Real Salt Lake. On Monday evening, the team took to the field after a travel day that saw the team fly into Tempe and bus out to the RSL-Arizona Academy home training fields.
While it was an upbeat session, Joao Plata was noticeably absent while undergoing surgery to repair a fracture in the fifth metatarsal in his left foot. Back in Salt Lake City, Plata’s surgery was deemed successful and he was already in good spirits on Monday evening, posting to his Instagram, “I know I will recover and be stronger than ever.” Plata may be out for 3-4 months, but that didn’t change training for Real Salt Lake at Grande Sports World on Monday according to RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar.
“We’re really gutted for Joao. He put in a lot of hard work in the off-season. But it’s business as usual for our team. We’ve got players who will step in,” Cassar said after a damp training session. “We’re going to make sure Joao is doing his rehab and then when he comes back it’s going to be like we’re adding a player. It’s going to be a fantastic lift for us. It’s going to be at the perfect part of the season when things are going to get busy. It’s tough, but we’re going to move forward as a team.”
The players in Arizona went through several games of 6v6 with small goals and 7v7 with goalkeepers, keeping the competition level up throughout the twilight session. Training ended with a series of finishing drills as camp got under way in Casa Grande.
RSL will be back on the field on Tuesday with the first of four days of two-a-day sessions. The first leg of camp in Casa Grande concludes on Saturday with a preseason match against the New England Revolution, who arrived late Monday evening.
