Real Salt Lake released its training camp roster on Friday, a collection of players that includes 11 new faces and has coach John Ellinger excited about the upcoming season despite the obvious distractions regarding the club's future.
Most of the 35 players invited to camp will be in Salt Lake City this Sunday for their individual physicals, with camp getting under way Monday at the Spence Eccles Fieldhouse at the University of Utah. Those 35 players will be vying for 28 roster spots.
In addition to newcomer Freddy Adu who RSL acquired in an offseason trade, most of Salt Lake's regulars from 2006 are back, including Chris Klein, Eddie Pope, Jeff Cunningham, Jason Kreis and Carey Talley.
"This team has the potential to be the most exciting group we've assembled in three years," said Ellinger in a statement. "Mixing Adu, (Luis) Tejada and the other new faces in with the veteran leadership and young core has heightened expectations for the entire organization, and we look forward to the April 7 opener to show our fans what this team is all about."
During its twomonth training camp, RSL will spend time in Salt Lake City, Orlando, Los Angeles, Fresno and St. George, not to mention two weeks in Madrid, Spain, training at Real Madrid's facilities. Real is scheduled to play 11 preseason games during training camp, including four against MLS teams.
The MLS regular season gets under way on April 7, with Real Salt Lake hosting FC Dallas at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
In addition to SuperDraft selections Chris Seitz and Steven Curfman, four other newcomers will participate in training beginning Monday. Jeff Rowland is back after a knee injury in preseason last year forced RSL to release the rookie. Jeff Lancos, who Real drafted in last year's supplemental draft, is back after opting to play in the German second division last year instead of MLS.
Two other players, former BYU star Steve Magleby and USL Division I defender Scott Palguta will also be competing for roster spots.
Panamanian forward Luis Tejada is participating in CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying with the Panama National Team and probably won't join his new club team until it heads for Madrid on Feb. 26.
Costa Rican defender Daniel Torres' arrival is being delayed because of visa problems.
The four players RSL selected in the MLS Supplemental Draft won't join the team until the second week of training camp in Orlando. They are midfielders Dustin Kirby, Jared Kent, along with defender Haddon Kirk and keeper Kyle Reynish.
The six players from last year's team who aren't returning are: Jay Nolly, Nelson Akwari, Douglas Sequeira, Jafet Soto, Cameron Knowles, Seth Trembley and Adam Acosta.
The complete 2007 Major League Soccer schedule will be released on Feb. 6.
Real training camp roster
Player Pos '06 team
Freddy Adu MF D.C. United
Mehdi Ballouchy MF Real Salt Lake
Nikolas Besagno MF Real Salt Lake
Chris Brown MF Real Salt Lake
Kyle Brown FW New England
Jeff Cunningham FW Real Salt Lake
Steve Curfman MF Wake Forest (NCAA)
Kenny Cutler MF Real Salt Lake
Willis Forko DF Real Salt Lake
Scott Garlick GK Real Salt Lake
Brian Gil MF Real Salt Lake
Atiba Harris FW Real Salt Lake
Chase Harrison GK Real Salt Lake
Duke Hashimoto M/F Real Salt Lake
Christian Jimenez MF Real Salt Lake
Jared Kent MF Old Dominion (NCAA)
Dustin Kirby MF Ohio St. (NCAA)
Haddon Kirk DF N.C. State (NCAA)
Chris Klein MF Real Salt Lake
Jason Kreis FW Real Salt Lake
Chris Lancos DF FC Kaiserslatern
Steve Magleby MF BYU (PDL)
Kevin Novak MF Real Salt Lake
Scott Palguta DF Rochester (USL1)
Eddie Pope DF Real Salt Lake
Kyle Reynish GK UCSB (NCAA)
Jeff Rowland FW injured
Chris Seitz GK Maryland (NCAA)
Jack Stewart DF Real Salt Lake
Carey Talley MF Real Salt Lake
Luis Tejada FW Panama 1st Division
Danny Torres DF Real Salt Lake
Jamie Watson M/F Real Salt Lake
Andy Williams MF Real Salt Lake
Joey Worthen MF Real Salt Lake
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com