“If you can’t get up for this game, you don’t belong here,” Tony Beltran said ahead of Real Salt Lake’s match on Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes as RSL heads into the final three matches of the season, each with major postseason implications. “The situation speaks for itself.”
The situation is this – in the final month of the Major League Soccer regular season, RSL is in fourth place in the Western Conference. With just three points separating RSL from the Colorado Rapids and LA Galaxy for the second seed and a two-point cushion from fifth-place Sporting Kansas City, every point counts. So when RSL meets a San Jose club that is clawing to remain in the playoff chase on Saturday at Avaya Stadium, there will be a sense of urgency in the visitors’ locker room.
“No matter who we’re playing – whether it’s the best team in the league or the worst team in the league – you’ve got to find a way to get up for each game,” Beltran said. “All these games, you’ve got to make them count.”
RSL is second in the Western Conference with four road wins this season, trailing only first-place FC Dallas. A fifth road win on Saturday coupled with a Rapids win at home against the Portland Timbers would clinch a playoff spot for Salt Lake, sending the Claret-and-Cobalt back to the postseason after a one-year hiatus.
To do that, RSL will need to keep tabs on Chris Wondolowski. San Jose’s leading scorer with 11 goals this season has been a persistent nuisance against Salt Lake in the past, netting eight goals in the all-time series. After scoring in a Wednesday night loss to the Montreal Impact, Wondolowski looks to have regained some of the scoring form that eluded him for long stretches during the season.
“It’s what he does. He scores goals,” Beltran said. “You can’t give him an inch, because if you do he’ll punish you.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. MT with television coverage on KMYU.
