SALT LAKE CITY - Much like the rest of his team, Real Salt Lake defender Eddie Pope felt disappointment at the end of the final home game of his career.
More than anything, Pope wanted to give the RSL fans a victory at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Monday against Houston Dynamo. But instead, the visitors came out on top with a 66th-minute goal from Stuart Holden that made it a 1-0 Houston victory.
"[Rice-Eccles Stadium] certainly became a place where I was fond of playing in, and I think the fans were a big part of that," Pope said. "I've said it over and over again that these fans were some of the best that I've seen in the league."
In many ways, Monday's result was typical of the kind of game RSL has played this season, and for much of Pope's career in Salt Lake City. Real played well enough to win, but could not get on top by the end. To be sure, Pope saw more success in Major League Soccer on other teams.
"I certainly would have loved to have made the playoffs and won some championships with this team, and it would have been great to reward our fans," Pope said.
Still, Pope is not about to complain about his time with Real. "It would be crazy and a little bit selfish to say that puts a damper on things. I've been very fortunate and very lucky," he said.
However, RSL teammate Kyle Beckerman is living in denial.
"I hope Eddie comes back," Beckerman said. "I'm the only one that thinks he's going to come back. I've been talking to him a little bit, and I don't know if I can get him. But he is sick of losing, and he's had an amazing career. He could have stopped a couple of years ago and still been a legend. I hope he comes back and we can give it a go next year."
Pope did his job well against Dynamo, much like he had throughout his career. Making it look easy, he kept Joseph Ngwenya silent without giving him an inch to move into. He also made some key plays inside the penalty area that preserved the scoreless tie for 65 minutes.
But when Holden gathered in a ball from Richard Mulrooney and fired in a long-range shot off Nick Rimando's hands, there was nothing Pope could do.
"We get the lumps," Pope said. "We had some opportunities that we should have put away, that we should have finished, some open shots that needed to be put on frame so we could test their goalkeeper a little bit more. But overall I thought we played well, we played very well defensively."
While Pope seemed to be taking the end of his career in stride, Jason Kreis, whose playing career ended earlier this season when he became RSL's head coach, was getting choked up during post-game interviews.
"This is the first chance I've actually had to take a break and look back at my career, and it's been very difficult," Kreis said. "Just the emotions, of knowing that it's over."
Not only was Kreis looking back at his career, he was hoping for a great victory to send Eddie out on.
"I guess I was very emotionally into that game. I put a lot into that because it was a special game for Eddie, I wanted it to be a special going out for him, and I wanted it to be a good result for us because I feel like we had a good crowd out there and we've had a good crowd there for a very, very long time, and I felt it was time we started giving back," Kreis said. "I thought tonight was going to be that night, and I was personally very disappointed for that."
Still, Pope's MLS career is not over just yet. Real have one more match this season, a match against rival Colorado with the Rocky Mountain Cup on the line. And more than that, RSL has a chance to give Pope the sendoff they feel he deserves.
"We all are disappointed to have not gotten him a win to go out with at home, so we will try desperately now, another reason, and we've got a couple already, but we have another reason for next week to get a win for Eddie in his last MLS game," Kreis said.
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
