TORONTO – Can there be any glory in defeat?
For Jeff Cassar and Real Salt Lake, there certainly is.
“I couldn't be more proud of our team,” said Cassar after their 1-0 loss at Toronto FC on Wednesday night. “The energy was right, the quality was right. They did everything that we asked them to do.”
“We just got caught on that one play, we fell asleep and that can't happen,” continued Cassar. “When you don't put the ball in the back of the net, defensive mistakes are amplified.”
“We knew it was going to be a tough match,” explained Aaron Maund, a former TFC draft pick turned Salt Lake defender. “Our focus was [Sebastian Giovinco]; try to keep him at bay and I think we did that. Overall it was a good performance... besides that one play.”
The play in question involved a long punt forward by TFC goalkeeper, Alex Bono, that was flicked on by Jozy Altidore, touched by Giovinco into the path of Tosaint Ricketts, who beat Nick Rimando with a fierce drive.
Despite that breakdown, Cassar praised his center-back tandem of Maund and Justen Glad.
“To deal with Giovinco and [Jordan] Hamilton and [Altidore] as a sub, that's not easy,” outlined the Salt Lake manager. “They did very well in difficult circumstances. [We can] still get better, cleaner, smarter, and also recognize dangerous times because... we took a mental break.”
Much though that breakdown cost Salt Lake, Cassar focused on the offense, or lack thereof, with his side having won just one of their last eight.
“We have to score,” he explained. “Defend well, but put the ball in the back of the net. This game would have been different if we had scored on our earlier chances. Goals change game plans. Both teams were even, both plans were working, but we had created more chances, had more shots on goal, more possession, more dangerous play.”
“The final product has to be there,” Cassar continued. “If we continue to put ourselves in those situations our players will come through. I love our attacking players, the way they play, the chances we're creating, and [they] came from several different ways. That's why teams fear us because we can get at you several different ways.”
“It’s tough to look back on the game and say 'shoulda, woulda, coulda,'” said Maund. “But at the end of the day, we just didn’t get it done. We got a big one on Saturday against Chicago and we are going to look to get our three points there.”
