Philadelphia Union prepare for 'must-win' home game against Real Salt Lake

THE FIELD was quiet, but there was still plenty of action going on at PPL Park in advance of a busy weekend.

In addition to Friday's must-win game for the Union vs. Real Salt Lake, there's Sunday's second annual "River Cup" charity match between the Union's front office staff and and the team's supporters club, the Sons of Ben.

At his weekly news conference Wednesday, Union interim manager John Hackworth stressed the importance of taking three points from the Real Salt Lake match. Most of the Union's success has come at PPL Park, where it has a 5-5-1 record. Conversely, RSL has struggled on the road, winning only four of 12 games.

"This is a must-win game for us," Hackworth said. "I can't stress enough the importance of pulling maximum points from this match. However, it's certainly not going to be easy, with Real playing some really good soccer right now."

Real (13-10-3, 42 points) enters on short rest after a 2-0 win at home against Panamanian club champion Tauro FC in CONCACAF Champions League play. In addition, RSL is five points back of the league's best overall record. The club with that honor at the end of the season claims MLS' Supporters Shield, and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

For the Union (7-12-3, 24 points), a quest for the Supporters Shield may be out of the picture, but the final playoff spot in the East is not. Hackworth's team needs to capture 13 points or more out of its last 12 matches, six of which are at home.

The Union will be without speedy right fullback Sheanon Williams, after he was ejected for receiving a second yellow in the waning minutes of Sunday's 1-1 tie with D.C. United at RFK Stadium.

Hackworth reaffirmed that rookie back Raymon Gaddis will take Williams' spot, citing his speed "as an asset in the attack."

High-priced centerback Bakary Soumare is available but is still "returning to form," and Hackworth added that there will be a conservative approach to returning Soumare to the lineup.

Also on the defensive front, left back Gabriel Farfan was seen after the United match with a giant ice pack wrapped around his left knee. Hackworth said Farfan will be OK for Friday, adding that the defender just "picked up a few knocks against D.C."

Speaking of dishing out a few knocks, Union CEO and managing partner Nick Sakiewicz and Sons of Ben vice president Corey Furlan spent time Wednesday promoting Sunday's second annual River Cup match at PPL Park.

The contest kicks off at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10, and can be purchased at Friday's match against Real Salt Lake, as well as at the gate on Sunday.

"I hope you are playing sweeper again, so I can wave to you as I run by," Furlan quipped to Sakiewicz.

Sakiewicz had his own snappy retort: "I'm pretty sure I saw you crying when we won it last year, am I right?"

Furlan smiled and turned his head, perhaps reminiscing about the Sons of Ben's 2-1 loss.

Furlan and Sakiewicz agreed they are looking to beat last year's total of $20,000 raised for the Philadelphia Union Foundation. Along with a host of Union players in attendance, Flyers star Claude Giroux and Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. will play in the game.

"Anytime you can step on the field with your supporters and play a match that benefits a great cause, it's a win-win, regardless of the score on the field," Sakiewicz said. "The pressure is on us to defend our title, which we fully plan on doing. But most importantly, we're able to raise some money for the Foundation and move along in our goal to help change a generation of children."

Newly formed soccer TV channel beINSport announced Wednesday that it had acquired the broadcast rights to all of the U.S. men's national team's World Cup qualifying road games this year and next year, except for the likely game in Mexico. The network also secured broadcast rights to all other CONCACAF (North and Central American) World Cup qualifying games not played in Mexico or the United States. Sounds good - if you have satellite TV.

As of now, beINSport - which is based in Miami and owned by Qatar-based media powerhouse Al-Jazeera - is available only to subscribers of DirecTV and DISH network. According to an Associated Press report, only 7 percent of American TV households (roughly 8 million viewers) subscribe to one of those services. That said, sources told the Daily News that negotiations are ongoing between Comcast and beINSport to add the channel.

Unless more carriage deals are completed, the rest of the viewing public will be shut out, as beINSport does not plan to offer any live online streaming of its World Cup-qualifying broadcasts.

The U.S. has two road qualifiers left this year: against Jamaica on Sept. 7, and against Antigua and Barbuda on Oct. 12. Next year's final round of qualifying will be played as a round robin with the six teams that reach that stage.

In CONCACAF, the governing body of soccer in North and Central America, each nation owns the rights to its home games - which means the U.S. Soccer Federation is almost powerless when it comes to getting road games on TV.

Many CONCACAF countries had sold their TV rights to Traffic Sports USA, which led to some games being available only on closed-circuit TV or pay-per-view. The AP reported that beINSport bought its package of CONCACAF rights from Traffic Sports.

Send email to gabrielk@phillynews.com. Follow Kerith on Twitter at @sprtswtr.