Real Salt Lake hosts first-place FC Dallas on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium. Here are three things to know about the Supporters’ Shield leaders.
Olympic Gold
While Germany and Brazil square off in the gold medal match in Rio De Janeiro on Saturday, FC Dallas features a former Olympic gold medalist in Mauro Rosales. The Argentine was on a star-studded squad in 2004 that featured the likes of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano and won gold in Athens, Greece. The 35-year-old midfielder came to MLS in 2011 and won Newcomer of the Year honors. He has since notched 15 goals and 49 assists over 157 matches, including 15 appearances this year with Dallas, all off the bench.
Balanced Scoring
FC Dallas has three players on the roster with six goals or more, giving midfielder Mauro Diaz plenty of options as Dallas gets out on the attack. Even with the departure of Fabian Castillo – away on loan to Trabzonspor in Turkey – Maxi Urruti’s seven goals and the six goals each from Tesho Akindele and Michael Barrios have paced Dallas atop the Western Conference while Diaz has 10 assists on the season. Dallas is one of four teams with three players eclipsing six goals thus far this season – the LA Galaxy with Giovani dos Santos, Robbie Keane and Mike Magee, Philadelphia Union with Chris Pontius, Roland Alberg and CJ Sapong, and RSL with Joao Plata, Yura Movsisyan and Juan Manuel Martinez.
RSL and FCD Connections
Throughout Real Salt Lake’s history, there have been strong ties to FC Dallas. Currently, Head Coach Jeff Cassar and Assistant Coach Ted Eck both have connections to the organization, having played with the Dallas Burn during their playing careers. As does RSL broadcast analyst Brian Dunseth. In addition, former Head Coach Jason Kreis and former GM Garth Lagerwey both played in Dallas, as did former RSL-Arizona Academy Director Greg Vanney.
