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Sandy • How far would Alvaro Saborio go to get back on the field?
At least as far as Costa Rica.
The Real Salt Lake forward traveled to his native country to have doctors there treat him after weeks of dealing with a nagging calf strain.
"I'm the type of coach that gives my players a lot of respect and freedom to take care of their bodies the way they see fit," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "Obviously I'd like them to try it with us first, but we have a medical staff that is very selfless. They say, 'If we can't sort this out, let's try something else.' "
Saborio also traveled to Costa Rica earlier this year to deal with a quadricep injury.
"We're looking into it because it's something ideally we would not like to have him fly to Costa Rica to take care of," Kreis said. "Once we learn the methods they're using down there, we believe it's something we can implement here."
Muscle injuries have been a problem for the 31-year-old Saborio this season. He only has played in 13 of his club's 30 regular-season matches.
Saborio did not make himself available Tuesday to discuss the details of the treatment, though it seems to have been effective. The striker was back on the training field with his teammates.
No more reservations
RSL's reserves beat Chivas USA 2-0 in Sandy on Tuesday.
Midfielder Sebastian Velasquez and RSL academy player Nick Jackson provided the scoring. But perhaps of more interest was defender Chris Schuler played 70 minutes in his first action since being sidelined with foot and ankle injuries in May.
"He looked all right," Kreis said. "I think fitness is a little bit of a question. You could see him getting through the first half, and he was starting to get a little winded. And in the second half, it was the same situation. So we got him out of the game so he didn't injure himself again. I think we have to look at it as a positive."
Twitter: @aaronfalk