Rimando: Blood on His Gloves, Questions in the Stands SEATTLE - Seattle Sounders supporters behind the goal booed loudly Friday as Nick Rimando lay on the turf at CenturyLink Field. The Real Salt Lake goalkeeper stayed down, delaying the game for eight minutes while the trainer Tyson Pace temporarily stitched a gash above Rimando's right eye. The goalkeeper was bleeding from near his eyebrow, and he revealed after the game that he also had a broken nose. Part of his time on the ground was likely spent trying to convince the trainer to let him stay in the game. Play resumed with Rimando still between the sticks. He was heckled from that moment every time he touched the ball. At one point, he turned to the fans and held his hands up, palms open to reveal the blood on his gloves. Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals ended in a 0-0 draw, with the return match at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, on Thursday. Highlights of Rimando's evening against the Sounders are below (the injury occurs at about the one-minute mark): The booing continued. Sounders fans are no strangers to diving on their team's field. Major League Soccer's disciplinary committee fined Jair Benitez of Dallas after an "act of embellishment which brought the game into disrepute," according to a league release after Seattle beat Dallas, 3-1, on Oct. 21. Everywhere in soccer, simulation continues to garner attention and is a source of frustration. Referees show players a yellow card infrequently for diving, preferring to simply wave off any appeals for a foul, even though it is a cautionable offense under the Laws of the Game. The players who end up suffering are those who are truly injured. Rimando drew the ire of Sounders supporters for the remainder of the match after his collision with an unwitting Christian Tiffert. Although the booing faded as the clock wound down, some fans remained convinced the eight-minute stoppage was unnecessary. Others were a bit more embarrassed about their counterparts' behavior. After the game, both Rimando and Sounders keeper Michael Gspurning reflected on the incident. "I think they thought I was just wasting time or something, so I wanted to show them all my blood on the gloves," Rimando told reporters after the game, referring to his gesture toward Sounders fans, right. I think that got them going a little bit more, but that's part of the game, and they have great fans for a reason. Gspurning was a little less generous. "I mean, in this case, the fans saw a lot of wasting time for us," he said. I saw after [the game] his face, and he really, his nose didn't look good, so he didn't do it on purpose. Pressed further, Gspurning reluctantly voiced his disappointment. "It's not O.K., if somebody is knocked down and he gets booed for being injured," he said. That's clear. It's not on me to make the big judgment; he really had something, though. It was not a situation where he played for time. But many times, things happen where players are just wasting time. The fans in the stands, they don't see if it's something serious or not. Rimando would not go into too detail, but he and Gspurning exchanged words briefly after the game during the postgame handshake. "He says he's fine," Gspurning said. Hopefully, he is because [even if] also you are a rival, you don't wish somebody else something like this. We should never forget it's a game. On the other side, the emotions are part of the game, and I think Nick is totally fine with this. We goalkeepers are highly motivated also if you play away and the fans are against you. It gives you an extra push. Motivation aside, booing an injured player is petty, mean and serves little visible purpose. Fans should know better, but as long as diving is a part of soccer culture, unfortunate incidents such as Friday's will continue. Do you think Rimando was only playing for time, or was he truly injured? Should the referee have told Real Salt Lake to either remove Rimando from the field for treatment or urged a quick substitution? And what about the reaction of Sounders fans? Liviu Bird reports on all things Cascadia for Prost Amerika. Follow him on Twitter.