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So we are less than 36 hours away from the 3rd round matchup of Real Salt Lake and the Wilmington Hammerheads at Rio Tinto Stadium in Lamar Hunt US Open Cup action. So are you going to be there? It is may be the cheapest way to see RSL play this year as tickets are just $5 for season ticket holders and $10 for the general public.
For Real Salt Lake this is the most direct path back to Champions League action, just 4 wins and we get to lift a trophy and will have a shot at the 2012 Champions League tourney.
I did just learn that teams can only have 5 international players on their roster for Open Cup action, today both teams submitted their potential rosters to US Soccer, and they will pick their 18 man rosters from these lists (see lists after the jump).
It will be interesting to see what lineup RSL puts out for the match, with such a busy schedule and so many injuries it may be the only chance to rest a couple of key players. I have a feeling with the players knowing that they can win a trophy with just a couple of wins, that many will be asking to play in this match. Perhaps a couple of changes from guys who played this weekend, but I don't expect wholesale changes.
more after the jump:
So here are the lists of eligible players for the match
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Real Salt Lake Eligible Players |
Wilmington Hammerheads Eligible Players |
|
Aghaysan, Artur Alexandre, Jean Alvarez, Arturo Araujo, Paulo jr.* Arnoux, Cody Beckerman, Kyle Beltran, Tony Borchers, Nat Espindola, Fabian * Gil, Luis Gonzalez, Nelson* Grabavoy, Ned Johnson, Will McKenzie, Rauwshan Melia, Timothy Morales, Javier* Olave, Jamison Reynish, Kyle Rimando, Nick Russell, Robbie Saborio, Alvaro* Schuler, Chris Toia, Donny Warner, Collen Williams, Andy Wingert, Chris *denotes international player |
Avesyan, Hakop Banks, Christopher Barrera, Diego Becerra, Jorge Budnyy, Andriy Carroll, Devan Cuero, Julio Duckworth, Brock Evans, Gareth* Grendi, Alexander Guzman, Emanual Jata, Richard Mulholland, Luke* Murray, Christopher Nicholson, Paul* Noviello, Jyler Parratt, Tom Polak, Kyle Riley, Dylan Scope, Jamie* Spendlove, Christopher* Taylor, Thomas* Wolfe, Tanner |
I don't know about everyone but I am very excited to see another match at home, and with the team looking at the Open Cup as the easiest route back to Champions League action, I expect we will see a full effort by RSL on Tuesday night. I don't know much about the Hammerheads but you can catch some insight to their team and how they made it this far at thecup.us where they also look at the FC Dallas vs Orlando City FC matchup, the other side of the quarterfinal bracket "C".
Should RSL and Orlando both win, they would face off at Rio Tinto Stadium on July 12th. Before RSL fans count their chickens (or wins), they should know that the Hammerheads have eliminated a MLS team from the US Open Cup in the past. They got a 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire in 2009, so for RSL they need to focus on the task at hand.
I think RSL will build on their big win on Saturday and I look for them to work to continue building their confidence and finishing. I say a 2-0 win for RSL.
OFF MY SOAPBOX