Real Salt Lake coach John Ellinger might not survive another match like Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup thriller against Kansas City.
"Just give me a nice tombstone," Ellinger said, obviously relieved after the match.
The Wizards had tied the game up with a goal in the 88th minute, forcing extra time and putting what seemed a certain RSL victory into sudden doubt. Worse, Real had another game to worry about three days later, and Ellinger would need his players fresh.
"I was concerned with my heart at that time," Ellinger said. "We are concerned about playing at Chivas on Saturday."
The Wizards scored the goal when Sasha Victorine put the ball in off a rebound of a Will John header that bounced off the forearm of RSL goalkeeper Chris Seitz. It was Seitz's first game with Real; regular starter Nick Rimando sat out both the Open Cup game and the reserve game against the Fiji national team that kicked off immediately afterward.
It was the second time in the three games since the beginning of the season that Real had given up a late goal. In RSL's season opener, FC Dallas scored in the final minute of stoppage time at Rice-Eccles Stadium, forcing a 2-2 tie. In both games, veteran defender Eddie Pope had been replaced in the second half.
"It just seems like when Eddie goes out, there's some confusion back there," Ellinger said. "We'll get that sorted out."
Real has until Saturday to figure things out, as the team travels to The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., to take on Chivas USA. For both the first team and the reserves, it will be their second game in four days. For the first team, it is the third game in eight days.
"We do this a lot during the season," said midfielder Chris Klein. "Three games in eight days is not a big deal, it's when you put those on top of week after week that it starts to wear on you. There are some guys that will be a little nicked up and a little tired because of the overtime, but its part of what we do and we prepared ourselves all preseason for the short turnaround, so I think we'll be fine."
The match will be the first of the season for Real away from the familiar surroundings of Rice-Eccles Stadium, artificial surface and all.
"I'm just happy we are going to play on grass," Freddy Adu said. "This is where being a true professional comes in handy; you have to take care of yourself. We just played 120 minutes of soccer [Wednesday], and you have to take care of yourself. I'm lucky, because I'm young and I can be running around all day long and it doesn't bother me as much. But some of the older guys, it's going to take a toll, but those guys are true professionals, so they will be all right."
Ellinger expects Chivas will be a tough team to beat.
"They are a good team, they played well last week against Houston," Ellinger said. "They will be hungry to get at us and play us hard at home. They are tough to beat there, and we are going to have to play very well there for 90 minutes."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
