REAL SALT LAKE QUOTE SHEET
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – QUARTERFINAL
ROUND, LEG ONE
COLUMBUS CREW 0 : 0 REAL SALT LAKE
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
Click
here for link to audio file on ESPN700Sports.com
On the result …
“Obviously we’re pleased with the result, as we were down a man for about 30 minutes and we walk away with a shutout at halftime of what’s a two-game series.”
On tonight’s
conditions …
“Tonight it was more of a battle than it was a soccer game, and both teams played in the same weather and on the same field. They were difficult circumstances to play a soccer match in. The field being as frozen as it was, it obviously affected possession and the way the match was played. And of course when you start taking players off the field – with three of them going off – that’s going to affect what the match looks like as well.”
On losing defenders Nat
Borchers and Tony Beltran heading into Leg Two next Tuesday …
“Nat in particular is an extremely important player for us, as everybody knows. He’s a very vocal organizer in the back, and Tony has played a lot of very important minutes for us as well. Now our depth will be tested a little bit as Columbus’ is right now, so it should be interesting.”
REAL SALT LAKE
GOALKEEPER NICK RIMANDO
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here for link to audio file on ESPN700Sports.com
On keeping his head in
the match in freezing conditions …
“It wasn’t too difficult staying focused. In the back you’ve got to keep everything organized, and I think that’s why we got the clean sheet tonight. We were very organized, even when circumstances came in like the red cards. The players that came in did their jobs and we got the zero.”
On matching up against
the new-look Crew …
“It doesn’t matter who’s on the field, on any given day any team can beat anybody, and we made sure we knew that heading onto the field today. In the first 10 minutes they came at us and had possession and played pretty well, and we were on our heels. But I think a zero is fine, and I know Jason [Kreis] is happy with that. It’s just halftime of a game that we’re pretty confident in since we get to take it back to Rio Tinto Stadium.”
On the loss of two key
defenders heading into next Tuesday’s second leg in Sandy …
“We always talk about depth in our team, and this is going to be one of those games where it’s important to have players step it up. Obviously Nat [Borchers] is a huge leader for us and we depend on him a lot in the back, so this week we’re going to have guys like Robbie [Russell] come in and give us some good stuff.”
REAL SALT LAKE DEFENDER
NAT BORCHERS
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here for link to audio file on ESPN700Sports.com
On his altercation with
Crew FW Emilio Renteria that resulted in their ejections …
“We were just battling for position; [Renteria] took a swing at me with his elbow and connected, and we screamed at {referee} Jair [Marrufo] and the linesman to see it, and they didn’t. Then [Renteria] tried to run through and I put my knee out and he basically tripped over it and made a meal out of it. If what I did was petty theft, what he did was a first-degree felony.
“I’m happy the boys fought hard and pulled it out. This was a great result for us, and now we’ve got a huge, huge game coming up next Tuesday at home.”
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