This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sandy • Next time someone tries to downplay this rivalry, don't buy it. It's still there, and it's still burning. The lingering disdain between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City again became a talking point among the two teams and Major League Soccer Thursday morning when Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber said RSL holds a very high opinion of itself.

The 30-year-old midfielder in his third season with Kansas City was asked at a press conference Thursday to reveal which MLS club he "hates" the most. To no surprise, Feilhaber went with RSL.

"I've never liked Salt Lake … I don't like them," he said. "I like playing against them. I like beating them, even though we haven't been able to the last two years, but this year we get to play them a couple more times."

RSL and Sporting KC tied 0-0 on April 11 at Sporting Park, a year after the club snagged an identical result in April 2014, a mere four months after Sporting beat RSL in a memorable MLS Cup final. So yeah, about those two upcoming meetings this summer? Circle those calendars. Sporting KC is at Rio Tinto Stadium on Sunday, June 21, in a nationally-televised match on FOX Sports 1 and is back on July 24 in another nationally-televised match on Univision.

When asked to clarify if he despises all of RSL or just individual players on the team, Feilhaber said, "Some individuals I don't hate. There's some guys on the team I like, but I guess, as whole, no I don't like them very much."

He later added of RSL: "I think they're snobby almost. I think they think they're something special when they're not."

The comments were made Thursday as RSL wrapped up its final training session before departing for the Northeast and its match at New England Saturday night. Right back Tony Beltran was asked to respond to Feilhaber's remarks.

"I don't really know the context, I didn't read the article or anything like that," Beltran said. "Historically, there's been a rivalry there between us and KC and we've had some heated match-ups and things happen on the field and people walk away taking things a certain way, so whatever … I'll just leave that [comment]. Maybe Benny's just jealous because my hair is better than his. We have the same 'fro going on."

RSL coach Jeff Cassar called Feilhaber's comments "odd."

"We like to do our talking on the field, not off the field," he said. "But we play with a chip on our shoulder and people can take that however they want. I want our team to be confident, because we should be. We've been successful for a long time and want to continue to play with confidence and arrogance — if you want that … I just think it's a confident group."

The birth of this rivalry can be traced back to a preseason match between the two clubs in March 2011 in Arizona. Former RSL coach Jason Kreis was quoted as saying RSL was up 2-0 on Sporting KC and "embarrassing them a little bit," before the game turned physical and after Sporting tied it 2-2, fisticuffs ensued after midfielder Roger Espinoza reportedly went studs-up on a challenge on RSL midfielder Javier Morales.

Fuel to the fire was added in the weeks leading up to the MLS Cup final in December 2013 when former general manager Garth Lagerwey said the two sides, "play diametrically opposed styles of soccer. We want to keep the ball, we want to possess, we want to attack. Kansas City want to kick people, pressure you all over the field and try to rely on set pieces and turnovers to generate their chances."

After Sporting KC emerged victorious in a marathon penalty shootout in MLS Cup, midfielder Jacob Peterson later tweeted a response by trolling Lagerwey's remarks with elongated hashtags of "Don't eat your feelings big guy" and "Diametrically opposed."

The positive behind all this is that RSL and Sporting Kansas City are back in the same conference, which means no one can dissuade the amount of animosity between the two franchises.

It's a rivalry. And the next round comes on June 21 in Sandy.

(Video of Feilhaber's full comments on RSL supplied by The Kansas City Star).

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani