Sandy • In the moments after his team was knocked out of the Concacaf Champions Cup, Real Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni was “dumbfounded” and “frustrated” and left shaking his head.
The message to his players?
“If you don’t want to feel like s--- on Saturday,” he told them, “then be better on Tuesday.”
And Wednesday, and Thursday, and any other day on the training ground for that matter.
After waiting nearly a decade to get back to the continental tournament, RSL’s 2-1 loss to Costa Rican champions C.S. Herediano at America Frist Field ended the club’s run almost as soon as it had begun.
RSL will now turn its full attention to the Major League Soccer schedule and the team’s home opener against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday. However, the issues that cost Mastroeni’s squad on Wednesday night must be addressed if RSL wants to avoid disappointment moving forward.
Attack issues continue
More specifically, Salt Lake needs its rebuilt attack to figure things out.
After playing to a scoreless draw in Costa Rica and a 4-0 loss to San Jose last week, RSL finally found the net in the 27th minute Wednesday.
Diogo Gonçalves sprung Dominik Marczuk with a long pass down the right flank and the Polish winger found striker Forster Ajago for RSL’s first goal of 2025.
It would be Salt Lake’s only goal of the night, despite out-shooting Herediano 26-6.
“I don’t know how you come away with one goal from that game,” Mastroeni said. “You’ve got to be killers, man. You’ve got to get numbers inside the box. You’ve got to be clinical. That game should’ve been put away in the first half.”
Mastroeni has preached patience with his young strikers and attacking midfielders after an offseason of turnover. But the coach’s frustration on Wednesday was evident.
The game’s turning point
A bad turnover by RSL midfielder Nelson Palacio quickly turned into Herediano captain Elías Aguilar’s equalizer in the 70th minute.
In Mastroeni’s mind, however, it was a moment that could have been mitigated on the othe end of the field.
“The way it works in football is if you don’t score the goals you should, the pressure on the back line starts mounting,” he said. “It takes one poor decision with the ball close to your goal to kill you.”
The Costa Rican champions, who could’ve advanced in the tournament on its away goal anyway, sealed their victory with a stoppage-time penalty from midfielder Randy Vega.
A learning opportunity
RSL’s schedule is suddenly much lighter than previously expected. Mastroeni had been planning for heavy rotation as he juggled multiple competitions.
Now he’ll look to solidify and lean on his best lineup.
That will be decided on the training ground.
Without calling out anyone specifically, Mastroeni voiced some frustration with his squad’s preparation and issued a challenge to his young team.
“If you feel terrible after a game … what I’m trying to connect is this feeling that we have with a change of behavior,” he said.
The coach added: “The biggest thing for me is your commitment to your craft and how bad do you want to be great. And it’s doing all the things that nobody likes to do. … Are you on time? Are you disciplined? … We’ll take this moment, learn from it and we’ll continue to improve as a group.”
