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MLS All-Star Game: Missed chances painful
Competitive drive » All-Stars are left with an empty feeling.
By Tony Jones
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 07/30/2009 06:51:41 AM MDT
if Sandy » Yes, it was an All-Star Game. Yes, it was an international friendly in every sense, and one that served to provide entertainment value and little else.
But eventually, pride kicks in. Eventually, among professional soccer players, the drive to win takes over down the stretch.
So even if the penalty kick loss to Everton means very little to the Major League Soccer All-Stars beyond face value, the defeat still stings regardless.
"You definitely want to win, and you definitely want to go out there and play to the best of your ability," said MLS goalkeeper Casey Keller. "You never want to go out and make a fool out of yourself. We all wanted to win the game, and
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we had a bunch of chances, but we couldn't put them away."
For MLS, Wednesday night represented the first loss to an international opponent since the series started in 2005 with a 4-1 win over Fulham FC. Of course, with sudden-death penalty kicks, the loss couldn't have been closer, but every man in the MLS locker room wanted to win.
"It's definitely tough and we're not real happy with the loss," said Brad Davis of the Houston Dynamo. "We didn't win. We had a lot of chances to win, and a lot of opportunities that we didn't finish. These things happen. I thought we had chances, but we just didn't finish them."
The chances culminated in the penalty kick phase, when MLS had an opportunity to take a commanding two-goal lead. But there were other big moments such as Landon Donovan hitting the goal post on a semi wide open net, and a Javier Morales free kick from just outside the box that sailed over the net.
"Nobody ever wants to lose a game like this," said Real Salt Lake's Will Johnson. "Personally, I never want to lose a game, even if I'm playing my sister. So this one definitely hurts a little bit. We were going for it, and we had scoring chances. But that's the way it goes."
tjones@sltrib.com
Competitive drive » All-Stars are left with an empty feeling.
By Tony Jones
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 07/30/2009 06:51:41 AM MDT
if Sandy » Yes, it was an All-Star Game. Yes, it was an international friendly in every sense, and one that served to provide entertainment value and little else.
But eventually, pride kicks in. Eventually, among professional soccer players, the drive to win takes over down the stretch.
So even if the penalty kick loss to Everton means very little to the Major League Soccer All-Stars beyond face value, the defeat still stings regardless.
"You definitely want to win, and you definitely want to go out there and play to the best of your ability," said MLS goalkeeper Casey Keller. "You never want to go out and make a fool out of yourself. We all wanted to win the game, and
Photo Gallery
we had a bunch of chances, but we couldn't put them away."
For MLS, Wednesday night represented the first loss to an international opponent since the series started in 2005 with a 4-1 win over Fulham FC. Of course, with sudden-death penalty kicks, the loss couldn't have been closer, but every man in the MLS locker room wanted to win.
"It's definitely tough and we're not real happy with the loss," said Brad Davis of the Houston Dynamo. "We didn't win. We had a lot of chances to win, and a lot of opportunities that we didn't finish. These things happen. I thought we had chances, but we just didn't finish them."
The chances culminated in the penalty kick phase, when MLS had an opportunity to take a commanding two-goal lead. But there were other big moments such as Landon Donovan hitting the goal post on a semi wide open net, and a Javier Morales free kick from just outside the box that sailed over the net.
"Nobody ever wants to lose a game like this," said Real Salt Lake's Will Johnson. "Personally, I never want to lose a game, even if I'm playing my sister. So this one definitely hurts a little bit. We were going for it, and we had scoring chances. But that's the way it goes."
tjones@sltrib.com
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