REAL SALT LAKE 3, NEW YORK RED BULLS 3
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On the first half:
"Obviously, New York created some tactical problems in the first half, and I take full responsibility for that. The addition of Clint [Mathis] really caused us some problems tactically in the first half."
On getting the two late goals:
"We tied the first game of the year, and we all walked away feeling as if we had lost. Now we've tied this game, and we are feeling as if we've won. To be honest we should; when you come back from a two-goal deficit it is a huge boost for everybody's mentality involved. We need that in a big way right now. I think this could be a really good starting point for this group."
On his team's attitude during the match:
"The biggest change that needed to happen right away was mentality. For a group of guys to come back in that situation takes a tremendous amount of heart and a tremendous amount of mental toughness, and that is exactly what we need at this moment."
On his former teammates not wanting to let him down:
"Three of my closest friends on my team when I played made incredible plays for me. Chris Klein scored an unbelievable goal, and he was one of my closest friends and confidants as a player. Carey Talley gets up for a header in the box and gets knocked halfway unconscious, he was one of my closest friends in Dallas, and now here. Chris Brown scored and electric goal for the third one and he was also one of my closest friends. So, emotionally, that meant a lot to me."
His thoughts on being a coach:
"It was difficult for me, to be honest. I did not know really what to do. I did not know whether to be sitting, standing, or standing on my head. It was tough.
"Step one was to get the mental attitude right, and that was obviously huge for us tonight. We know that there is a lot of work tactically, and there was work soccer wise, so to get the first hurdle out of the way and put that in the bank will be big for us."
REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD CHRIS BROWN
On gaining the point in comeback fashion:
"There was a lot more emotion in today's game with us wanting to do well for Jason. I don't think tonight was any different from a standpoint working hard, but there was a little more emotion. It was a great comeback against what I think is the best team in the league."
On his game-tying goal in stoppage time:
"Everything happened in slow motion. I made a run inside and Freddy [Adu] played a good ball over the top and I was able to get on the end of it and turned inside. I let go of a shot and was just hoping it would go in."
On gaining confidence heading into Real Salt Lake's month-long road trip:
"This should give us a lot of confidence, especially scoring three goals. It bodes well for us offensively; we just need to shore up things in the back. [Thursday's] a big rivalry game against Colorado and hopefully we can steal some points there."
REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD JEFF CUNNINGHAM
On his performance tonight:
"I give every single player on the pitch tonight my congratulations. They stepped up and got the job done. I didn't play particularly well tonight, had two chances I should have done better with. But my teammates stepped up for me and secured a point for us. I can keep my head up and look forward to the next game."
On RSL fighting back in the second half:
"It reflects on the coach. That's the effort he gave as a player and now that he's a coach it was reflected on the pitch tonight."
On what coach Jason Kreis said to the team at halftime:
"He came in at halftime and he adjusted stuff tactically, but the main thing he said was for us to focus on the second half despite the first half. Thankfully we were able to come out with a point tonight."
REAL SALT LAKE DEFENDER EDDIE POPE
On his first game as the team's full-time captain:
"It's the same for me. I'm going to do the same things I've always done. Technically, the only thing it allows me to do is talk more to the referee. Other than that, it's the same responsibilities I've always had."
On the non-call on a perceived back pass in the second half:
"It was clearly a back pass. One week you get punished for it, the next week the call doesn't go your way. To be honest, the referee said that last week he didn't think it was a back pass either. That's why we're up in arms, the fans are up in arms, because the referees aren't on the same page. It was a game-changing incident, but luckily we were able to overcome it and battle back."
On the RSL comeback:
"I think everyone thought it was hopeless except for everyone in this locker room. We never give up and we always fight hard. We know that, even on the days we don't play well, that we have our heart and our character, and that showed through tonight.
"We talked about it all week long, we've got to show emotion, show some character, and that's what we did. We could have ducked our heads down and say 'Well, we lost 3-1.' But we fought our way back, and we have to give that sort of an effort every week."
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER FREDDY ADU
Thoughts on the match:
"We just wanted to press, we did not want to lose. We busted our butts for two games and it starts to get very tough when you lose games. We switched to a new formation, guys felt good and confident about it, meaning we have more options because we have two up top. We put a lot of pressure on their backs it paid off at the end."
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER CHRIS KLEIN
On battling back in the second half:
"We came in at halftime down 2-0, and didn't really change our game plan. I thought we made two mistakes and it was 2-0, and that happens sometimes. We knew we could battle back, we just didn't know it was going to be in extra time. I think what we did tonight is a reflection of the type of team you'll see for the rest of the season."
On his first goal of the season:
"I cut the ball inside and I really saw a lot of space. I usually don't hit a lot of balls with my left, but I said why not at that point. I let it go and found the side of the net. With my left it's either really good or really bad, and that one was really good."
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On whether tonight's result felt like a loss:
"It doesn't feel like a loss, it feels like a tie."
Overall thoughts on the match:
"Obviously the last five six minutes of the game were a complete disaster, but I think for the most part we played pretty well. I don't even remember when we scored. In the last five minutes they scored three goals. It was a poor job of managing the game."
On whether the end of the game came down to poor clock management:
"No, it was just a poor job on our part. And give [Real Salt Lake] credit for not quitting."
On whether he has any coaching tips for Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis:
"No. I'm gonna call and ask him how to play the last five minutes of games. I mean, maybe I can learn something from him."
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER CLINT MATHIS
On scoring a pair of goals against his old team:
"It felt great until the last five minutes when we fell apart and gave up two points. It's disappointing to see our team play so well for 85 minutes and then give it away like that. But I felt good out there and the guys played me great balls and I should score both of those goals."
On what happened in the last five minutes:
"Obviously they got the PK; it was disappointing. I didn't really see a foul, don't really know what happened or what not. Still, we had a goal to keep with four minutes to go and then we just let down. We felt pressure, the crowd got into it, we didn't get a couple of calls before, and things weren't going our way.
"But we just made dumb mistakes and you just have to look past this game. We got a point out of it, but like I said earlier, we didn't really gain a point, we lost two point. We've got an Open Cup game Tuesday and we've got to set this one behind us, regroup, and try to move ahead."
His thoughts on Jason Kreis's career move:
"I'm very excited for him. He's been wanting to go into coaching for a while. I'm sure he was not expecting to do it this quickly, but he's a great leader. I've known him, he's a great friend of mine, and I wish him nothing but the best. I think he's had a great career for what he's done as a player and hopefully that continues to carry on in his coaching career."
