Real Salt Lake To Celebrate ‘Kyle Beckerman Night’ In Final Regular Season Home Fixture

Oct 12, 2021, 3:30 PM

Courtesy of Sporting Kansas City

KSL Sports

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Real Salt Lake will celebrate the career of club and United States international midfielder Kyle Beckerman on November 3rd against Portland Timbers.

“Kyle Beckerman Night” At The RioT

“Kyle Beckerman Night” will allow fans to purchase tickets for as low as $15, the same number Beckerman wore most for the United States men’s national team, which he represented on 58 occasions.

“From Day One of his arrival in Utah, Kyle defined and reshaped our Real Salt Lake club as needed,” said RSL Interim President John Kimball. “On and off the field, we have become champions and whether through his Captaincy in competition or in serving as an ambassador for the game throughout Utah, he has been front and center for us. He is a World Class player who has become a part of our community and we can’t thank him enough for his 14 years with Real Salt Lake. We are excited to honor our forever Captain on this night for the passion, professionalism and authenticity that he has woven into the fabric of our Club.”

It's time to celebrate a legend.

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 12, 2021

Beckerman, 39, spent 21 seasons playing in Major League Soccer, 14 of which were spent with Real Salt Lake. During his professional playing career, Beckerman was a nine-time MLS All-Star, four-time club Most Valuable Player, three-time Jordan Guernsey Humanitarian of the Year award winner and captain of Real Salt Lake’s 2009 MLS Cup championship side. Beckerman finished his career as the League’s all-time leader in career MLS regular-season games played (498), games started (461) and minutes played (41,164) amongst field players.

Since announcing his retirement in December of 2020, Beckerman now acts as the Head Coach for Utah Valley University’s men’s soccer program. Through 10 games in charge, Utah Valley holds a 5-3-2 record with 6 regular-season games remaining before a potential Western Athletic Conference tournament birth.

Mastroeni, Beckerman Friendship

The current interim manager of Real Salt Lake, Pablo Mastroeni, was teammates with Beckerman when he first joined the Miami Fusion in 2000.

“It is crazy to see time fly right before you, and going from this young player who wanted to be a great soccer player, he ended up achieving that, and now he is coaching, and here we are today talking about coaching and managing players and the tactical part of it and all that. I think it is a friendship for life and one that will continue to grow together,” Mastroeni told KSL Sports.

Interestingly, Mastroeni and Beckerman have a lot of similarities. The two both played as central midfielders, they both began their careers in Miami before eventually playing for the Colorado Rapids, and maybe most importantly, they are two of the fiercest players to ever represent Major League Soccer.

“I thought we both brought out the best in each other,” Mastroeni said when asked who taught who how to be so passionate and aggressive. “Again, like, when we were both going one versus one I didn’t want to let this young player who just finished up at the U-17 World Cup skin me and I thought he thought that he was going to take me to the cleaners. So, it was kind of like this healthy competitive spirit,” Mastroeni added.