RSL's fast start slowed by Beckham ->MLSnet/John Coon
POST GAME QUOTES (Courtesy of RSL Communications)
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On the lack of goals after halftime:
“I was surprised. Both teams had plenty of opportunities and you would have thought there would have been more, especially with four in the first half.”
On David Beckham’s first goal of the night:
“The play is a non-issue if a defender clears that ball out. He chose to try a pass when it should have been cleared out and it happened to go to David Beckham, who put it away quite nicely.”
On the change of formation and his substitution pattern in the second half:
“When we’re at home we’re going to go for wins, and when we’re away we’re going to go for wins. I think that’s going to be the mentality of this team. We’ve got a group of guys that can handle it and a group that can embrace that aggressive mentality.”
On the play of GK Nick Rimando
“He was there when we needed him the most and there to make the special saves. I think there were one or two saves in the second half that were really special.”
On the 25,500 in attendance at Rice-Eccles Stadium:
“I thought it was a fantastic crowd and I thought we disappointed that crowd. I thought we should have, could have, done better in that match to thank them for coming out and supporting us because they were fantastic.”
REAL SALT LAKE MF JAVIER MORALES
On getting the two first half assists:
“I feel really good. I was very happy with them, but I would have liked them more if we could have won.”
On his duel assists tying him for the League lead with Beckham:
“It’s just a statistic. I’m just trying to do my best for the team and trying to get us a win at home.”
On giving up the two-goal lead:
“I think that they have players, like Beckham, that have a lot of virtue. They kind of came back through the ability of one player, and that player just beat us. The first goal really took us by surprise, and the second one just happened so fast. I think we have to look at the positives in that we played a pretty good game overall.”
REAL SALT LAKE MF DEMA KOVALENKO
On the back-and-forth second half and the result:
“They had chances. Nicky [Rimando] came up big for us. We had a couple of good chances too. It’s soccer, it’s football; that’s that way it goes. You create chances and you score, you win the game. You don’t score, you lose, you tie; it’s what happens. That’s why it’s the best game in the world.”
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH RUUD GULLIT
Overall thoughts on the match:
“After the game there was a feeling that we should have won this game, but if you saw the first 20 minutes, you know, it was incredible. I think that the most difficult part is we tried to practice on turf, but nothing is like this turf, therefore players had difficulty getting into the game. We did things I didn’t think we’d normally do, but after the 20 minutes this team battled back. This team should be very proud of itself, how they fought for this. It was a good result; if you’d ask me before the game if I’d settle for a draw, I would knowing the circumstances.”
On the Galaxy’s struggles in the first 20 minutes:
“If you don’t mark and you give space to the opposition, everyone can play a good match. We were too wide open, too much space between the lines and the players, and it was frustrating to see from the sideline. Finally, finally, they got it.
“Salt Lake knows how to play on this pitch, they play every two weeks on it; that’s a huge advantage. The fact that, after 2-0, we just recovered so well it was incredible. I saw [us] all of a sudden digging in, not giving any space, and [RSL] had difficulties getting behind us. In the second half, we also changed some things to get tighter and that made it even more difficult for Salt Lake. I thought we had opportunities today to win this game if not for some good saves by their goalkeeper. I’m happy with the result.”
On the play of MF Landon Donovan:
“He still had the opportunities to score goals. I think Landon played an excellent game. Of course you can’t score every time, but he was getting in position to score. For me, Landon played a very good game.”
On the quality of David Beckham’s goals:
“I think the first goal was the best one. On the dead ball, you have time. On the first he passed the ball to the far corner. That tells you his quality. Before it was Landon, now it’s David.”
LA GALAXY MF DAVID BECKHAM
Thoughts on the match:
“It was a good game in the end. I think we started off terrible in the first 20 minutes. We didn’t close after them as a team and we got scared of them. And then a couple of tackles started going in and we livened up and we started getting back into the game. I scored the two goals, of course, but it was the work that was done before that that created the enthusiasm for the team. At the end of the game, we would have been happy with a win, and so would they, but as far as 2-2, it’s the right result.”
On his first goal:
“We started coming back into the game just before then and when you’re coming back into the game it’s important that you keep your eyes on the play. It was my turn to score the goals tonight instead of Landon, but it’s important that all the players take a part of scoring goals and winning games and getting the team back into the game. So tonight it was my turn and I’m sure in other games to come it will be other players that do the same.”
On whether he still gets excited when approaching a free kick:
“I’m like a little kid every time a free kick is given on the edge of the box. The excitement comes into myself and most of the time I can score them. Recently I’ve had a couple which have hit the wall, but tonight I was happy with the free kick and also happy with the first goal. But like I’ve said, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
On the play of RSL tonight:
“Every one of their players contributed tonight. It’s hard to pick players out because personally I look at how the team played. They’ve got good togetherness and they’ve got some good players on their team. Overall their team played some good football and worked hard, so you’ve got to congratulate them.”
LA GALAXY FW LANDON DONOVAN
On coming out of the game with a tie:
“Given the first half-hour, we’ll absolutely take it. I would say we had some chances to win the game, they also had quite a few chances too, so a tie was probably fair in the end.”
On MF David Beckham’s two goals:
“He was terrific. Not only that, he could have had a chance to score another one, and could have provided a few assists still in the game for us. But when we needed him he stepped up and made a difference. That’s what you hope to get from him, and that’s what he gave us tonight, and he was terrific.”
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