Jefferson Savarino says RSL team unity was deciding factor in return

SANDY — Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni said after last week's comeback win in Montreal that his team "looks nothing like the team at the beginning of the year," and recent remarks from returning star Jefferson Savarino back that up.

Savarino last played for RSL in 2019, two years before Mastroeni took over the reins in Sandy, but both recognize one of the major differences in the current team compared to past iterations is its unity.

In fact, Savarino, who played the last three seasons in Brazil's top league, said the unity he saw with RSL was the reason he ultimately decided to return to Utah at the transfer deadline earlier this month. Due to immigration and visa factors, Savarino was unable to arrive in Salt Lake until this week, where he spoke to the media for the first time on Wednesday.

"There's a difference in the unity. It's different from the other years I was here," Savarino said. "I don't mean that the group wasn't united before, but now, on the field, it's much better."

For Mastroeni, team unity and culture have helped him navigate an uncertain start to the season with a multitude of injuries and setbacks.

"For me, it's the most important thing because days when you don't have your best stuff, that type of unity can really carry a group; and I think it has, for us, given what we've been through this year," Mastroeni said. "The guys that have stepped in for those (injured) players have done a fantastic job only because the culture has been such that they believe that they can come in and contribute."

A unified team breeds a confident team, something that Mastroeni and his players found especially true following a second-half comeback that resulted in the club's first win in Montreal last week.

"We've come a long way from the New York game, in a lot of different ways, and I think the last game we played in Montreal was probably our most complete performance, home or away," Mastroeni said. "It feels like we're moving in a great direction. Confidence is really what drives growth within the group at the moment. There's a real underlying feeling of confidence within the group."

The victory in Montreal was capped off by a game-winning goal from striker Sergio Cordova, whose confidence is at a season-high after scoring just one goal all year before the Montreal match.

"That's a huge goal for him. You should have seen him in training today," Justin Meram said of Cordova. "I thought he just had a different pep in his step. Goals change personalities. It changes confidence, not only for the individual, but for the group; and when you start seeing goals from the run of play, it builds momentum for offensive players, for sure."

The unity and confidence born within the lines of the soccer pitch are spreading beyond the locker room to all of Rio Tinto Stadium and the RSL community. The club returns home this weekend for a match against Houston Dynamo and seeking its sixth consecutive sell out at the RioT to start the season. The fans will likely do their part by helping RSL stay undefeated at home in MLS play this season.

"It's a fans club. It is about them," Mastroeni said. "That's why these guys train so hard every day, because they know when they go to Rio Tinto it's gonna be packed. The 12th man is real and it's been real for us to this point of the season."

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. MDT at Rio Tinto Stadium. Savarino will be at the match and said he feels good enough to play limited minutes, but Mastroeni said they are taking his availability day by day.

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