SANDY, Utah (Thursday, April 6, 2017) - While Real Salt Lake (0-3-2, 11th West) kicks off a new era under new Head Coach Mike Petke Saturday at home against Vancouver Whitecaps FC at 7:30 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium, the club's vaunted Academy teams face international superpowers in a pair of Dallas-based youth tourneys this weekend.
On Friday, the RSL Academy U-15/16 side - led by Director Martin Vasquez and assistants Juan Fresquez & Mike Kraus - begins its foray in the 2017 Major League Soccer Generation adidas Cup (Champions Division) with a 1:30 p.m. MT kickoff against legendary Spanish club Real Madrid (schedule and streaming info HERE: https://www.mlssoccer.com/generation-adidas-cup/2017).
Watch RSL take on Real Madrid below:
RSL's other Group A opponents include U.S.-based FC Dallas (Sunday, April 9, 1:30 p.m. MT) and Ecuadoran side Independiente del Valle (Tuesday, April 11, 5:15 p.m MT). Each group winner advances to the tourney Semifinals. RSL is one of 19 MLS academy teams to participate in the 2017 GA Cup held at the Toyota Soccer Center in Frisco, Texas, running from Friday through April 15. A total of 34 games will be streamed in this, the 10th installment of the Generation adidas Cup, on www.MLSsoccer.com, with all games involving RSL live on www.RSL.com.
The RSL-AZ U-15/16s currently reside atop the Southwest Division with an 18-6-4 record (W-L-T), outscoring opponents 69/30 with a 2.07 points-per-game average, currently occupying the 7th playoff position with eight games remaining in the current season, which ends June 3.
RSL U-15/16 ROSTER: http://rsla.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=1655645
On Sunday, April 9, the RSL Academy U-17/18 side kicks off its prestigious Dallas Cup invite with a third consecutive appearance in the "Gordon Jago SuperGroup" (fourth appearance overall), as Real Salt Lake looks to win its first "Boot and Ball" championship trophy in 2017. Boasting a trio of 11-goal scorers in the current season - FW David Ramos, FW Kristopher Fourcand and M/F Milan Iloski - the RSL U-18s kick off Group A play Sunday against Brazilian side Coritiba at 12:30 p.m. MT, and continue on Monday at 3:00 p.m. MT against world power Manchester United in a bid to advance to Friday's Semifinal stage.
The RSL-AZ U-17/18s currently reside atop their Southwest Division with a 21-4-3 record (W-L-T), outscoring opponents 60/23 with a 2.36 points-per-game average, currently occupying the 3rd overall playoff position with eight games remaining in the current season, which also ends on June 3.
RSL U-17/18 ROSTER: http://rsla.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=1655646
Back on March 21, it was announced that Manchester United's Premier League team would visit Utah for the first time ever, facing RSL at Rio Tinto Stadium on Monday, July 17. RSL "Royalty" Season Ticket Members have exclusive access to this game, with the ability to secure their seats until this Monday, April 10. Pro-rated 15-game Season Ticket packages for Real Salt Lake's 2017 campaign at Rio Tinto Stadium remain on sale; please visit www.RSL.com/tickets/royalty or call 844.Real.Tix for more information.
ABOUT RSL's U-18 Dallas Cup Opponents:
CORITIBA (Brazil): Making their sixth Dr Pepper Dallas Cup appearance, two-time Gordon Jago Super Group champion Coritiba will look to build upon their impressive Dallas Cup résumé. The club from south Brazil hoisted the Super Group "Boot and Ball" championship trophy in 2012 and 2015, when the club last appeared. Coritiba was unable to compete in last April's tournament, but they will return this year with eyes set on a third Gordon Jago Super Group championship in six years.
MANCHESTER UNITED (England) : Dr Pepper Dallas Cup XXXVIII will mark the fourth time for the Red Devils to compete in the Gordon Jago Super Group, and the club's eighth Dallas Cup appearance overall. Man Utd looks to become the second consecutive Premier League club to claim the Gordon Jago Super Group title, and the third English club in the last five years to win the esteemed bracket.
Manchester United looks to improve upon the last time they competed in the elite bracket back in 2013, a team that featured current Belgian international Adnan Januzaj. In 2012, the club reached the championship match, but lost to Brazil's Coritiba, who joins Real Salt Lake in the Manchester United group in 2017. The 2012 squad featured current Manchester United first team player Jesse Lingard.
In a recent ranking of Premier League academies by Britain's Daily Mirror, Manchester United sits firmly on top. The club ranks first in Premier League minutes played by academy players. They also rank first in total players currently playing in the Premier League who were produced by the academy. The Manchester United academy has produced 29 players who currently play in the Premier League, which not only tops England's top flight, but also makes United's academy one of the most successful in world soccer.
In both tourneys combined, the RSL Academy sides will compete against elite youth teams from such prestigious clubs as Real Madrid, River Plate, Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt, and Mexican sides Tigres UANL, Pumas UNAM, Chivas, Monterrey, and Club Tijuana, along with Brazilian side Flamengo, Ecuador's Independiente del Valle, and Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa.
About RSL's history in the Generation adidas Cup:
RSL has competed on the Generation adidas tournament stage every year since the tournament's inception in 2007, winning the competition in 2008 and reaching the final on two other occasions (2010, 2014) all while developing professional-ready players along the way. Vasquez and the staff at the academy continue to grow bright stars such as FWSebastian Soto and MF Luis Arriaga, who stand to make their mark on the national and international levels alike.
Since 2008, the RSL Academy has developed premier players who have made the jump to MLS and abroad after featuring in the Generation adidas Cup, some of whom currently reside on RSL's first team roster including: DF Justen Glad and Danilo Acosta and attacking talent in Jordan Allen, Jose Hernandez, Brooks Lennon, Ricardo Velazcoand Sebastian Saucedo. Goalkeeper Lalo Fernandez was with the academy for the 2011 and 2012 seasons and has been with RSL's first team since his signing in January of 2012.
Glad starred in the 2014 tournament, leading the team to the final before falling to English side Stoke City. Glad, who signed a Homegrown contract before the competition began, solidified the caliber of talent RSL's academy produces year-after-year.
Lennon became RSL's first academy prospect and Generation adidas participant to sign directly for an English Premier League side when he inked his deal with Liverpool FC in the summer of 2015. Netting 31 goals in the 2014-15 campaign for the academy, Lennon cemented his place as one of the academies all-time brightest prospects.
For the first time, the Generation adidas Cup will include live, in-game Video Assistant Referee (VAR) testing, as Major League Soccer and the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) remain at the forefront of this global initiative. Under the protocol required by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the universal decision-making body for the Laws of the Game, MLS and PRO will incorporate the initiative into select matches with VARs utilizing video technology to help referees identify clear errors or serious missed incidents in four game-changing situations -- goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards, and cases of mistaken identity. The philosophy of the testing will be to create minimum interference with maximum benefit.
"The Generation adidas Cup is a world-class competition that offers MLS Academy teams the opportunity to compete against some of the most talented youth players and gain valuable insight into current coaching trends from these talented international clubs,'' MLS technical director of competition Alfonso Mondelo said. "The level and quality of the competition continues to rise year after year and provides a platform in which to display and evaluate the growth of MLS' youth development system across North America."
Meanwhile, the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup, is the oldest and most prestigious international youth soccer tournament in the United States, kicks off on Sunday, April 9 with a full day of soccer action at the historic Cotton Bowl.
The Super Group semifinals will be played on Friday, April 14 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, which will also host championship matches of all age groups on Saturday, April 15.
Coming in late Summer, 2017, Real Salt Lake's regional training center opens in Herriman, Utah, approximately 20 minutes southwest of Rio Tinto Stadium. The $60 million facility will serve as the daily training home beginning in 2018 for both of the club's professional teams - RSL (MLS) and Real Monarchs (USL) - while centralizing the club's U-18, U-16 and future U-14 development academy youth selections. The Herriman campus will provide adjacencies for an on-site charter school opening this Fall, with STEM disciplines (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math) for nearly 300 boys and girls. View a recent photo gallery of the Herriman progress HERE:http://www.rsl.com/gallery/2017-herriman-progress-report.
In mid-November in North Logan, Utah, RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen broke ground on the first of a half-dozen regional training centers across Utah and Arizona to be built in the next 2-3 years. Each $5 million RTC houses a classroom, as well as an indoor and outdoor field, dedicated to fulfilling a curriculum consistent with the club's vision and mission for youth soccer training and education, and the continued development of both recreational and competitive pre-Academy (ages 7-12) initiatives across Utah and Arizona.