SANDY, Utah
(Wednesday, April 28, 2010)
–Real Salt Lake announced today that the defending
MLS Cup champion’s first exhibition contest of the 2010 season will take place
on Saturday, May 15, when the Utah side’s reserves will welcome the Mexican
Under-21 Men’s National Team to Rio Tinto Stadium.
Kickoff for the international
friendly in Sandy is slated for 4:00 p.m. MT, and tickets for the
contest are now available online at www.RealSaltLake.com
and www.RioTintoStadium.com,
over the phone at 888-4-RSL-TIX (888-477-5849), or in person at the Rio
Tinto Stadium Box Office weekdays from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. MT. Real
Salt Lake 2010 Season Ticket Holders will be able to purchase tickets for just
$5 (current seat locations will not be held in advance), while tickets for
members of the general public will cost only $15.
Strong Automotive 100
Lions Club and Club
Ledge Box seat holders currently have their locations on hold and will have
the opportunity to purchase their seats through matchday. Real Salt Lake
Club Seat Holders will not have their exact seat locations reserved, but
will have the option to purchase $5 club seats for the match prior to
the area being opened up for sale to the general public in the upcoming weeks.
Current Real Salt Lake suite holders will have the opportunity to purchase
tickets in their respective suite for $10 each. The general public will also
have the opportunity to buy suite tickets, with full suites needing to be
purchased for $25 per ticket (minimum suite size of 15 patrons). For more
information on these Premium Seating options, please contact the RSL Fan
Relations Department at 801-727-2702.
The May 15 contest will come just two days
after Real Salt Lake’s “ESPN2 MLS Game of the Week” appearance against the
Houston Dynamo, also at Rio Tinto Stadium, meaning the Claret-and-Cobalt will
field a largely reserve-based team against the “tricolores” squad that
will be beginning preparations for the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara
and qualifications for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Mexico is led
by manager Mario Arteaga, who played professionally in Mexico for Chivas de
Guadalajara, Pumas UNAM, and Leon, and himself represented Mexico in the 1992
Barcelona Olympics. The current touring squad features a number of
up-and-coming players, with available players that have featured for their
clubs during the Mexican Primera Division’s recently concluded 2010
Bicentenario’s regular season including FW Antonio Salazar (Jaguares), MF
Daniel Hernandez (Jaguares), and FW Angel Sansores (Morelia).
Mexico’s U-21 MNT squad took on a pair of
lower division professional squads out east across the last week, notching a
3-1 victory over the Richmond Kickers last Wednesday in Richmond, Va., before
dueling to a 1-1 with the Carolina Railhawks on Sunday evening in Cary, N.C. An
official travel roster for the Mexican U-21 National Team will be released
during the week of the contest.
The encounter against
Mexico’s Olympic squad will mark RSL’s third-ever contest against national team
competition and its first in nearly three years, the two prior match-ups back
in 2007 resulting in wins over the Fijian National Team (3-0 W on April 18,
2007) and the Chinese National Team (1-0 W on June 7, 2007). After posting a
win and draw over Mexican powerhouses Club América and Guadalajara (Chivas),
respectively, in 2009, Real Salt Lake has compiled a 6-4-3 in 13 friendlies
against international club and national team competition.
