Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 1-0 Municipal
Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League
October 20, 2015; Rio Tinto Stadium
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Jeff Cassar
On seeing Jamison Olave get redemption:
“I couldn’t be more happy for him, for our team, for our club, for our fans. That space was open all night that front area to the top of the six. I really liked where Jamison started. He started a little bit deeper and was coming in rather than being already there which we were on a few of them. Beautiful service from Javi [Morales] and a fantastic finish from Jamison.”
On coming off two losses and what he saw out of his team:
“It was a difficult few days after Dallas and the way things went with Portland, you could feel the mood wasn’t quite there. We didn’t have a lot of time to really get the guys ready. But the response that we had tonight from the guys on limited rest after many games was really impressive. It was good that nothing bad happened because we’re teetering on if something bad happened it could go south. But I really appreciate the guys sticking together. It wasn’t always pretty, but these games aren’t, and we got the result and we’re moving on, and that was the goal.”
On the players slipping on the field:
“It seemed like the guys were slipping the last few games to be honest with you. Both teams. I think they were getting their shoes right. They are warming up on the field and they are understanding, but maybe there have been a lot of games on the field this year, it’s a little bit harder, and then when it gets wet it’s maybe a little bit slippery. But the guys, we bent a little bit and didn’t break.”
On Carlos Ruiz’ free kick in the 75th minute and Nick Rimando’s save:
“Massive. When you think of Nick [Rimando] you think of massive saves that keep us in games. That was a huge save. Great technique. Great free kick from Carlos Ruiz. He had seen that one before so maybe he had an idea of it. That was a critical time that we needed that kind of play.”
On what moving on means to him as a coach:
“It means a lot to me personally, but the most important thing is for the players and for this club. It’s an opportunity to keep going. When you’re in the quarters you’re technically six games away from winning the championship. Now the offseason – we have our eyes on something at the beginning of the year next year. I think that’s going to help everyone not get over this year, but really start to focus on next year with a positive note.”
On finishing with 10 points with the win and possibly impacting seeding:
“Obviously we wanted to win the game. We wanted to score because that would have meant that they would have had to score two to push. It didn’t feel like that was going to happen, so we wanted to come out on the front foot and be aggressive and make them open up, and then we thought we could get more. Obviously it’s really important for us to get good seeding, but the main objective was to advance.”
On playing in this competition at home that brings out the best in the team:
“I think everyone’s excited. I know the fans love to see a different style of soccer, a different team, rather than just MLS teams always coming in. It adds a different excitement to it. I know our players feed off that. I’m really proud we’ve given up one goal in the first stage. That’s really impressive. It’s impressive to this group. It’s not easy to scout. Especially in the first rounds because you play in smaller leagues, it’s tough to get games. You can always see the Mexican teams and a lot of times the Costa Rican teams but the other teams are a little more difficult, so the players and the staff have to work extremely hard and be extremely focused, and three shutouts is really impressive from the guys.”
Defender Jamison Olave
On scoring off a corner kick:
“That felt good. It has been a long time. My last goal was against Philadelphia, first game here, so that feels very good. Before that play we had a corner kick and the number 7 (Claudio Albizuris), small guy, was marking me. I told Javier to just put the ball here, because he’s too small for me, so the next play he saw that and he put the ball there and that’s how I scored. Not easy finish, but a good finish.”
On how this feels to put RSL through to the quarterfinal round in CONCACAF, compared to the last time Jamison put RSL through to the final round in 2011:
“The first one was good, but I think that the other one was better. It had a better feeling. It was a way to pass to the final. That was more important to me.”
On getting motivated for this game after coming off of 2 losses:
“It’s sad, because we’re out of the playoffs. We lost two games in a row, but we needed that. We needed to move forward. It’s a different tournament. I feel if we want to advance to the next round, we need to clean our mind and clean up the form on the field, and that’s what we did.”
On losing to Portland and being out of the Playoffs:
“I still feeling being out of the playoffs, but we all knew. But like I said before, we have to move forward after a long time in the playoffs. We are out now, but that happened this soccer and for tournament that happened to us now, but just move forward and think about next year.”
Midfielder Kyle Beckerman
On Olave’s goal:
“It’s just good for Olave. He’s been getting himself in good spots in corner kicks. It was good we needed a goal and it was a big time goal for us.”
On taking a lap and thanking the fans after the match:
“I just felt like doing it this year. They’ve been really great to us since the start and before I got here. We know it’s a tough year for everyone. It was just a thank you for them.”
On the way the team responded after coming off a loss:
“It is just a big game. Now that we’re out of the playoffs, we really needed this, so now we can start to move forward.”
On what it means to be back in the quarterfinals first time since the team was in the final 4 years ago:
“I think it’s just big for us moving forward and starting to rebuild this club. We’re going to need some of that money that we will get for this, so that will help us, but it’s all about rebuilding for next year. We’ll give it a go in the quarter finals. Makes it fun, and preseason will be a little shorter and we’ll get into some games.”
On the offseason mentality knowing that they will be coming back and having something to play for right away:
“I think it’s just a little bit different mindset, because the games come so early, so you got to be on your, you almost have to try and get into midseason form or some sort of form early, so I think everything’s amped up a little bit in the preseason. That’s the way it will be. We’ll just be getting after it right from the beginning. We can’t ease into things. We going to have to get it right, focused, and really get ready for the quarters which will come I’m thinking in February, so it will be a quick turnaround for us.”
On the game going as expected tonight:
“Yeah it’s just the way it is. You can’t even really talk about it on TV. Just the way CONCACAF is. It’s fun.”
