Real Salt Lake's Williams is out for Rio Tinto Stadium opener

LEHI — When Real Salt Lake takes the field against the New York Red Bulls Thursday night in opening its new home at Rio Tinto Stadium, one player will be missing the action.

Andy Williams was an original member of the team in 2005, and he has been a regular part of the starting 11 this season. Because of a lapse of judgment for only a second, he will miss the stadium opener. Williams was given a red card in injury time in RSL's last game against the New England Revolution when he shoved Jay Heaps in retaliation.

"I let some tears go after the game the other night. I wasn't too happy about it," said Williams. "He was talking a lot during the game. Especially on that foul, I didn't touch him. He was holding his foot and rolling around and I said something to him. He pushed me, and I pushed him back.

"I didn't think I was getting a red card," added Williams. "Even though it was retaliation, he pushed first and the referee starting taking out the yellow card first, so I thought it would just be a yellow. I think he looked over at him holding his face and it turned out to be red."

Although he will not be able to play, Williams is excited to experience the thrill and atmosphere of the much-anticipated new home.

"I will just be sitting in the stands and in the locker room before, and I will be cheering for our guys," Williams said. "I will still be around and just not able to help like I would want."

ONE GONE, SOME BACK: Williams may not be available to play, but rookie Tony Beltran is back healthy and ready to help the team. He returns following successful surgery on Sept. 16 for a sports hernia.

"It feels incredible," said Beltran of getting back to playing. "This injury has been very frustrating. It's been a tough time of the season to be out. I was hoping to be back in time for the playoffs and to make it back for the home opener at the new stadium is great.

"It started out as just a little pain in my groin and we treated it as a groin strain," added Beltran. "It started to move up into my lower abdomen and we were then able to diagnose it as a sports hernia. Once we got that, I was able to go and get the surgery and it is great to be back and feeling healthy."

Another player that could be back in the available 18 pool is Nathan Sturgis. He has been out with a hamstring injury for the past several months, but has resumed full training and is getting ready for action.

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E-mail: mblack@desnews.com

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