QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 1-1 TIGRES UANL (1-3 AGG.)
MARCH 2, 2016; RIO TINTO STADIUM
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Jeff Cassar
Opening statement:
“Disappointed with exiting the tournament. It’s something that we really wanted to push on and make it back to the finals, but really pleased with the effort that our players put forth. Our staff – there was a lot of energy that went into preparing for Tigres because they’re a fantastic team. But, we’ve got to move on. We’ve got a really important game Sunday against Orlando, and that’s where our focus is going to be now.”
On how he feels being that close to tying the game:
“It’s painful. It’s painful no matter what. I’m a pretty positive guy. I couldn’t be more happy and more excited about what’s ahead for this team. If we have that kind of effort from everyone. We’ve talked about sacrificing for each other, and that’s what I saw tonight was players sacrificing for each other. If we continue to do things like that we’re going to have a successful year. It definitely hurts but we have to put it behind us.”
On Javier Morales PK approach and the stutter step:
“Listen, that goalkeeper is good. He is very good. He is very long, and if he goes down earlier it’s in the goal. Javier is a professional. He’s going to bounce back. It’s a PK. Sometimes you get saved. It is what it is.”
On whether he thinks MLS should change its calendar:
“I don’t think we were out of rhythm. If you look back at every stat in that game, we dominated. Nick [Rimando] had one save the entire match. I don’t think we were out of rhythm. I do wish we had more time to prepare for these kinds of important games, but it’s the world we live in. I thought our players did an unbelievable job in the offseason preparing. I thought we had a really good preseason. But would I like a couple more weeks to prepare for these games? Absolutely.”
On the skill of the attacking in the goal and the future of the offense:
“I think as these guys get fitter and more comfortable, we’re going to be able to attack like that and press like that. We can’t do it all the time with our busy schedule, but I think if the guys get fitter we’re going to be able to do more things. Guys are going to be sharper and be able to pull off more things because they have some really wonderful ideas in and around the box.”
On Aaron Maund:
“I just saw him in the locker room. I didn’t try to talk to him too much, but he’s got a pretty big knot on his head. A really big knot. So I don’t have any answers for you. We’re a little concerned right now.”
On players battling illness and whether they will be ready to go this weekend:
“I just spoke to the guys before I came in here and preparing for that game starts right now. It’s going to be important that they are taking care of their bodies in preparation for it. But they are all on medicine to get better. Tomorrow was considerably behind Javier [Morales] and Juan [Martinez]. We’ll see tomorrow.”
On having more possession and more attacking and what resulted in that:
“Obviously we felt very comfortable at home. We wanted to be the aggressors and I think we were that the entire game. We gained a lot of confidence down in Tigres. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but we played the way we wanted to. We created a lot of chances, and I think that gave us more confidence when we came back home. Hopefully these two games, minus the results, is going to breed confidence in the way that we’re going to be able to attack. We’re talking about our attack, but I thought our defending was fantastic tonight. And sometimes a good attack makes for a good defense. I thought our back four, Sunny [Sunday Obayan] and Kyle [Beckerman] were running their brains out and sacrificing for each other. So we’re going to talk about the attack tonight but I think the defense was fantastic.”
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando
On the match and upcoming season:
“I’m excited about this year. I mean, a lot of ups in this game, in this series. Going to Mexico, a pretty hard place to play, and sticking with one of the best teams arguably in Mexico. Obviously we had some chances tonight, but we also missed some chances the first leg, so we can’t just hold our heads about one chance here tonight. A lot of pride went into tonight’s game and effort. If we play like this I think the season is going to be bright for us.”
On getting the ball out to the forwards:
“These guys are yearning for the ball. My look is always forward first and Yura wants the ball all the time. Burrito wants the ball and is forcing me to give them the balls as quick as I can and it worked out where he was open and able to give him the ball and Burrito did his magic tonight. Not just on that play, but also in numerous plays on the second half and gave them trouble, so if we can keep both of those guys healthy and the effort that we had tonight it’s going to be an exciting year.”
On the defense:
“I think we’re all connected. We’re battling for the guy next to us. It wasn’t perfect, but it definitely did the job. When we throw guys forward, because we need the goal, we’re going to open up a little in the back and that’s how they got their goal. There’s no reason I think that they would score if we didn’t put 3 in the back and we weren’t putting guys forward, but together today we played as one and everybody fought for the ball. Nobody took a break off. I saw Yura behind our defense one time tracking a player down, so that’s a commitment we need to win games and go far in this league and commitment we need to hopefully get back into this tournament and have another knock at this.”
Defender Tony Beltran
On the match:
“We had a good performance tonight. We’re unlucky not to make it there in the end. Great to see Chris. You know they fought hard and it’s unfortunate not to advance.”
On missed opportunities:
“I thought we did a really good job limiting their chances and our shape was very good and we had a game plan on how to deny them service. I thought we followed through on that well, but again we’re just unfortunate. You know it’s early in the year not to finish our chances and PK. Javier never misses, so it’s just unlucky.”
On the matchup against Javier Aquino:
“I was excited to play against him. He’s a very good player, obviously a Mexican national team player. I knew I was going to play against him and it was a fun matchup.”
On RSL moving forward:
“Now we have to focus on the MLS season. This is obviously a disappointment, but we’ll put it behind us and move on this weekend.”
Tigres UANL
Head Coach Ricardo Ferretti
Spanish
1) “Me siento contento por el pase, muy contento. Sabiamos de la dificultad que íbamos a encontrar. A mi no me soprendio nada.”
2) “Yo creo que los quatro que llegamos, pues la verded pasamos por momentos de apuro por que los equipos de la mls son muy buenos equipos. Tienen jugadores de mucha capacidad. Tal vez mucha gente no quiera reconocer esto, pero son equipos de muy buenos, de un buen nivel. Y yo creo que siempre va a ser asi. Los equipos gigantes de la zona, eso ya se acabo hace anos. Ahora son equipos muy bien preparados con muy buenos jugadores y siempre va a estar muy complicado a ganar.”
English
1) “I feel good about taking the next step. We knew what difficulties we were going to encounter here. Nothing about tonight surprised me.”
2) “I think that the four that got this far all passed through moments of trouble because the teams from the MLS are very good teams. They have players of great capacity. Maybe some people don’t want to recognize that but they are very good teams that play at a good level. I think it will always be that way. The superclubs of the region died out long ago. Now there are teams that come prepared with good players and it will always be difficult to win.”
