There aren’t many occurrences that can invoke a more wide-ranging array of emotions for Real Salt Lake than the 2011 CONCACAF Champions League final. The Claret-and-Cobalt was on the brink of becoming the first Major League Soccer team to earn a berth in the FIFA Club World Cup by winning the prestigious regional tournament that features the top teams in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
It wasn’t a vastly over-talented Monterrey side that undid RSL. And it was no fluke that the 2009 MLS Cup champions found themselves within a goal of making history.
Real Salt Lake very much deserved to be on the same field as the Mexican giants and nobody would have argued them to be unworthy champions. But on the day, Monterrey was one goal better, outlasting RSL 4-3 in the aggregate-goal series to claim the CONCACAF Champions League crown.
Now, five years later, RSL has an opportunity to send itself down a continued path of redemption from that bittersweet performance.
“It wasn’t good. I always watch a CONCACAF game and I don’t feel good. It’s not a good feeling,” said Real Salt Lake midfielder Javier Morales, one of six players on the current roster that was there for the ride in 2011. “We were too close. It was a tough one to lose. But now we have another opportunity to get there and be the first team to get there.”
Morales is joined by goalkeeper Nick Rimando, midfielder Kyle Beckerman and defenders Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert and Tony Beltran from that 2011 squad. To a man, they relished the opportunity to put themselves among the best in region that year and now look to get that glory back.
“It’s a game I’ll always want back. A game that I think we should have won. A game that I think our fans deserved,” Rimando said. “Fast forward to this year, it’s a chance to get back to that moment.”
Added Beckerman, “If you have a good team, you can compete with these guys. There are challenges for sure, but it’s nothing that you can’t overcome. That’s what we want to do. That’s our goal. We’ve got to start winning Champions League and then representing our league in the Club World Cup. Until we do that, we’re going to keep pushing and keep grinding until we do. It’s going to be fun getting there and working hard to do it. It’s just a matter of time before one of these MLS teams do it.”
Like that Monterrey team in 2011, Tigres is loaded with talent, too. Led by French striker Andres-Pierre Gignac and with Brazilian Rafael Sobis and Guido Pizarro from Argentina providing support, the spine of the attack is quite fearsome. Add in the wing play of Javier Aquino (who won’t be available Wednesday due to injury) and Jurgen Damm, and Tigres is capable of striking from many different angles.
With Tuca Ferretti controlling things from the manager’s chair, Tigres has outscored its Liga MX opponents 13-9 while posting a 3-2-2 record thus far this season after going 8-5-4 during the 2015 Apertura campaign while balancing league play with a run to the final of the Copa Libertadores tournament that featured the best clubs from Central America and South America.
Although RSL is coming off of its preseason right now while Tigres is in the throes of the regular season, Cassar is excited for what’s to come over the next two weeks.
“I think our team is really hungry right now. Preseason is a grind and then when you’re done, whether it’s regular season or the Champions League, it’s a big boost,” Cassar said. “It’s a boost with morale and with energy. It’s something to look forward to.”
The first leg of the series kicks off from Monterrey, Mexico, Wednesday at 6 p.m. MT with television coverage on Fox Sports 2 with other viewing options available here.
The second leg will come March 2 at Rio Tinto Stadium. Tickets to that crucial match are available here.
