"It was just the bounce of the ball just didn't quite roll into the back of the net," said striker Jeremy Brockie. "It was one of those days when we had by far the more chances and we probably should've won there."
“I think today we lost because of me,” he said after the match. “I had to block the cross and then I didn’t and they got their first goal. And the first goal makes everything different.”
The Brazilian’s conversion from the spot was a relief given he’d missed a pile of opportunities, especially in the first half. On the play, Camilo slotted the ball into the bottom left corner as Nick Rimando dived to the right side.
One halftime change altered the course of the game. It sent Real Salt Lake off the rails, and gave the Vancouver Whitecaps a major advantage.
TFC offered very little resistance up in the first half. RSL owned the midfield, and outside of a few counterattacking chances, Toronto lacked any real possession. On the night, the Reds garnered less than 30 per cent possession — which is seldom seen by any club.
Real Salt Lake general manager Garth Lagerwey knows that Wednesday’s second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final could be a watershed moment for U.S. Soccer and MLS. “We weren’t able to finish. We haven’t had the Lake Placid moment,” Lagerwey said in a conference call Monday ahead of the second leg.
It was a moment of brilliance. We can speak of David Ferreira, Chris Wondolowski and, yes, even Landon Donovan. But, is there a player in MLS who can carry a team quite like Javier Morales? The Argentine midfielder conjured a goal in the 89th minute, allowing Real Salt Lake to leave Mexico with a 2-2 draw against Monterrey in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final.
It’s become obligatory for every sports journalist to provide season previews for the league he or she covers. It’s automatic, and a great space killer! In that vein, The 11 presents its “waited until the last possible second before the regular season” season preview! Why the wait? Because it’s hard to figure out the East. The West? Wow, a lot of power and depth there. As for the East? Last season, New York and Columbus and six other mediocre to bad to awful clubs were in the conference. New York and Columbus left them all in the dust.
