Much has changed for Nick Rimando in the last year.
The Real Salt Lake goalkeeper spent the summer with the U.S. National Team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Upon his return to his club team, he matched and then surpassed Major League Soccer’s all-time shutout record. Then he was rewarded with a contract extension keeping “The Wall of the Wasatch” playing with the RSL badge on his chest for the foreseeable future.
But for all that’s changed, Rimando maintains the same mindset in the net that he has kept throughout his 15 MLS seasons, including the last eight with Real Salt Lake.
“Get to the playoffs and MLS Cup,” he said matter-of-factly before smiling. “There are a lot of new faces and I think as a veteran I need to step in and bring this team together and keep us on the same page.”
Rimando rejoined his RSL teammates on Sunday to travel to Arizona for the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup after spending the better part of the last month away with the U.S. National Team. With Jurgen Klinsmann’s team, he started in both friendlies during January camp.
After dropping a 3-2 result to Chile for the first defeat Rimando had suffered in 17 career international appearances, he bounced back and shut out Panama in the first half of a 2-0 victory before giving way to Sean Johnson in the second half.
He doesn’t dwell on the loss though, instead choosing to focus his energy on turning his victory over Panama into his next streak.
“Good things come to an end. It was unlucky to get that loss in Chile,” he said. “I’ve had a good run so far, but I’m not stopping now. It was a good way to respond against Panama and hopefully we can continue that run.”
Similarly, he is hoping to get the bad taste of a 5-0 defeat to the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference Semifinals out of his mouth. His first chance won’t come until March 7 when RSL opens the 2015 season with a road match against the Portland Timbers. But the work to get to that point picks up on Monday when Rimando takes place in his first training session of the season with the Claret-and-Cobalt.
This year, he doesn’t have a shutout record on the horizon, so he will be pushing that all-time mark – which now sits at 115 clean sheets – further and further into the stratosphere. However, beyond leading RSL back into the playoffs and to a third MLS Cup appearance in the last seven seasons, he has no individual targets for the season.
“It’s game-by-game for me,” he smiled again. “I take it in stride and hopefully add to those shutout numbers.”
