Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 1-1 Orlando City SC
July 4, 2015, Rio Tinto Stadium
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Jeff Cassar
On the frustrating feel of tonight’s game:
“Listen. We have to get three points at home. But our attitude was right. The way we approached the game was right. We just didn’t have that final third, actually final ten yards to be honest with you. I can’t fault the guys’ effort, their effort was tremendous. We tried and we pushed; maybe a better choice here, maybe a rebound that is a little bit better and it is a different night. But overall I am pleased with the guys’ effort. If we continue to have effort like that we will win a lot of games. But, we have to put these chances away.”
On getting back to winning home games:
“That game easily could have been six to one. So I think on both sides of the ball we are doing very good. This was just a night when we needed, and we talked about it before, a little bit of brilliance, a little bit of something in the box, whether it was service, a final ball or a shot. But credit to Orlando, they made it very tough for us to penetrate. We had to go wide. We need to keep having quality service and it just wasn’t our night.”
On the lack of urgency at the start of the second half:
“The first half was a little slow to start. They got a few corner kicks and put us in a defensive posture. But that was only for about five or ten minutes. It’s better choices with the ball, not turning it over. But like I said, credit to Orlando. They made it tough on us.”
On if the red card worked against Real Salt Lake tonight:
“We talked about not taking our foot off the gas. But it’s not easy to score against ten men. You have to really move the ball quickly. You have to have a great final ball. I thought we created enough chances to for sure get the victory. Maybe with 11 players the field is a little more open. But it’s about what we do with the ball to make the field open. A little bit quicker, a little bit sharper, a little bit better choices.”
On Sebastian Jaime’s goal scoring form:
“At the end of the day we got ourselves into great positions to score. Tony (Beltran) served a fantastic ball in. When there is good service and good runs, good things happen. We need to continue to get that final ball. That final ball from Tony was great. We need more of those. We need four or five of those during the game. Sebastian is putting himself in great positions. Both Joao and Olmes and everyone are moving well. It’s hard to zero in on one of our attacking players because they are all actually doing very well. Again, on another night, we’re scoring more goals.”
On embracing the week off:
“We can work on some things. They can also get some rest. They’re going to be off tomorrow and Monday. Our team is feeling very god about themselves right now. Obviously we don’t feel good about dropping points at home but the way we’re playing. We’re in good spots and I want to keep this rolling. We do need a break but at the same time when you are starting to feel it you want to keep it going. So we’ll get the guys a couple of days off and then we’ll have a nice week of training to prepare for Colorado.”
On Plata’s dry run of games lately:
“I think he is right there. He is creating a ton of chances; whether the keeper is making some great saves. I think that he gets one, the floodgates are going to open. But you can see that the offense is really starting to come along. If we continue to do what we’re doing, the team is going to be very successful and the forwards are going to score a ton of goals.”
Goalkeeper Jeff Antinella
On momentum not translating into a second goal:
“Sometimes red cards are kind of funny. Sometimes they’re a great thing, and sometimes going into the half they probably said, ‘Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to pack it in and leave one guy up top and make it really hard for them. Make them shoot from distance and have crosses.’ They did a good job at that. They executed, Tally (Hall) had some big saves. Bofo’s (Sebastian Saucedo) shot hit of the inside post and find its way into the net, so we definitely had our chances and obviously it’s a big tie. We really needed 3 points there. We really wanted to win that one, but we’re playing better soccer and eventually it’s going to start translating on the field; instead of 1-1, getting that second one in.”
On getting a second draw in a row at home:
“I don’t think anyone is happy with the result. It was a great atmosphere. The fans showed up. They did a great job. We created our chances and there’s definitely positives to take away from this, but right now I think everyone’s a little bit down that we got one point, but it’s back to the drawing board. We got the next couple of days off to kind of regroup and we’ve got to go up to Colorado and try and take care of business.”
On making his saves in the second half:
“Like I said, when teams are out 10 minutes, kind of a funny reaction. Sometimes maybe we take our foot off the gas a little bit defensively, because we’re thinking goal, goal, goal. But you know, our defense did a great job on that. It didn’t really seem they had much besides that Kaká goal that really was too worrisome, so I think defensively we did a great job, but just obviously we’re not too happy about getting a draw instead of a win there.”
Defender Tony Beltran
On coming away with a tie:
“Absolutely frustrating result. I think having a man advantage for an entire half, everyone in the locker room is disappointed. We’re pushing for the goal, but the final ball wasn’t really there. Maybe it’s an issue of fatigue a little bit in the legs, but still, inexcusable at home. This was a result we needed and the situation was there for us to take it but we did not.”
On playing at home:
“I think we need to get back to where that feeling winning at home is very addictive. Once you make it habit, then that’s what it is. It’s just that so, whatever reasoning there, I think the teams are coming in and having the belief that they can play, that they can get a point. We need to smother that early and get back to where we were.”
On his assist to Sebastian Jaime:
“This guy is incredible. I’m so happy for him that he’s doing well on the score sheet. It’s a pleasure playing with him. He works endlessly, and I’m sure it’s very tough for him to come into here last year and acclimate to a new city, to a new team and he’s always been positive. Always been happy being around the group, always working hard, so very happy to see him score.”
Orlando City SC
Coach Adrian Heath
On Kaka’s red card:
“We’ll have to see it more closely. Obviously, at the time it didn’t look bad, but we’ll have to wait and see. I can’t really comment on it; I haven’t seen it.”
On if he got an explanation from the referee:
“I don’t know. Maybe somebody told him that it was a red. I think he said he stepped on him.”
On playing a man down for 45 minutes on the road:
“I thought it was a magnificent effort from the players after the sending off. We had to withstand a lot of pressure, and ironically, we had the best chance of the half. [Sean St.] Ledger had a great chance. He tried to put too much power on it, it came off his shoulder. It was a great second half from the lads. I thought they looked very disciplined, they had a good shape about them, and I’m really proud of their efforts.”
On Tally Hall’s play:
“I think the fact is that he makes saves that you expect him to make. He touched the one onto the post late on as well. He’s just a top-class goalkeeper and he’s proving that by the week. He comes for crosses in traffic and sort of diffuses all of what’s going on around him. We knew that when we got him he was a keeper, I have to say he’s probably better than I thought he was. “
On his message to the team at halftime:
“Let’s make sure we keep a nice disciplined shape. We played 4-4-1 and put Carlos [Rivas] through the middle and tried to catch him on the break with his speed. But I thought the discipline of the team was really important. We made sure that we didn’t chase lost causes; we tried to work the clock as often as we could. I thought they did a great job second half of game management. They managed the game really well.”
On if he’s extra satisfied with the result:
“I actually thought that we were a little bit sloppy at times in the first half with our play in good opportunities when we had chances to counter-attack. Every time that we strung three of four passes together it looked like we were going to get in. I was a little bit disappointed with one or two things. But obviously, once you get in at halftime and you’re down to 10 men, you completely change the game plan. I was delighted with the players – with the effort they put in. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for them. This week will do us good getting five or six days when we can just concentrate on another game rather than travel and a Wednesday game.”
On having a player like Kaka on his team and the goal he scored:
“It was a great finish, great move. I think the second half of the season is going to be better than the first half. He knows us more now. We’re getting to know how to play with him better. He’s got a great talent and I’m sure we’ll see more of it second half.”
On this being only his third red card in his career:
“That probably tells you how many games he’s played, but I’ll let the powers that be decide what the course of action is.
On if the team will appeal the red card:
“Yes we will.”
Forward Pedro Ribeiro
On Kaka’s red card:
“It’s the ref’s decision. I haven’t seen the replay yet. When it happened I didn’t see much happening, I didn’t think he fouled the guy [Morales]. I think the momentum going forward kind of tripped the guy. I’ve got to watch the replay to be sure what happened. But it’s the ref’s decision and we have to respect it.”
On the team’s response to going down a man:
“It is always tough to play a man-down, especially when that guy is Kaka. I feel like our mentality was good in the second half. We came back with of course defending. We defended a lot more than we’re used to. Our shape was good, I thought we were able to keep ahold of a very good Salt Lake team.”
On his assist on Kaka’s goal:
“I received the ball from someone in the back, I can’t remember. Avila made a run coming from the right side to the middle. I played him the ball and tried to spin off and he just laid it off. I was going to take a shot but the center back stepped up and Kaka was in a great position. I played him the ball and he took a good touch and had another great finish.”
On his team earning a point in tough circumstances:
“I mean we came here thinking we were getting three points. Under the circumstances that we played the point isn’t bad at all. It’s good to get a point on the road and get a little momentum going forward, and a decent 90 minutes that we played today to play at home the next game.”
Goalkeeper Tally Hall
Thoughts on Kaka’s red card:
“I didn’t have a great view on it. I think if I’m looking at it probably not objectively, I think Morales goes down pretty easy on the foul before that, and that one. But I didn’t see anything that was a red card offense. And again things happened pretty quick so I mean I didn’t have great view on it.”
Thoughts on referees and red cards:
“The way I saw the play [tonight] develop and after the play, it seemed like the linesman made the sign to go to red. So I don’t know if that particular incident can be that center referee’s responsibility. To me if it’s the linesman making that call then he obviously saw something or thinks he saw something. Again, I don’t know. But I understand the center referee was going to give him a yellow card.”
On playing a man down the entire second half:
“The message when we were in the huddle was that this team has pulled off some pretty special results. Some wins in difficult situations and I think though it’s just a point, I think this is one of those results that is special. We’re a man down in altitude against a very good, very talented team and we come away, we at time defended like crazy people. But we kept our shape, we kept our intensity and I think it’s a result we’re happy with.”
On his save against the post in the second half:
“It was moving all over the place. Initially I thought I had a good read on it. It was swerving and I thought it hit my hand and went in so my stomach just dropped. It hit the post and bounces out; I’m jumping up faster than I ever jumped up before. It was kind of one of those things sometimes you think a ball’s going in and somehow it stays out. That was a pretty good night for me.”
Thoughts on his overall performance:
“Probably my best performance with the team. In a situation like this when you’re down a man playing against a very good team, at their place and you want to get a good result, a goalkeeper’s going to play a bigger role than an average 11v11 game. I was happy with a couple of my saves.”
