Nick Rimando talks about the Seattle match, Montero’s goal, and the matchup against Columbus.
KIR: What was your impression of the opening match?
Rimando: I thought it was a good game for sure. A tough one to go into with the crowd and emotions roaring for them. But we expected that and it’s tough to swallow a 2-0 loss. But I think we’ve got to understand that it’s just one game. The first game, and we learned alot. And I think going into this home game we have alot to prove, and that we have to get a win.
KIR: As a visitor is it still kind of fun to play in that environment?
Rimando: Absolutely. It definitely got me going. Even though it wasn’t the home crowd. It’s always fun to play in those atmosphere’s. I was thinking before the game what it would be like to walk off the field with a victory – 3 points in your hands – and having that crowd that’s been harassing you all game kind of praise you a little bit.
KIR: What were your thoughts on that 2nd goal, did it kind of catch you off balance?
Rimando: Absolutely. The ball did like 3 different dives and dips. That ball does funny things. You know I face it every day. You see some of the stuff it does - I still can’t believe some of the things it does. And if you hit it right it’s going to do some stuff and that’s exactly what happened. It’s going to go high, it’s going to go low, it’s going to go to your left, it’s going to your right. So my hat's off to him. I think we could have been a little bit tighter. Who knows? If there’s pressure on him...or if there’s not pressure on him, if he hits that I don’t think that he’s going to hit that 9 times out of 10 times, for sure.
KIR: With Columbus coming in, what are your thoughts on them?
Rimando: They are a good team. They’ve proven to be a good team last year, but this is a new year. For us they’re going to be a good test. They’re undefeated right now. You know they have some good players – Schelotto, Robbie Rogers if he’s healthy, but as a team which is what I think is important they’re a really good team. And they fill each others roles, and they’re a hard-working team. Kind of take pride in that. Being here at home we’ve got to go at them and let them know that this is our house.
KIR: With Schelotto and his ability to pass the ball and get shots off, and last year they showed that they get goals from a number of different places, does that make it harder for a keeper not being able to key on one key goal scorer?
Rimando: Yeah it’s tough. They have alot of players on their team that are dangerous and we just have to be as a team, have heads up and know their key players and kind of be a little bit tighter on defends. Last week we were a little loose. This week we’re going to tighten it up. We’ll watch video and make sure that anything that they do from free kicks to through balls to everything from the kickoff we’ll be prepared.
