Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 2-1 Sporting Kansas City
Children’s Mercy Park; Kansas City, Kansas
Sunday, November 28, 2021
Interim Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
On taking the game to SKC:
“In football there are game plans that you set out to achieve and it goes your way and then there are others like in Seattle where we’re playing against great opponents at home that are going to dictate it. The important thing in both games is managing the moments. Today we got behind it a little bit with that PK, but never lost our discipline. We stayed organized and the guys that came in did a fantastic job of really changing the moments, being on the front foot and attacking the goal. We felt like the pressure was really going to be on SKC. Having been here a couple of weeks ago, it felt like we were going to have a little bit more time and space to really dictate the game with the ball and I think we did a good job of that. We took our chances well and more importantly, we never opened ourselves up to counter attacks from a really dangerous counter-attacking team.”
On Anderson Julio and the game plan:
“We have plans as far as substitutions, but the game dictates when that precise moment will be. Obviously we were down on the scoreline at that point, so I felt like getting him in early in the game was important and isolating him with some one on ones on our right side. I thought we could reap some rewards from putting Julio in a position to really go at the goal. He did a great job, Meram did a great job, Bobby [Wood] obviously capping off the result. The guys have been monsters all year coming into games and really making a difference and tonight was no different.”
On the narrative surrounding the team:
“It started in the preseason. When everyone picks you to finish bottom of the West and probably one of the bottom two teams in the league, you have a chip on your shoulder. These guys are professional athletes that make a living proving people wrong. Have we harnessed that? I think so, but we have also put in the work. We also have a lot of belief and I think we play some good stuff. The culmination of all of the things that happened during the season prepared us mentally and tactically for moments like tonight. The guys went down a goal and away from home it’s easy to get loose and chase it. But we stayed the course, followed the game plan and the guys made plays in the second half. That’s a testament to the character of these players and guys that really strive to be a part of something greater than themselves with this team.”
Midfielder Damir Kreilach
On playing the underdog role:
“It’s just about motivation. To be honest, I don’t really care about underdogs or not. We care about quality, mentality and who we are. We showed that today again. It’s another historical moment for us. There’s two steps until the end and we are going to give everything to bring it home.”
On Pablo Mastroeni’s message at halftime:
“To follow the plan. In the first half I would say we had control. With the PK we conceded a goal, but I would say we controlled the game in the first half and then in the second half we continued what we did in the first half. We were maybe more urgent on the ball with better ball possession and better chance creation and then this is how it finished. Overall, we deserved to win this game.”
On the belief in the team down 1-0:
“It’s all about belief. At halftime we talked to each other, if we could score one we were going to score a second one and win the game and that’s exactly how it was at the end. After 1-0 our reaction was unbelievable. The performance we put on the field in the second half was incredible. As I said before, it’s all about the group and the confidence we have right now is unbelievable so we keep going. It’s another tough away game against Portland, but we are going to go there to win again.”
Forward Bobby Wood
On scoring the game-winning goal:
“It’s just amazing. There’s no better feeling than scoring a goal with the adrenaline rush and all of that. Then for it to be the game-winning goal in the 90th, it’s awesome.”
On his run into the box:
“I know Justin [Meram] likes to cut inside so I was just hoping that he crossed it because I felt like I was ahead of the defender and he did. It was great timing from all of us, we had a bunch of guys in the box. It was great timing.”
On winning against KC three times this season:
“We just took it one game at a time. We weren't thinking about the regular season and what the results were because the playoffs are a different game. We just wanted to go out and bring our mentality and that’s what we did. We felt that they were kind of struggling with that and we took advantage of it.”
