Besides losing 2-0 to Sporting KC Sunday afternoon in leg one of the home-home quarterfinals, the Colorado Rapids also lost four players. Caleb Folan, Kosuke Kimura, and Drew Moor were helped off the field due to injury. Tyrone Marshall was handed a red card. It was a discouraging night for the defending MLS Champs.
“It’s a tough result,” head coach Gary Smith says. “I’m not sure that the team could have endured many more circumstances than they did. I have got to say that I am proud that they came out.”
The list of injured players on the Colorado Rapids now includes Conor Casey, Pablo Mastroeni, Anthony Wallace, Jamie Smith, Caleb Folan, Kosuke Kimura, and Drew Moor.
Adding insult to injury the referee, Boldomero Toledo, made some controversial calls, contributing to the Rapids tough night.
“It’s the referee’s job to control events,” explains Gary Smith, “and to make sure the game is played in a sensible fashion. To have three guys stretchered off is pretty strange. It doesn’t happen often.”
MLS veteran, Brian Mullan, attributes the injuries to the amount of games the squad has played this year.
“We have got a limited number of players,” Mullan says, “and everybody has got their attributes on this team. It’s hard for teams to field enough players to compete in all these tournaments. You are trying to win, and you have to sacrifice somewhere.”
It was a physically tough match, with Teal Bunbury scoring the two goals for his squad. This brace gives Sporting KC the two goal advantage as they head to Livestrong Sporting Park for leg two of the home-home series. The Rapids are preparing for another battle.
“It’s the playoffs,” explains Wells Thompson. “Tackles are a little bit sharper. Guys go after a little bit more. I don’t think they played dirty, but they were just a little more into it. The stakes are a little bit higher. It’s playoff time. We are the defending champs so there is a lot of things they want to go out and prove.”
Watch match highlights here.
Phase two of the home-home series between Colorado and Sporting KC takes place Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. MST, and will be shown on Fox Soccer. The winner is determined by aggregate goals and will advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals.
The good: The Colorado Rapids showed amazing resolve in not giving up after losing so much.
The bad: Although they were loud, (and it was awesome to see the pipe band) the 8,601 fans filled less than half of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. For the final home game of the year, it was a bit disheartening to see how little support the defending MLS champs have.
The ugly: Losing four players in a match is almost unheard of. It was a very painful match to watch.
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