When does a win feel like a loss? When one of the best creative midfielders is lost for months in the process.<\/p>\n
A savage challenge from Marcos Mondaini may have ended the season of Real Salt Lake’s starting attacking midfielder Javier Morales in the 38th minute of RSL’s 1-0 win over Chivas USA on Saturday. Mondaini came in from behind as Morales was preparing to shoot, dislocating Morales’ ankle and breaking two bones.<\/p>\n
“The tackle was late and from behind,” said midfielder Will Johnson. “He Mondaini had no chance of winning the ball. He didn’t mean to break the leg. But still, you’ve broken the leg of one of the best players in the league.”<\/p>\n
Morales is scheduled to have surgery at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center on Monday, according to RSL team spokesman Trey Fitz-Gerald. He is expected to miss a minimum of four months.<\/p>\n
Mondaini will almost certainly receive a multi-game suspension for his tackle, especially in light of recent similar injuries to MLS playmakers Steve Zakuani and David Ferreira. The pressure is firmly on MLS to crack down on such tackles, especially when they cause the loss of the league’s brightest – and most marketable – stars. Mondaini may feel the brunt of the league’s wrath.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, the straight red issued to Mondaini wasn’t even the first red card of the match. Just 25 minutes in, Andrew Boyens saw his second yellow, even though his first one was probably enough to earn a red.<\/p>\n
So Salt Lake spent the entire second half in the enviable position of being up two men, and its frustration grew as its suddenly punchless offense couldn’t score.<\/p>\n
“We wanted to get that first goal as quickly as possible,” said Johnson, who eventually did get the game-winner in the 87th minute. “The longer the game goes on the more frustrated we get.”<\/p>\n
RSL is clearly in “a funk,” as head coach Jason Kreis put it, and combined with the emotion of seeing its leader go down with a visibly serious injury, made it tough going despite having chance after chance.<\/p>\n
“It was really tough to keep going,” said an emotional Kyle Beckerman after the match. “He’s a good friend and an amazing player. You just got to try and get on with it.”<\/p>\n
In fact, Beckerman was so emotional after the play that he admitted to the media that he “wanted to chokeslam someone.”<\/p>\n
Despite getting the win, RSL clearly has to make some changes to regain its form – “we’ve got a lot of talking to do,” said Kreis – and the task will be made more difficult with the loss of its most important offensive weapon.<\/p>\n
“The team is the star, but he is one of our most talented players,” said defender Nat Borchers. “Guys are going to have to step up. We’ve got guys who can do it, but it’s going to be a process.”<\/p>\n
Always of the belief that the team is bigger than any one individual, Kreis bristled when asked what he would do in Morales’ absence.<\/p>\n
“We have multiple guys who play that position,” he said. “We have multiple options. That’s it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Continued here:
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