The 2010

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 2 ...

season was the sixth year of the club's existence. It was also the sixth year for the club in Major League Soccer and the sixth-consecutive year for the club in the top-flight of American soccer. Real Salt Lake entered the 2010 MLS season as the defending

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

champions, and participated additionally in the CONCACAF Champions League and played play-in propers of the U.S. Open Cup. During 2010, the club had the most success ever in its history, finishing second place in Major League Soccer, as well as becoming the first American-based club to win a Champions League group; in which they won Group A with a 4–1–1 record. Salt Lake played two play in propers of the Open Cup before eventually falling out against

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. In the

playoffs, Salt Lake was paired against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

, the eventual Cup runners-up, where the Royals fell 3–2 on aggregate in the quarterfinals.

Overview

March

Real Salt Lake opened the season with a 3–0 road victory against San Jose.
''MLS: 1-0-0, 3 points, 3 goals for, 0 goals against''

April

RSL began April with a 2–1 loss to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, losing after the Dynamo earned two penalty kicks just a minute apart. Upon heading back to Sandy, they played to a 2–2 draw against

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, with

Álvaro Saborío Álvaro Alberto Saborío Chacón (; born 25 March 1982) is a Costa Rican professional footballer, who plays as a forward and captains Costa Rican club San Carlos from the Primera División de Costa Rica. Saborío originally retired in 2017, b ...

scoring the equalizer in second half stoppage time, in front of a full stadium with a crowd over 20,000. A week later, they headed to Los Angeles to take on the Galaxy, the team they had defeated on penalty kicks to win

MLS Cup 2009 MLS Cup 2009 was the 14th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS). The soccer match took place on November 22, 2009, at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington, and was contested between the Los Angeles Galaxy an ...

. Despite losing 2–1, Real became the first team to score on the Galaxy in the 2010 Season, as Los Angeles had shut out their first three opponents. RSL finished April with a 1–0 loss to the reigning Supporters' Shield winners, the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

.
''MLS: 0-3-1, 1 point, 4 goals for, 7 goals against''

May

RSL began with a hard-fought 2–1 home victory over

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. They then hosted for the first time the new expansion team,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, winning 3–0. The next week, they defeated Houston, who had beaten them at home in Houston in April, with a decisive 3–1 win. Going on the road to Los Angeles to face expansion partners

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. G ...

, RSL found victory when

Fabián Espíndola Edgar Fabián Espíndola (born 4 May 1985) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Early career Espíndola started his career in 2005 with Argentine giants Boca Juniors. He played six games for the club, but Boca failed ...

scored in the 89th minute for the game-winner in the 2–1 win. RSL finished the month with a close 4–1 win over Kansas City in Sandy. Both the five-game win streak and the 15-game home unbeaten streak held by RSL at the end of May are franchise-highs.
''MLS: 5-0-0, 15 points, 14 goals for, 4 goals against''

June

After a disappointing scoreless draw on the road against

, RSL returned home to hand

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

their first loss of the season by a score of 1–0 on a controversial

Javier Morales Javier Morales (born 10 January 1980) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a midfielder. He currently serves as an academy coach at Inter Miami CF. Career Argentina From 1998 to 2006, Morales played for four different clubs in the A ...

goal. After a two-week hiatus due to the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, RSL drew San Jose 0-0.
''MLS: 1-0-2, 5 points, 1 goal for, 0 goals against''

July

July saw

Robbie Findley Robert Findley (born August 4, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He was capped 11 times by the United States national team, having made his international debut in 2007. Findley played college soc ...

return from World Cup play for

Nick Rimando Nicholas Paul Rimando (born June 17, 1979) is an American retired soccer player who last played as a goalkeeper for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer and the United States national team. He holds the Major League Soccer records for career ...

's 100th MLS win – a 5–0 drubbing of New England. They took their aggressive playing style on the road, beating the Chicago Fire 1–0. Their 10-game unbeaten streak came to an end against

at Dallas, followed by a disappointing home draw against Chivas USA. They were back in form against D.C. United, and came away with a 3–0 win.
''MLS: 3-1-1, 10 points, 10 goals for, 3 goals against''

August

RSL's good fortunes continued in August, as the team went undefeated in league play. The month opened with four games in twelve days – three league games and RSL's first CONCACAF Champions League game. After playing to a 1–1 draw with Kansas City at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, RSL paid its first visit to Philadelphia's new

PPL Park Subaru Park (formerly known as PPL Park and Talen Energy Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium located in Chester, Pennsylvania, located next to the Commodore Barry Bridge on the waterfront along the Delaware River. The venue is home to the Ph ...

, earning a point in a 1–1 draw with the Union. RSL headed back to Rio Tinto Stadium to face its 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals nemesis Columbus. RSL won the game 2–0 on a Morales brace. The team then geared up to begin

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles ...

play in the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League. RSL defeated

Panamanian Panamanians (Spanish: ''Panameños'') are people identified with Panama, a transcontinental country in Central America (a region within North America) and South America, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For m ...

champions Árabe Unido in Sandy by a score of 2–1 in a wild match that featured over eight minutes of second-half stoppage time. A week later, the team traveled to

Estadio Azul Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes (English: “Sports City Stadium”; formerly Estadio Azul) is a 33,000-seat stadium located in Ciudad de los Deportes, Mexico City. This sports facility is used for association football matches and for American foo ...

to play

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

. Though RSL led 3–2 after 87 minutes, a crazy finish left Real empty-handed, falling 5–4. The team finished the month with an MLS scoreless affair at

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former ...

, leaving the team in third place on the table at 40 points with eight league games remaining.
''MLS: 1-0-3, 6 points, 4 goals for, 2 goals against; CCL: 1-1-0, 3 points, 6 goals for, 6 goals against''

September

September was another spectacular run for RSL, culminating in qualifying for the MLS Playoffs and the CONCACAF Champion's League quarterfinals.

October

Squad

2010 roster

''(captain)''

Reserves

Transfers

In

Out

Loan

Statistics

Appearances and goals

:''Last updated on 17 November 2010.''

Top scorers

Disciplinary

Formation

Starting XI vs.

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

on Oct. 23:

Overall

{, class="wikitable" , - , Games played , , 40 (30

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, 6 CONCACAF Champions League, 2

MLS Playoffs The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams qualif ...

, 2 U.S. Open Cup) , - , Games won , , 20 (15

, 4 CONCACAF Champions League, 1 U.S. Open Cup) , - , Games drawn , , 13 (11

, 1 CONCACAF Champions League, 1

) , - , Games lost , , 7 (4

, 1 CONCACAF Champions League, 1

, 1 U.S. Open Cup) , - , Goals scored , , 66 , - , Goals conceded , , 36 , - , Goal difference , , +30 , - , Clean sheets , , 15 , - , Yellow cards , , 64 , - , Red cards , , 1 , - , Worst discipline , ,

Jámison Olave Jámison Olave Mosquera (born April 21, 1981) is a Colombian former footballer who is currently the head coach of USL Championship side Real Monarchs. Career Olave began his career with Deportivo Cali in 2001. He played on loan for a multitud ...

10 0 , - , Best result(s) , , W 5–0 (H) v

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

– Major League Soccer – 2 July 2010 , - , Worst result(s) , , L 2–0 (A) v

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

– Major League Soccer – 17 July 2010 , - , Most appearances , ,

Nat Borchers Nat Borchers (born April 13, 1981) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. He won the MLS Cup in 2009 with Real Salt Lake and in 2015 with the Portland Timbers. Youth and college career Born in Tucson, Arizona, Borchers ...

(37) , - , Top scorer , ,

(18) , - , Points , , Overall: 56/90 (62.22%) , -

Club

Coaching staff

{, class="wikitable" , - !Position !Staff , - , General Manager, ,

Garth Lagerwey Garth Lagerwey (born December 12, 1972) is a retired American soccer player who played five seasons in Major League Soccer as a goalkeeper. He became the general manager of Real Salt Lake in 2007 and stayed with the club before departing in 201 ...

, - , Head coach, , Jason Kreis , - , Assistant coach, ,

Robin Fraser Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin ** Forest r ...

, - , Assistant coach, ,

Miles Joseph Miles Joseph (born May 2, 1974) is an American soccer coach and former player who earned three caps with the United States national soccer team. He spent six seasons in Major League Soccer and the part of one season in Major Indoor Soccer Lea ...

, - , Assistant coach, ,

Jeff Cassar Jeff Cassar (born February 2, 1974) is an American soccer coach and former goalkeeper who last coached Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. Playing career Cassar played college soccer at Florida International University, where he was roommat ...

, - , Strength and conditioning Coach, , Dan Barlow , - , Team Administrator, , , Elliot Fall , - , Equipment Manager, , , Kevin Harter , - , Assistant Equipment Manager, , , Mike Rigby , - , Head Athletic Trainer, , Jake Joachim , - , Head Team Physician, , Andrew Cooper , - , Team Orthopedist, , Dr. Mark Scholl , - , U-17 Head Coach, ,

Greg Maas Greg Maas (born January 19, 1966 in Portland, Oregon) is a retired U.S. soccer goalkeeper who spent his entire professional career in Portland. He was the head coach of the Utah Valley University men's soccer team, starting the program from scrat ...

, - , U-17 Assistant Coach, , Nermin Sasivarĕvić , -

Management

Competitions

Overall

Major League Soccer

League table

Conference Overall

Results summary

Regular season

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

MLS Playoffs

Real Salt Lake qualified for the 2010 MLS Cup playoffs following a 2–1 victory at

on October 2. Amid the controversy surrounding the playoff structure, Salt Lake was seeded as the number two team in the Western Conference bracket, drawn against the third-place West team,

. The draw took place at Major League Soccer's headquarters in New York City on October 24. The Conference Semifinals served as a two-leg, home-and-away aggregate series with no away goals rule enforced. Salt Lake played at Dallas in

Pizza Hut Park Toyota Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium located in Frisco, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, United States. Built and owned by the city of Frisco, the 20,500-seat stadium opened in 2005. Its primary tenants are Major League Soccer club FC Dallas ...

on October 30. Despite an early goal from

Fabian Espindola Fabian may refer to: People * Fabian (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Pope Fabian (died 250), Catholic saint * Fabian Forte (born 1943), 1950s American teen idol, singer and actor, known by the mononym Fabian * ...

in the fifth minute, Dallas would rally with a pair of goals from

Jeff Cunningham Jeff Cunningham (born August 21, 1976) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He is Major League Soccer's third-all-time leader in regular-season goals scored with 134. Youth and college Cunningham was born ...

and Eric Avila, giving not only Dallas the victory, but a lead in the a series. Both clubs would return to Rio Tinto on November 6 for the second leg. A 17th-minute goal from

Dax McCarty Michael Dax McCarty (born April 30, 1987) is an American professional soccer player who plays for Nashville SC in Major League Soccer. Early career McCarty was raised in Winter Park, Florida and attended Winter Park High School. During his ...

gave Dallas 3–1 advantage in the series, and not only jeopardized Salt Lake's chance for going on the Western Conference Championship, but the chance RSL would end their home-match unbeaten streak. A goal from

ensured the streak would stay alive, but it was not enough to defeat Dallas on aggregate, as Dallas would advance 3–2 on aggregate.

U.S. Open Cup

CONCACAF Champions League

By winning the 2009 MLS Cup championship against

, Real Salt Lake qualified directly into

Group Stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

for the 2010–11 edition of the CONCACAF Champions League. It was RSL's debut in the competition. The draw for the group stage was held on May 19, 2010 in New York City. Salt Lake was paired with 2009 Panamanian champions Árabe Unido as well as the Mexican Professional League's,

and fellow MLS-opponent

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

who qualified for the competition by winning the

2010 Canadian Championship The 2010 Canadian Championship (officially the Nutrilite Canadian Championship for sponsorship reasons) was a soccer tournament hosted and organized by the Canadian Soccer Association that took place in the cities of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver ...

. Salt Lake's opening game took place on August 18, hosting Árabe Unido in which they won 2–1 thanks to a pair of goals from

. RSL would then head down to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

to take on Cruz Azul for an August 25 match. During a part of the game, Salt Lake took a 3–1 lead over Cruz Azul, and look destined to become the first MLS club to defeat a Mexican team on Mexican soil in a meaningful competition. However, late goals from Cruz Azul's

Javier Orozco Javier Antonio Orozco Peñuelas (born 16 November 1987) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is popularly known by his nickname "Chuletita". Club career Orozco made his debut on September 17, 2005, against Ti ...

gave Azul a 4–3 lead in the 89th minute. A stoppage time goal from Salt Lake's Will Johnson seemed to have savaged a point for RSL; however, a goal with less than twelve seconds remaining in stoppage time from Christian Giménez gave Cruz Azul the final goal to win 5–4. The Royals would commence Champions League action again on September 15 hosting fellow league team,

. In spite of an early goal from Macion Santos, RSL was able to rebound and score four unanswered goals, giving Salt Lake a 4–1 victory and a tie with Cruz Azul for first place in Group A. One week later, the Royals would travel to

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

to take on Arabe Unido for their home fixture of pool play. Goals from Saborio and Johnson secured a 3–2 road victory for Salt Lake. With the victory, RSL became only the sixth MLS club to win a meaningful competition against a Central American opponent on their home turf. On September 28, Salt Lake qualified for the knockout stage of the tournament with a 1–1 draw against

. Tied with Cruz Azul with 3–1–1 records apiece, a victory would give Salt Lake first place in their group. Because of the late season push for the Supporters' Shield, Kries fielded primarily a second-tier squad against Cruz Azul. A record crowd came to Rio Tinto on October 19 to watch the group stage finale between the two sides. Goals from the recently acquired

Paulo Araujo Jr. Paulo Morais de Araújo Júnior (born January 23, 1989) is a Brazilian association football, footballer who most recently played as a Forward (association football), forward for Forward Madison FC in USL League One. Career Brazil Araujo was a ...

and from

Collen Warner Collen Warner (born June 24, 1988) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder. He last played for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids. College and amateur Warner attended Denver East High School, played club socc ...

led to a 3–1 victory over the Cementeros. The win resulted in RSL winning Group A, as well as them becoming the first MLS club to win a Group in the CONCACAF Champions League. On November 1, CONCACAF held the draw for the Championship Round at their headquarters in New York City. The round commenced during Salt Lake's 2011 season.

Group Standings

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - ! style="width:165px;", Team !width="20", !width="20", !width="20", !width="20", !width="20", !width="20", !width="20", !width="20", , - style="background:#def;" , align=left,

, 6, , 4, , 1, , 1, , 17, , 11, , +6, , 13 , - , align=left,

, 6, , 3, , 1, , 2, , 15, , 9, , +6, , 10 , - , align=left,

, 6, , 2, , 2, , 2, , 5, , 7, , −2, , 8 , - , align=left, Árabe Unido , 6, , 1, , 0, , 5, , 4, , 14, , −10, , 3

Results summary

Match results

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2010 Real Salt Lake Season Real Salt Lake seasons