POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 0-C.S. HEREDIANO 1
TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2012 – ESTADIO NACIONAL DE COSTA RICA – SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On the match…
I thought our guys came out a little bit low on energy. We struggled to get possession of the ball and we’re a team that likes to have possession of it, control the tempo of the match and we struggled to do that. And then we got punished for it, I think rightly so when Herediano scored a very scored a very good goal. But as the game wore on I thought we got better and better. Towards the end of the first half we put some pressure on them and I thought we were a little unfortunate not to score a goal. We came out in the second half and responded well, started well at the beginning of the second half, but anytime you suffer an ejection and you’re already a goal down then it just becomes a matter of trying to keep the score line the way it was and trying to take that result back home.
On C.S. Herediano’s performance…
We told our team yesterday that this is a very good team. I think it’s a very technically gifted team, I think it’s a team that’s very gifted in the attack with some very mature players that obviously can create some real problems for us, as they did tonight.
On Alvaro Saborío’s performance…
I think this was a tough game for Alvaro for a variety of reasons. I think it’s always going to be tough to come and play in your home country with a team from another country. I know that he was feeling a lot of pressure for that and I also think that we weren’t getting the right number of players forward to help him. I thought there were too many long passes into Alvaro and then he was dealing with three or four defenders all by himself. Like I said, in the beginning of the first half we weren’t getting enough players up to support him and to give us more meaningful attacks.
His thoughts on the CCL in general…
We had a tremendous amount of success last time in this tournament. It’s a big deal to us. We emphasize it, we want to have success in this tournament, and we want to make a name for this club, not only in our country but in the world. So we see this as a tremendous opportunity and we do – in the worst way – want to succeed, but now obviously we’re in a difficult place.
His thoughts on the final score…
I was very good with the final score. When you’re down a man you can’t afford to take many risks. We feel that if we take care of business in our next two matches against Tauro, if we can have success in those matches; losing 1-0 is not the worst place to be. Herediano comes to our place in October, and only being down a goal, it would essentially become a head-to-head competition. We don’t think we’re in the worst spot in the world, we certainly don’t like where we are, but we’re not in the worst spot in the world.
REAL SALT LAKE CAPTAIN KYLE BECKERMAN
His thoughts on the match…
It was a tough game, one that we were in from the start to finish. We created some chances and on a different night we finish them and maybe we come out of here with a draw or a win. The red card changed some things but we actually kept the ball nicely and kept control of the game for the most part. We just needed that one goal to tie it up and maybe get more momentum to get the winner, but all in all it’s not the worst result. We can bounce back from this. It’s pretty much aggregate the way it goes, so we got to win the next time we play this team.
REAL SALT LAKE DEFENDER NAT BORCHERS
On his red card…
It was definitely a tough one for sure. I took a bad touch, went in hard on the tackle and you know I think maybe another place, another time that’s a yellow card, if anything. I think it’s really, really harsh to get sent off for that.
On if he got an explanation from the official after being ejected…
Nothing. Of course not. We have these kinds of refs, there’s never any explanation with them, it’s just their choice, their decision and you just have to unfortunately deal with it.
On the match as a whole…
I think first half they came at us with a lot of energy. They obviously created that first goal and had a couple of good chances after that, but we were able to absorb that pressure and I thought we responded well that second half. We were pressing them, we were definitely better in possession than they were, but the red card definitely changed things. We couldn’t be as aggressive, had to sit back and be a little bit more defensive minded.
On how the team felt after the loss…
We were still very upbeat in the locker room. After the game we talked about how it’s really a home-and-away series. We just have to take care of business at home. We have to take these guys down and we also have to take care of Tauro FC, as well. Really it’s just going to come down to taking care of business in the next three games in this group.
On Kwame Watson-Siriboe, who Borchers will likely partner with on Saturday with Jamison Olave picking up an injury on Tuesday…
He’s really an honest player – he wants to learn our system. He’s really athletic, he’s good on the ball, he’s got a lot of potential and we’re just giving him confidence, telling him you got the package here, you just got to continue to learn and continue to get to know our system and you’ll do great.
On if he knows if there’s an appeal process for CCL red cards…
I’m not aware of anything for sure. I’m very doubtful that we could appeal anything. I remember that Kyle got that yellow card in the away leg against Monterrey [in the 2010-2011 Champions League final] and we tried to do everything to have him back for the final but that didn’t happen, so I highly doubt I’ll be playing in the next CCL game against Tauro.
