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Sandy • When Real Salt Lake's stretching routine finished Monday at Rio Tinto Stadium, the club's dreadlocked midfielder leapt off the grass, and as he always does, sprinted to the northeast corner of the stadium to prepare for passing drills. He was the first one there.
Nothing out of the ordinary for Kyle Beckerman; he just hasn't been around lately.
The RSL captain returned to Salt Lake City Sunday after spending the last two months on the road — first with RSL during the longest road trip in franchise history and later with the U.S. men's national team during this summer's Copa America Centenario.
"We missed Kyle a lot. He's our captain," said midfielder Javier Morales. "It's always good to have him on the team. It's going to be very good for us."
The 34-year-old Beckerman finally unpacked his suitcase following 52 days on the road, including trips to Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Jose, Chicago, Seattle. There were two trips to Houston and Kansas City in that span, too. With Beckerman away on national-team duty, RSL held its own, going 3-2-1 in league play and advancing in the 2016 U.S. Open Cup tournament.
RSL hosts the rival Seattle Sounders Tuesday at Rio Tinto Stadium in the Round of 16 matchup.
"It's against a big opponent, and one thing that we spoke to as a group is this is one trophy we've never won," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said. "We're taking it really serious. I know Kyle, I know the rest of the guys all want to win a championship."
Beckerman's May and June were filled with flights and matches against continental powerhouses like Argentina and Colombia, but RSL went through its own packed stretch of matches. And with many starters having played extensive minutes the last few weeks, Beckerman's return could pay dividends in the midfield.
"Whenever you go away from international duty, you bring a little sharpness back with you, so I try and bring some sharpness, energy back," Beckerman said. "[Try to] give the guys a boost going forward. … We've got some pressure on us to get some points now that we've got these home games, but it's a good pressure."
Beckerman said he tuned in and followed RSL matches as best he could while with the U.S. team. If he couldn't, he would check in with teammates and coaches via email or if a few free moments popped up during a bus ride or at dinner, Beckerman wanted to check in.
His legs should be fresh, too. Outside of his start against Argentina in the 4-0 semifinal loss, Beckerman never went more than 60 minutes in a match at the Copa America. After training ended Monday, Beckerman stayed on the new pitch in Sandy and stretched some more, seemingly to soak in his return.
"Ready to get back. I missed the guys," he said. "I missed being out here so, I'm excited to get back going at it, seeing if we can get this second half of the season going strong and then be able to finish strong."
U.S. Open Cup Seattle Sounders at RSL
P Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Radio • 700 AM (no TV)