RSL win overshadowed

(by Tony Jones sltrib.com 8-19-10)

Sandy - Jason Kreis said that Real Salt Lake’s 2-1 win over Arabe Unido of Panama represented “everything that is wrong with soccer.”

Nick Rimando, RSL’s goaltender, agreed, saying that he “had never seen anything like this before.”

Indeed, Real Salt Lake’s victory Wednesday in the first game of the CONCACAF Champions League was amusing, sad and frustrating all at the same time.

There were so many injury delays that Kreis was convinced the team from Panama was faking, and didn’t hesitate to say so when asked about it after the game. There was eight minutes of stoppage time, an almost unheard of amount.

Arabe Unido’s tactics were enough of a sideshow that the importance of RSL’s win was decidedly overshadowed in the moments after.

“If someone came to watch this game and saw soccer for the first time, he wouldn’t be coming back,” Kreis said. “If someone were watching this game on television, he wouldn’t watch another game. It’s unfortunate, but there has to be a solution for this. If a player is injured and leaves the field, don’t let him come back a minute later. Keep him out.”

Most unfortunate is the way things ended. The winning goal was supplied by forward Alvaro Saborio on a penalty kick in stoppage time. The foul call, inside the box, was questionable at best and one that drew vehement arguments from the Arabe Unido players and coaching staff.

“You have to credit Alvaro,” Rimando said. “He stepped in and made the kick. It showed that he had plenty of confidence in himself.”

In all, there were 10 yellow cards and two ejections. But in the end, RSL got what it wanted and needed: Three points and a favorable result.

It did so by rallying from a deficit for the first time this season, finding themselves down a goal in the 13th minute when Armando Cooper pushed one past Rimando. From there, however, RSL was dominant, limiting Arabe Unido to just four shots on goal for the entire match and launching 14 of its own.

Saborio scored the tying goal in the 45th minute on a pretty pass from Chris Wingert, and Real Salt Lake continued its offensive pressure for the remainder of the game.

“I think we thought things were going to be easy at first,” Kreis said. “I think the guys were shocked to be down, and it took a while to find a rhythm. Once they did, they were fine.”