This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's not exactly a quick trip, but RSL made its way to Costa Rica today in some pretty good style, enjoying a chartered flight from Salt Lake City that stopped for fuel in El Paso before depositing the team directly into San Jose for its crucial Champions League game on Tuesday night.Now, it can get down to focusing on the big game.The team is scheduled to practice at Saprissa Stadium in the morning, when the locals say the weather will be just as glorious as it was today — contrary to the online weather forecasts that predicted rain all week.It has been pretty warm, with high temperatures in the mid-80's, but coach Jason Kreis said he would be more concerned about that if RSL hadn't enjoyed some warm-weather training in Utah before leaving (and before that last blast of winter showed up back home, delaying RSL's departure for a couple of hours).While RSL has enjoyed more than a week off from Major League Soccer to prepare for the second leg of the two-game semifinal series — it needs to stay within one goal of Saprissa to advance to the championship round, or at least score if it loses by two goals — the "Purple Monster" played a league game here last night.Plus, Saprissa will be without starting defender Jose Mena and midfielders Douglas Sequeira and Ricardo Blanco against RSL. All three are suspended due to caution accumulation, after receiving yellow cards in the first leg last month at Rio Tinto Stadium.RSL won that game, 2-0, in dominant fashion, with goalkeeper Nick Rimando contributing a performance that helped him become the first keeper in league history to win MLS Player of the Month honors for a third time on Sunday.But midfielder Will Johnson echoed his teammates in saying that RSL can afford neither to bunker down in a defensive shell nor put the foot down on the gas right away. An early goal for Saprissa would really jeopardize their chances, they said."You kind of have to take what the game gives you," Johnson said. "You can't go in there trying to force things, otherwise you can put yourself in a bad situation. Obviously, an away goal would be fantastic. But the longer it stays 0-0, the more desperate they're going to get and the easier it will become to get that away goal" on a counterattack.Meanwhile, we had a chance to visit Saprissa Stadium today.The "Monster's Cave" is known as an intimidating place to play, and you'd have to say its environment helps reinforce that. Nestled amid in a pretty grimy neighborhood near the narrow and chaotic streets of downtown, it has a rough and ramshackle appearance that is nothing like Rio Tinto Stadium.See for yourself …