Real Salt Lake has arrived in Tucson, Arizona, for the third leg of preseason training with four matches in the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup on the slate over the next two weeks.
Their traveling party grew by two key members over the previous two trips to Casa Grande, Arizona, and Irvine, California, though, as Nick Rimando and Luis Gil both joined the team for the first time this year after spending the first three weeks of camp away with the U.S. National Team for January camp.
While Gil and Rimando will be a boon to the team at this stage of preseason, it also gives them precious little time to get reacquainted with their longtime teammates and get to know their new ones. Both have been keeping in contact with the coaching staff, though, and like what they’ve heard about how camp has gone to this point.
“It’s going to be good to see all the new faces and finally be back with the team,” said Gil, who made his second international appearance in a friendly against Panama on February 8. “I do need to get back into it quick though because I did miss half of preseason. I’ve been hearing a lot of good things and it’s going to be great to compete with them.”
For Rimando, part of that transition will come from getting to know the tendencies of newcomer Demar Phillips and to get back into rhythm with Jamison Olave after the center back spent two seasons with the New York Red Bulls.
“It’s going to be a learning curve for sure to get back on the same page. I’m looking forward to that challenge,” Rimando said. “The coaches rave about these guys. Hopefully we get on the same page and continue that defensive standard that we have here at Real Salt Lake.”
Rimando started in both matches for the U.S. during January camp, facing tough competition in a 3-2 loss to Chile and a 2-0 win over Panama. There, he was among the more veteran players as Jurgen Klinsmann worked in some of the younger players with an eye toward the 2016 Olympic qualifying tournament later this year.
Now back with RSL, he has a slew of veteran teammates that have proven capable of leading the team. He hopes to integrate with them as seamlessly as possible to keep RSL’s expectations of excellence that have seen the team through to seven straight playoff appearances and five straight seasons of at least 15 wins and 50 points.
“We still have a lot of veterans on this team to lead us in the right direction,” he said. “We’ve got some veterans that have been to the playoffs before and know what it takes. Just get the team together and be confident in ourselves.”
RSL will start training on Monday ahead of Wednesday evening’s match in the Desert Diamond Cup against the New England Revolution.
