Albert Rusnák stepped onto the pitch with some of the biggest names in the Premier League at storied Wembley Stadium on Monday to represent his country. By Wednesday he had to turn his mind back to MLS.
“All of them are great athletes, great players,” the Slovakia national team member said of the English side, “so coming on and playing against them in a game where we haven’t lost by a country mile, you know, we were still in it till the last minute, so that was special.”
Rusnák returned to Real Salt Lake training Wednesday after he and his Slovakian teammates lost 2-1 to in the World Cup qualifying match. RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando (United States) and winger Jefferson Savarino (Venezuela) also returned from international duty in this week’s 2018 World Cup Qualifiers in time for RSL’s Saturday game against the Whitecaps in Vancouver.
“It’s great for them individually, it’s an honor,” RSL coach Mike Petke said. “It’s great for us as a club to have the talent that we have that we get three call-ups. And the cons are obviously that they’re not here for those practice sessions leading into a big game and they’re coming back a couple of days before a big game.”
Rusnák came off the bench in both of Slovakia’s September matches, in the 54th minute of a 1-0 win over Slovenia, and in the 68th minute of the England match. He now is up to five caps, four this year, with the senior team.
“I thought Albert should have played a bit more, he could have been utilized more, but I’m not the national team coach there,” Petke said. “But part of me, selfishly I’m glad he didn’t play a lot so that he’s a bit fresher.”
Slovakia and the U.S. are still in the running for berths to the next World Cup with more qualifying matches coming up in October. Venezuela was eliminated.
Neither Rimando nor Savarino saw the pitch in their countries’ past two qualifying matches, but Savarino said he didn’t mind.
“I’m just very happy to be part of the team, even though I didn’t get to see any minutes,” he said. “But I’m very excited for my teammates and the support that we all have for each other.”
The 20-year-old winger made his national team debut earlier this year, in a June friendly between Venezuela and the U.S. at Rio Tinto Stadium. Rimando, on the other hand, has been capped 22 times by the USMNT and continues to be a frequent call-up.
Rusnák, Rimando and Savarino left Salt Lake City to join their respective national teams almost two weeks ago. Thanks to a bye week, they didn’t miss any matches with RSL, but they had just a couple days to prepare for Vancouver with their club teammates.
Rusnák returned to training Wednesday, while Rimando and Savarino jumped in Thursday. The team had Savarino, who flew in from Argentina the day before, sit out for half of Thursday’s training session to ease the stress on his body from the travel.
“Talk to the trainers, rest, shake the legs out and see how they feel,” Petke said of the trick to getting his players back up to speed. “That’s pretty much it.”
When the coaching staff asked Rimando how he felt ahead of training Thursday, the veteran goalkeeper said he was ready to go.
“I’ve just done it so long now and know the importance of these games and Vancouver,” he said.
RSL sits in eighth place, just two points out of the last playoff spot. A win would put RSL (10-11-6, 35 points) and the Whitecaps (11-9-5, 38 points) neck-and-neck in the standings with 38 points each. Goal differential would serve as the tiebreaker. A loss to Vancouver would at best leave RSL two points below the line with just five matches left in the regular season.
Real Salt Lake at Vancouver<br>At BC Place, Vancouver, B.C.<br>Kickoff » 8 p.m. <br>TV » KMYU <br>Radio » 100.7 FM<br>Records » RSL 10-13-5, VAN 11-9-5<br>Last meeting » RSL won 3-0 (April 8, at Rio Tinto Stadium) <br>About the Whitecaps » The Whitecaps enter the match on a three-game unbeaten streak. … Vancouver has only ever lost at home to RSL once (6-1-1). … The Whitecaps’ Kendall Waston and Christian Bolanos are both coming off back-to-back starts for the Costa Rica national team. … Defender David Edgar (knee) and Matias Laba (knee) are out with torn ligaments. <br>About RSL » Mike Petke made his RSL coaching debut against Vancouver on April 8.… RSL lost just one match in July and Aug. combined. … Defender Danilo Acosta is suspended for the match for a red card. … RSL’s Jordan Allen, Omar Holness and Chad Barrett remain out (knee surgeries). ... Ricardo Velazco remains suspended due to ongoing judicial proceedings. … Defender Demar Phillips (hamstring) is questionable for the match.