REAL SALT LAKE 1, BOCA JUNIORS 1
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On RSL's positive play in the first half:
"We're very, very pleased with the progress that has been made over the past few weeks. We're very pleased with the way we've played in these past two friendlies. In some ways it would've been nice to have left that group on and see what they could have done throughout the 90 minutes, but we have to be focused on the second half of the season in MLS."
On the young midfield used in the second half:
"It's a young group, a group that needs more experience. They need more first-team time. It was a good opportunity for them and a good learning experience. There were some tactical issues that we thought needed to be addressed, so we spent some time with them after the game. I think all-in-all it's positive."
On what can be taken out of the past two friendlies:
"We have to take a lot of confidence, a lot of self-relief out of these games, and really realize and believe that we've got a good group of guys, a good team that should be competing. We feel that maybe the tide is turning for us...we'll see Saturday night."
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER KYLE BECKERMAN
On the match:
"For us to get a positive result is really good. I'm just trying to get on the good side of the fans as quick as I can."
On playing with fellow RSL newcomer Nathan Sturgis:
"It's been neat to see how well we've gelled together in the midfield as quickly as we have. It's been two tough games, against big clubs, and for us to do some really positive things against them has been encouraging."
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER FREDDY ADU
On the transfer rumors:
"Actually, I have no idea what's going on. I've been reading a lot of stuff in the papers, but at this point I just told my agent 'Just handle everything, just check in with me every now and then.' I'm just pretty happy and focused right now, and when I'm happy I play my best, so I just want to keep that going. I don't want any outside things to distract me. Obviously, it is my life, it's my living, and it's important, but right now the most important thing is me being with Salt Lake and contributing with this team."
On playing a new position with RSL:
"I played pretty much the same position I played with the U.S. (U-20 national team) when I was in Canada. That was great, being a second forward/attacking midfield type guy. Come back, receive the ball, get it, turn, go at people. That's always been my natural position, but somewhere along the way when I came in this league, I started playing left midfield. I still don't know how that whole thing got started. Hopefully I'm able to get more chances at that position because I definitely feel more comfortable there."
On drawing the PK at the end of the first half:
"Kyle [Brown]'s job up top today was to hold the ball and my job was to run off of him. He did a great, great job. He fought for that ball, he did a great job holding the ball. He just laid it back. I saw three guys in front of me, but one of my strengths is quickness, being able to get by people quickly. You know, I figured 'If you don't try it, you're not going to know the outcome... I'm just going to go for it.' I was able to get by three guys and then a guy just knocked me down. We were able to get a PK out of it and the best part is I was able to finish it up."
REAL SALT LAKE DEFENDER CHRIS LANCOS
On the result:
"To be honest I think we are all a little disappointed with a draw against them, which kind of speaks to where we're at right now. I definitely think we're looking forward to our new season starting on Saturday."
On the play of Boca Juniors:
"When we had the ball they were much more aggressive on defense and then when they had the ball they really opened the whole field up. They played touch line to touch line. They played really quickly and kind of made it hard for us to defend because it seemed like we had to defend a lot of ground, a lot more in the second half."
On defending Boca Juniors:
"I think we brought a good intensity on defense, because we had to. I think we were pretty good one-on-one defending and we kept our shape in the back decently. To keep them to just scoring one goal was pretty positive for us."
On getting back to league play against New England:
"I think New England is a great team, probably one of the best teams in the league right now. I know we're going to have to be focused for 90 minutes if we want to get a result, and I think we're going to do that now."
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER NATE STURGIS
On tonight's result:
"[Boca Juniors] is one of the top teams from the Argentine league and they produce world class players, so to be able to play them, the caliber of players that play there, it was a good opportunity. Definitely a good experience to learn a lot from."
On playing his second game in RSL's new midfield:
"The more we can play together the better we get, because we can learn each other's tendencies. But I think for only playing two games so far we've gelled together pretty well."
On RSL's play in the first half:
"I thought we came out pretty well. We were trying to keep everything in front of us and make sure we stayed connected defensively and tried to keep it as much as possible and get forward when we had the ball. I thought we that pretty well. We maybe broke down one or two times, but didn't really give them too many chances. We got forward pretty well at times and overall in the first half I thought we played pretty well."
BOCA JUNIORS FORWARD MAURO BOSELLI
On the match:
"Very, very wet (conditions). It was a very fun game, but we had a little problem finishing. Of course we wanted to finishes our chances early, but it didn't happen for us and the result was a tie."
On Real Salt Lake:
"A very good team, strong. A team that always tries to play the ball on the ground, and they have great forwards in (Freddy) Adu and (Andy) Williams. They are very good soccer players, and at any moment they can hurt you."
On all the Boca fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium:
"Boca has fans all over, wherever we are going to play there are always Boca fans. We know that the fans all over support us, we are very happy and we hope that we could give a good show to all those that came out."
On Boca's visit to Salt Lake City:
"The climate was a little bit better then Phoenix, it was really hot. Here, we could be a little bit more comfortable without it being so hot. The city is beautiful, we didn't get to see much because we spent most of the time in the hotel."
BOCA JUNIORS MIDFIELDER ALVARO GONZALEZ:
On the match:
"We had many chances that got away from us, but it happened and it's in the past. So the important thing now is to keep training and get the rhythm for the championship in Argentina."
