Portland, Ore. • There's no longer that signature deft touch in morning training sessions. No longer that familiar grin after beating a teammate, and rubbing it in just for the fun of it. As the primary conduit of Real Salt Lake's attack for a decade, Javier Morales produced regularly when the lights came on.
Yet the oddity of his absence remains prevalent, at least for now. Morales and RSL split last fall. The 37-year-old is now with FC Dallas, while RSL has entered its first preseason since 2007 without the man best known throughout the league as "The Maestro.