RSL's Pope: 'Ready to move on'

Jason Kreis is adamant that Eddie Pope shouldn't retire.

"That's probably the surest answer I could give you about any question you could ask," said Kreis, Real Salt Lake's head coach.

"If you asked me if I sense that (he wants to retire) from how he plays and how he trains, I'd say no. I'm a firm believer he could play more if he wanted to."

Unfortunately for Kreis and everyone else associated with the team in 2008, Pope isn't second-guessing his decision to retire at the end of this season. He's listening to his body, and it's telling him to hang 'em up.

Like his coach, Pope knows he could play longer. Even though the results haven't been there to back it up, Pope believes this season has been one of his finest as a professional soccer player since joining the league straight out of the University of North Carolina in 1996.

Pope's had several conversations with Kreis — some serious and some joking — about playing another season, but he's never wavered about his decision.

"For me, it's never been anything negative. I've always been ready. I think if I was second guessing myself at all I would think maybe now would be a difficult time," said Pope. "I'm ready to move on, and excited to finish up these last two games."

His final appearance at Rice-Eccles Stadium will be this Monday against the visiting Houston Dynamo, with his farewell match coming Oct. 20 at Colorado. The Rocky Mountain Cup will be up for grabs in that season finale, which gives Pope the opportunity to hoist a trophy — albeit a lesser one — in his final match.

"The career he's had, it's almost a given you need to send him out with a good memory and a winning attitude," said Nick Rimando, who was also a teammate of Pope's at D.C. United in 2002. "He's given everything to this sport and to the national team and to this club."

RSL midfielder Carey Talley says it's a pride thing to try and send Pope out on top.

Even though Pope's hanging it up, he hopes to stick around Utah. He admits his retirement dream job is to be a college head coach, but before that he'd like to work in the front office of an MLS team. He'd just assume that team be Real Salt Lake, but if it doesn't work out, "I'll move on somewhere else."

One of the most intriguing reasons for remaining with RSL is to see the club's progression. Having been here since the beginning Pope feels invested in the team and is excited to see continued improvement. Plus with the Sandy stadium scheduled to be finished in the fall of 2008, Pope believes things will only get better.

"There are teams that have been around for so long that can't get (a stadium) done, and Salt Lake is so lucky to have that," said Pope. "Opening day, I can't imagine how exciting it will be for a kid to say, 'I've got my own team and I've got my own stadium, and I could be playing here one day,' that changes everything."

Much to the chagrin of Kreis, it won't change Pope's retirement decision.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com