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Make or break

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Tonight's game between Real Salt Lake and the New York Bulls, the team that knocked them out of the playoff last year, might have been billed as a grudge match -- if Real hadn't played so badly this season.--- Now only one thing matters. Real have to win. If they don't defeat the Bulls, RSL is out of the playoffs. And the future of players and management will inevitably be brought into question. That Real have got themselves into this position yet again - last year was a similar racheting of tension - probably surprises no one but the loyal fans. Real's players seem to thrive on inflicting nail biting tension on their followers. Nothing short of a gun to the head, it seems, is needed to force them to get down to work. When coach Jason Kreis asked his team a couple of months ago why they needed to be a goal down before they started to fight, captain Kyle Beckerman replied, because then "We're desperate." Kreis' reply was simply. "From now on you're desperate from minute one." At 8 pm tonight in the Rio Tinto stadium RSL's fans will see just how desperate they are.