Striker Pablo Campos has been named the Major League Soccer player of the week, after delivering RSL its crucial victory at Kansas City over the weekend with his second goal in two weeks.

Campos struck in the 18th minute to give RSL a 1-0 victory that could prove to be the result that gets them into the playoffs. The team has 33 points and believes it needs 10 more from its final six games to get in, though it will have this weekend off while the U.S. national team plays El Salvador in a World Cup qualifier at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday.

Did Robbie Findley just play the most important five minutes of his life?

The Real Salt Lake forward was unexpectedly called up to the U.S. men's national team today for its upcoming World Cup qualifying games, the day after blazing to back-to-back goals in the final five minutes of a 4-0 victory over Chivas USA at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Even RSL officials were caught by surprise.

Nevertheless, it means that both Findley and teammate Kyle Beckerman will be on the roster for the Americans when they play El Salvador at Rio Tinto on Sept. 5, and then travel to meet Trinidad & Tobago in Port of Spain on Sept. 9.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve suited up with the national team," Findley said, "so it will be an incredible feeling to represent my country again. I’ve just been trying to focus on our team’s success here with Real Salt Lake, so it’s great that this opportunity has presented itself through my efforts and contributions to my club. Our fans have always been supportive and behind us no matter what, so I can’t even explain what a great feeling it would be to be able to wear that U.S. jersey in front of them.”

Neither Findley nor Beckerman has played in a World Cup qualifying game, though Beckerman has played nine games with the national team, and Findley one — a stoppage-time appearance against Switzerland in a friendly in 2007.

Findley leads RSL with 10 goals this season, and 22 in his career.

So at this rate, maybe RSL won't even need Yura Movsisyan.

Striker Pablo Campos made his first start for the club last night, and made an immediate impact by heading home his first goal — the winning goal, as it turned out — just before halftime of a 4-0 whitewash of Chivas USA at Rio Tinto Stadium.

“He earned it,” coach Jason Kreis said. “He deserved his opportunity ... and he took it.

Kreis said the coaching staff was impressed with what Campos showed, coming on as a substitute in the otherwise miserable loss at New England last weekend, after needed “a long time” to get accustomed to the altitude in Utah after his trade from San Jose last month.

“That's what I said at the beginning,” Campos said. “It's going to take a little while until I get in a rhythm and get to know the players and they get to know me. So now I think we're getting there.”

Kreis praised the 6-foot-3 Campos for not only his ability to hold the ball up top in the 4-3-3 formation, but because "he can be dynamic and get at players and run around guys and dribble past players, as well. I think he has the complete package."

The coach could scarcely talk about Campos, either, without discussing forward Fabian Espindola, whose perfect cross set up Campos for his 43rd minute strike. Espindola later fired home an insurance goal with his left foot, and seemed to leave no doubt that he'll stay in the starting 11, too, when RSL visits Kansas City for a crucial game on Saturday.

“It was another night that he was fantastic, and I don't think the right back had much of an answer for him,” Kreis said. “I was really, really pleased with his service on the first goal. Excellent, excellent choice by him. ... And then obviously the goal he scored was very, very pleased, because I know he's extremely frustrated to not score more than he has this year.”

That seemed pretty obvious, judging by the passion with which Espindola celebrated — screaming while leaping over a sideline barricade to go hug fans in the stands. It was his first goal since scoring in a 1-1 draw at Houston on June 20, even though he has been among the most dangerous players on the field lately.

“Finally!” he said.

Real Salt Lake's Kyle Beckerman will be named to the U.S. men's national team for its upcoming World Cup qualifying game against El Salvador at Rio Tinto Stadium on Sept. 5, team officials said.

The midfield captain will earn his 10th cap with the national team, if he plays against El Salvador or Trinidad & Tobago in Port of Spain on Sept. 9.

The 27-year-old Beckerman was not called up for the Americans' last qualifying game in Mexico earlier this month, but clearly impressed national team coach Bob Bradley with his strong performance at the Gold Cup earlier this summer. He has never played in a World Cup qualifying game.

The rest of the U.S. roster is expected to be announced Thursday.

Since RSL does not play next week, Beckerman will not miss any games for the club while he plays for the national team.

The strange saga of Yura Movsisyan took another turn today, when the forward missed RSL's workout at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Team officials said the striker has been ill, in addition to telling them that he is still being bothered by his shoulder injury, for which he is expected to see another doctor. What's odd about that is just yesterday, his agent said Movsisyan's shoulder had been healthy enough that he could have played at New England over the weekend, if the team had taken him on the trip, and RSL hadn't practiced since then until today.

So it's hard to tell just where things stand at the moment, and whether either side is exaggerating its position in the lingering dispute over Movsisyan's pending move to Randers FC in Denmark. But it seems reasonably safe to assume that Movsisyan won't be available for RSL when it plays Chivas USA in a crucial home game on Wednesday night.

Probably wouldn't expect to see midfielder Javier Morales, either, though the team officially is listing him only as “doubtful” with a groin injury and said it will make a game-time decision about whether he plays. Morales did not take part in the light workout this morning, instead mostly watching from the edge of the field in socks and shower sandals.

Coach Jason Kreis will have one less attacking option when RSL takes on the New England Revolution today near Boston.

That's because striker Yura Movsisyan did not make the trip, after not practicing the past couple of days due to his lingering shoulder injury. That will mark the second game in the last three in which the team's second-leading scorer has not played -- he played only the final 25 minutes in the scoreless draw against Houston last weekend -- since hurting the shoulder in the first half of the 1-0 loss at Chicago on August 1.

Makes you wonder whether team officials are regretting not accepting a buyout for Movsisyan to go to Randers FC in Denmark, when they had the chance.

RSL will still have back-to-back weekends off from Major League Soccer play down the stretch of the regular season in October, but that doesn't mean it won't be playing a game.

The team has announced that it will meet Chivas de Guadalajara — the parent of Chivas USA and probably the most popular team in Mexico — in an exhibition at Rio Tinto Stadium on Oct. 7. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m., and tickets will go on sale tomorrow.

The game falls between the weekends that RSL is off from league play, Oct. 3 and Oct. 10. It will have only three games remaining, at that point, with two of them — against New York on Oct. 14 and the season-finale against Colorado on Oct. 24 — at home.

We finally had a chance to ask midfielder Clint Mathis about his red card against Houston the other night, and he didn't try to duck the blame.

Mathis said he “just lost my temper” when he slammed the ball to the ground to earn a red-card ejection that denied RSL the chance to play the whole second half with a man-advantage in what turned out to be a scoreless home draw against Houston last weekend, potentially costing the team crucial points in the Major League Soccer playoff race.

“Obviously, I deserved it,” he said after practice at Xango Field. “I don't know if I deserved really the first yellow, the first foul. But it was stupid on my part, letting my team down to lose my head getting the second yellow card.”

Mathis had not commented on his league-record ninth career red card, having left Rio Tinto Stadium before the game was over and then getting a day off from practice to rest a sore knee. His ejection triggered an automatic one-game suspension that will keep him out of RSL's game at New England on Sunday.

Defender Jamison Olave will be suspended, too, for yellow-card accumulation.

While Mathis was arguably the team's best player for the first half of the season, both he and coach Jason Kreis agreed that he seemed to play the last couple of games with more anger and frustration.

“A little more fire, maybe,” Mathis said. “We've got to get some points.”

The draw against the Dynamo kept RSL three points out of playoff position, and general manager Garth Lagerwey believes it will need 16 points from its last nine games to reach the postseason again.

“I think Clint feels the pressure, as do all of the players,” Kreis said. “We all have different ways of expressing ourselves when we get into pressure situations, and I would agree that the fuse has been a little shorter. It's something that we're talking about and managing, and I think that he's now coming back from that.”

Most definitely, RSL can use all the points it can muster as it heads down the homestretch toward the Major League Soccer playoffs. But the coaches and players seem to agree that the situation is not yet so dire that they have to head into road games with an ultra-aggressive approach.

“I don't think we're at that point yet,” midfielder Will Johnson said. “I think the games that we've done well — against Houston, D.C. — were games where we were very good defensively. We had chances to win the game, as well. I don't think we need to try to win games 4-3 and things like that, because it's not going to happen.”

Coach Jason Kreis basically agreed, noting that the next three games are all against teams with which RSL is fighting for one of the final playoff spots. So if the team can manage at least a draw against New England on Sunday, for example, it will gain a tie-breaking advantage over the Revs because it also beat them at home earlier this season.

“It's going to be different, every game,” Kreis said.

Midfielder Clint Mathis wasn't at practice today, but he wasn't being punished.

Coach Jason Kreis said Mathis was given the day off from the first training session since his red card denied RSL the chance to play the second half against Houston with a man-advantage last weekend, in order to rest a knee problem.

“He's been having some issues with his knee,” Kreis said, “so we felt like it was a good opportunity to give him another day off.”

Mathis is one of only three players who has appeared in every game for RSL, but he will not play at New England on Sunday because of the red card. The trip begins a stretch of three games in seven days that could decide the RSL's playoff fate. Several players said they need at least six points out of the stretch.

Defender Jamison Olave also is out, though, serving a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation, and midfielder Andy Williams is unlikely to be available, team officials said, after straining his right hamstring in practice. Williams has scarcely played the last five games, but the rest of it suggests that defender Robbie Russell will move inside to replace Olave — with Chris Wingert and Tony Beltran on the outside — while recently acquired winger Rachid El Khalifi perhaps gets a starting chance in place of Mathis.

“He's certainly in the mix,” Kreis said.

Good news and bad news for RSL, heading into its big home game against league-leading Houston Dynamo at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night.

Defender Robbie Russell appears ready to return to the lineup, after missing most of the last three games with a strained hip flexor, and striker Yura Movsisyan is “50-50” — in the words of coach Jason Kreis — to be available as he recovers from the injured rotator cuff in his shoulder.

However, Russell might be not just available but needed, with defender Chris Wingert questionable after missing practice with an illness. Wingert is one of only three players on the team — including midfielder Clint Mathis and defender Nat Borchers — who has played in every game this season.

RSL is riding a five-game winless streak against the Dynamo stretching back two years, but it also has a five-game unbeaten streak at home and the best home goal differential — plus-14 — in the league.

The radio station that broadcasts RSL games — KALL 700-AM — is about to become the “exclusive home in Utah” for ESPN Radio programming.

Starting August 31, the station will add the “Mike & Mike in the Morning” show and “The Herd With Colin Cowherd” to its morning lineup, and feature around-the-clock ESPN Radio SportsCenter updates along with NBA and Major League Baseball games of the week and coverage of college football.

The station already has “The Dan Patrick Show” in its lineup, as the afternoon lead-in to the locally produced “Bill & Spence Show” featuring the voice of RSL Bill Riley.

“This is an enormous opportunity for KALL 700 to align itself with the world’s foremost sports broadcasting leader,” general manager Dean Howes said in a statement. “We remain committed to our stature as the ‘Home of the Utes’ and Real Salt Lake, and bolster the significant amount of local programming with our nation’s spotlight events via ESPN.”

We all know how strong RSL has been at home since last season — for the moment, let's not discuss the road — but a few Major League Soccer statistics show just how dominant it is becoming at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Over the past two regular seasons, RSL has the third-best record in the league at home at 14-2-9, trailing only Houston and Columbus in victories and points amassed. RSL has scored 51 points from 25 home games in that span, for an average of 2.04 per game.

What's more, no team in the league has allowed fewer than the 20 goals that RSL has conceded at home in that span, while only the Crew has compiled more than the 48 goals that RSL and Houston have scored — and just by one, at that.

However, RSL is going to have to pick up the pace, if it's going to make the playoffs.

If it averages about 2.04 points from each of its final five home games, and general manager Garth Lagerwey is right that it will need to reach 43 points in the standings to make the playoffs, RSL will need to pick up seven points from its last five on the road, where it's only 1-7-2 so far. But if RSL manages to win all of its last five at home, it will need only two points from its road games — a far more palatable prospect.

“Consistency is the biggest thing for us," defender Nat Borchers said. "We go through a lot of dry spells where we're not getting results, we're not getting goals, we're giving up goals. And I think if we can reverse that trend in the next 10 games and really focus on what we did" against Seattle last weekend, "we're going to be in the playoffs.”

Midfielder Nelson Gonzalez has finalized a loan deal with RSL, the team said today, after immigration officials finally approved his work permit.

Team officials had been waiting for that to happen so they could officially add the 20-year-old Argentine to the roster. Gonzalez had been on trial with the team for more than a week now, and is a natural left-sided player whom general manager Garth Lagerwey and coach Jason Kreis believe can develop into a solid contributor.

He's not expected to make a tremendous immediate impact, however. "He's a potential guy," Lagerwey said, who joins forward Fabian Espindola and rookie midfielder Raphael Cox as players "we really like as left-footed attacking players."

And though we initially were told that Gonzalez signed a standard four-year deal with Major League Soccer, it turns out he's actually on a loan from Quilmes in Argentina that RSL has the option of renewing or buying out a year from now.

Well, so much for that strong Gold Cup performance.

Midfielder Kyle Beckerman was not among the players named to the 20-man roster for the United States men's national team's World Cup qualifying game in Mexico next week. Coach Bob Bradley stuck mostly with his usual top group — though Houston's Brian Ching and Stuart Holden did get the call after playing in the Gold Cup, along with Columbus' Chad Marshall.

If nothing else, though, the selection of the Houston players could give Beckerman and RSL an edge next weekend when the Dynamo comes to town.

The qualifying game will be played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Wednesday — the Americans have never won there, having gone 0-22-1 — just three days before the league-leading Dynamo visit Rio Tinto Stadium. That means that Ching and Holden might not be available (or, at least, might be worn out) for a game that RSL really will need to win.

Tickets for the upcoming World Cup qualifier between the U.S. and El Salvador at Rio Tinto Stadium will go on sale to the general public at noon on Friday.

Team officials said about 5,000 remain, after exclusive sales to season-ticket holders.

The game is scheduled for Sept. 5, and will be the next qualifying game for the Americans after they play rival Mexico at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City next week.

Forward Robbie Findley seemed to speak for most of his teammates this week when he assured fans that RSL has far from given up the playoff chase, even though time is starting to run out.

“We know we have to make up some points coming up here,” he said. But “we're not putting our heads down. ... It's not over. We can still get in the playoffs.”

General manager Garth Lagerwey has figured the team needs 43 points to do that, so the upcoming home games against Seattle and Houston will be crucial. If RSL were to lose both, it could probably kiss the postseason goodbye, since it would still need 20 points in its last nine games — five of which are on the road.

“We've got to pick up points,” coach Jason Kreis said.

It shouldn't be long now, before RSL signs its newest player.

Midfielder Nelson Gonzalez joined the team on trial this week, and already has impressed both coach Jason Kreis and general manager Garth Lagerwey. The 20-year-old Argentine played on the left side in both the midfield and the back line during a four-period scrimmage against Brigham Young University at Xango Field today, and hasn't done anything to change the team's mind about offering him a contract.

“We're happy with what we've seen,” Lagerwey said.

Gonzalez still needs to procure a change in his immigration status — he's here at the moment on a tourist visa, Lagerwey said — in order to sign a contract, but the team expects to formally offer one soon.

But Gonzalez is not the only new player that has raised eyebrows.

Forwards Rachid El Khalifi and Pablo Campos played well in the scrimmage, with Campos scoring three goals off headers and “coming out of his shell a little bit,” Kreis said. “I'm impressed with all three of them.”

As if he hasn't been busy enough, midfielder Kyle Beckerman is following in the footsteps of former RSL defender Brian Dunseth and starting a clothing line. It's called KB5, and Beckerman is planning a launch party at Sandbar in downtown Salt Lake City on Sunday at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $10 at the door, and proceeds will help offset medical costs for burn victim Andy Hill of Juan Diego High School, among others, though the GOALS for Greatness charity. Beckerman's clothing line will be available at Vendetta in the Orem Mall or at the Chic Boutique at 7200 S. State Street in Midvale.

Quick update from practice today ... striker Yura Movsisyan sat out as expected with what has been diagnosed as a "bone bruise" in his right shoulder, suffered in the opening minutes of the loss at Chicago last weekend. He could resume training later this week, team officials said, but will be listed as "doubtful" against Seattle at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday.

Still, that did not stop Movsisyan from displaying some uncanny accuracy with his feet.

While horsing around, he managed to bend a ball from behind the touchline around and into the net -- twice in a row -- and win what might have actual bet for a cup of coffee with a public relations staff member. I think I owe him one, too, after he fired one into one of the tiny little practice goals from about 50 yards away.

Meanwhile, midfielder Kyle Beckerman was given the day off to recuperate from his busy schedule lately, while trialist Nelson Gonzalez enjoyed his first workout with the senior club. He didn't look frightfully out of place at all, so it's probably fair to expect the team to sign him to a contract soon.

Oh, and injured defender Robbie Russell was running laps around the practice field, suggesting that his injured hip flexor is getting closer to healed.

We don't know exactly what coach Jason Kreis said to the fourth official to earn himself that red card against FC Dallas last weekend.

But clearly, it wasn't good.

Not only was Kreis ejected from the game, triggering a suspension for tonight's game at Chicago, but now the league has added to the punishment by fining the coach an additional $3,000 and suspending him for one more game "for his actions that led to his dismissal."

That means Kreis is out $3,500 total -- the red card brings an automatic $500 fine -- and also will be suspended when RSL plays Seattle at home next weekend.