REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
ON PLAYERS: “I’m extremely proud of them for all the work that went into tonight. I challenged the guys a bit at halftime, and tried to get them to look at the situation as positively as possible. I told them it was a challenge to our pride and what we’re about to see how they reacted. And they reacted fantastically. We were very close to pulling off a heroic result.”
ON OFFICIATING: “He’s an inexperienced referee. It was a difficult circumstance for him and he struggled. Our league is trying to bring in new, talented referees, and in order to do that you have to give guys an opportunity and hopefully correct their mistakes. I hope the folks who do the teaching do a lot of teaching with him in the upcoming week.”
ON GOALKEEPER NICK RIMANDO: “Nick’s been big time for us for many years. You hate to say it but it’s almost expected from him. ”
REAL SALT LAKE STRIKER ALVARO SABORIO
ON MATCH: “It was a tough match for us, perhaps because of the players sent off, as it affected our style of play. We tried to play our game with the guys we had out there. We tried to do our job, and they have to do theirs. They have their criteria and you have to respect them.”
ON FIRST EXPULSION: “It was a big setback because we lost a very important player for us. We wanted to take advantage of his play and his full potential, but were unable to do so. We have to look forward to the next match, which is going to be very important.”
ON GAME PLAN: “We always try to push forward and go for the win. In the end, the referee added so much stoppage time, that motivated them and they swarmed us.”
REAL SALT LAKE GOALKEEPER NICK RIMANDO
ON FIELD CONDITIONS: “It was a short field and a dry night, and a bit slippery for some reason. The ball bounced a bit weird. We came in here trying to play our game, but it’s a very small field. When they pressure, it’s two passes and a chance at goal. Sometimes you have to pump the ball forward and make it an ugly game. In the first half I don’t think we did that and got ourselves in trouble a few times. “
ON STYLE OF GAME: “After the red card, at halftime, I told the guys that it started ugly, so why play pretty now? We kept playing and fighting, and I think we did a great job. But they scored two goals in two minutes and now we’re feeling in the dumps. I think we can keep our heads up about our effort.”
ON FIRST SAN JOSE GOAL: “I almost got there. Again, it took a weird bounce and went up really high. That surprised me a little bit. I got a hand to it, but wasn’t able to tip it over. We knew the ball was bouncing like that, and I train for that before the game. It skipped up and they got the lead before half.”
