{"id":15084,"date":"2012-08-30T01:50:31","date_gmt":"2012-08-30T05:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=15084"},"modified":"2012-08-30T01:52:26","modified_gmt":"2012-08-30T05:52:26","slug":"shalrie-thrives-in-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=15084","title":{"rendered":"Shalrie Shines In Return"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Revolution fans honored Shalrie Joseph during his return to Foxborough. (Photo: Kari Heistad\/CapturedImages.biz)<\/p><\/div>\n

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. \u2013 Down 3-0 just 21 minutes into the match, Shalrie Joseph\u2019s first return trip to New England with Chivas USA on Wednesday night looked headed for disappointment. But the talismanic midfielder wasn\u2019t ready to give up.<\/p>\n

Just like he\u2019d done so many times before at Gillette Stadium for the Revolution, Joseph carried his new team, Chivas USA, on his back, scoring two goals and leading the Los Angeles-based club to a 3-3 comeback draw. In doing so, Joseph assured his former club remained winless since trading away their captain on August 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good to score two goals; it doesn\u2019t matter what team. It\u2019s bittersweet that it\u2019s against my old team, and it feels good,\u201d said Joseph. \u201cBut it\u2019s more than about me right now. It\u2019s about a team trying to make a playoff run. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve got to look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph\u2019s two goals made sure it was a night to remember for the visitors. His 23rd minute header gave Chivas a lifeline just two minutes after the Revolution have extended their lead to 3-0, and then his first half stoppage time left footed blast from outside the box pulled the Goats within one going into the break. The visitors would grab the equalizer two minutes into the second half.<\/p>\n

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Shalrie Joseph made his first appearance against the Revolution as a member of Chivas USA on Wednesday. (Photo: Kari Heistad\/CapturedImages.biz)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI don’t think I’ve seen Shalrie hit a ball with his left foot like that in ten years,\u201d said Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis, who along with Joseph joined the club in 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually (playing against Joseph) is going to happen, it is strange that it happened so soon,\u201d Reis added. \u201cFor us it was just another game, he was on the other team. It wasn’t that big of a deal for us. For us it was about trying to get a result and to get a little momentum going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it was a strange feeling for the Revolution to play against their former captain, Chivas USA felt extra motivation to get a result for what they knew was a big game for their teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely wanted to get the result for [Joseph],\u201d said Chivas USA defender James Riley, who started his career with the Revolution in 2005 and stayed with the club through 2007, going to MLS Cup with the team all three years. \u201cI was kidding with Matt Reis after the game, I think the only people left from the golden era when I was here from \u201905 to \u201907 was him and Jay Heaps as a coach now. There has been a lot of turnover and things of that sort. It\u2019s always good to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Revolution sent their captain packing early this month, Chivas USA were happy recipients as they try to turn around a struggling team. The results on Wednesday certainly reaffirmed that excitement.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo goals, certainly the first one conjured up out of nothing and then the second one was great presence and presence of mind; it was a huge lift for us obviously,\u201d said Chivas USA coach Robin Fraser of Joseph.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just brings grit and desire,\u201d said Riley. \u201cHe\u2019s a boss in the middle. He wants the ball in any situation and expects guys to be the same and feed off him. Obviously he brings an inspiration on the pitch and backs that up with his play and his presence. It\u2019s great to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s return was was an unusual night all around at Gillette Stadium with Joseph appearing for an opposing team for the first time, the fans stood and cheered for both of Joseph\u2019s goals. The respect for the former captain was clear, even as his efforts put the Revolution on the back foot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt great,\u201d said Joseph. \u201cThey know the hard work I put in, they know the type of person I am and for them to show that kind of respect \u2013 it\u2019s mutual on both sides. That felt great and I look forward to seeing them in the winter and next season again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph responded in kind by not celebrating either of his two strikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t celebrate against somebody who gave you such a great opportunity,\u201d said Joseph. \u201cYou represent the organization and as I said, it\u2019s been top-notch and it\u2019s been class when I\u2019ve been here with Steve Nicol or Jay Heaps or whoever. It\u2019s been top-notch and there\u2019s class on both sides. I didn\u2019t want to celebrate or disrespect anybody, but it\u2019s all about the team, with me not showing disrespect to anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while Joseph\u2019s career now likely won\u2019t see him retire as a Revolution player, there are no hard feelings between the sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always going to be a Rev, it\u2019s just a little bit of time when he\u2019s not,\u201d said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps. \u201cBut in terms of what he did tonight, I never questioned that guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the decision to trade Joseph may have been hard for all involved, Riley, who is on his third team since departing the Revolution and knows a bit about the business aspect of soccer from his own experiences, offered some final perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised [to hear Joseph was coming to Chivas],\u201d said Riley \u201cI had heard some rumors. When it happened I thought it was great. It was definitely exactly what we needed. To find out that it benefited both sides was great. He wanted a new change and a new start. No better place to do it than in Los Angeles, Southern California, on the beach, at a great facility at the Home Depot Center. And obviously it benefited the Revs because they cleared some cap space and got a young good player in Blair Gavin and do some things that way. It was a win-win for both sides and we move on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ex-Revs captain scores twice as Chivas USA come back from three goal deficit to tie Revs 3-3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/josephfansfeature.jpg?fit=490%2C240&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15084"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15084"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15089,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15084\/revisions\/15089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}