Only about two months removed from knee surgery, the Colorado Rapids' World Cup midfielder played all 90 minutes of the club's most recent match, a 3-1 loss April 22 at FC Dallas. It was the first time since the procedure that Mastroeni, who came off the bench during the Rapids' first two matches, had played an entire match. And he certainly felt it afterward.
"I couldn't walk the next day or two after that. I was struggling," Mastroeni said. "It was my first full game in over two months, so some of that is to be expected.
"The fitness is getting better; now I just need to find my form. That is going to take another game or two. But it is great to be playing again and be back with the guys.
Now we just have to build on getting better results on the road, which is something we haven't done the last few years." The Rapids visit Real Salt Lake's Rice-Eccles Stadium tonight, one of the few places the club enjoyed road success last season. Yet it also is the venue where Mastroeni drew the ire of Salt Lake City fans after a 1-0 win by the Rapids on Sept.
2, a victory that clinched the Rocky Mountain Cup contested by the regional rivals. Mastroeni's exuberant postgame victory celebration rankled the crowd and ended with the veteran midfielder exchanging words with Real Salt Lake players, as well as with franchise owner Dave Checketts. Officially, Mastroeni has made his apologies.
Unofficially, tension still rules between the clubs, with Real Salt Lake midfielder Chris Klein telling The Salt Lake Tribune, "They were disrespectful to our owner, and from there it bleeds down." "I had a lengthy conversation with the ownership there after it happened, and I personally apologized on behalf of everyone here," Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said. "The (Salt Lake) ownership was tremendous.
They have great fans in Salt Lake and we have to respect that. We have to make sure we encourage them to keep supporting the team. It is a great team.
" Striker Roberto Brown will return to the lineup after serving a one-match red-card suspension, but defender Brandon Prideaux will miss his first match, because of a right knee injury that is expected to sideline him about a month. Third-year defender Dan Gargan is expected to fill Pri-deaux's starting slot, but with a glut of forwards on hand after the reinstatement of Brown and the recent acquisition of Denver South High School graduate Conor Casey, Mastroeni could slide into the back line. "It's a good problem to have," Clavijo said.
"As I told the guys, the decisions will be made at practice. It's up to them right now. It's my decision, but sometimes the players make the decision easier.
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