Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match…
I think we did a great job of getting back into the game. I actually thought we were in a good place. We were playing very well. I think on the goal, the second one, there's not a lot that I can say. I think the third one is completely different. We had a couple opportunities as well. I don't think the game was a 3-1 game. I think we were in it and I think for us to be able to go away from home and play the way we did, I give the guys a lot of credit. I’m very proud of the effort that the guys put into the game. It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed tonight.
On LAFC’s goals…
Even on the first goal, (Erik) Thommy receives the ball in the middle of the midfield. He receives the ball and he gets hit from behind. He respects the game and tries to stay on his feet, but he's off balance. Then he goes down. I think 100% the situation is a foul. He was consistent up until that point calling those situations. I don't think it was fatigue. I think the effort of the players was fantastic in the game. I also think when you play away from home in a situation like this where the other team plays at home, they should be in the front. We should be the underdog because they're playing at home. I think that we performed very, very well. I think there was just a few minutes that some things happened. The third goal, they scored it sure, but I don't think it was the third goal. It was the second which kind of changed the game completely at that point.
On LAFC’s opening goal…
I am going to say it this way. I know it's offside. I know it's offside. But there's nothing I can do about it. I can say this as a coach at the club for 16 years now, we have suffered way too many of these types of situations. So I'm not going to focus on that. At this stage, you would think that those things would be dealt with in the appropriate manner. With VAR and everything else, you shouldn't miss that kind of stuff. You shouldn't. And we've suffered too much when it comes to that kind of thing. But I want to stay focused on the real part. I actually am very proud of our team. I really think the guys gave a great effort. I'm sad and disappointed for them because I think they deserved more in the game. It's like I said, even on that first goal, you could have easily forgot about the offside. You could have easily went just with the foul that took place and just stayed consistent with that.
On LAFC…
They're an explosive team. They can be very dangerous at times. I say again, I think for as busy as they were, it wasn't as if there was a lot of big opportunities against us. I just don't think there were. I think our guys performed very well over the course of the game. You're going to expect that there's going to be chances on both sides. I think Thommy finishes his chance extremely well. It's just a great answer to when they scored. Even on the second goal, we came right down and we had a chance. Thommy cuts inside and plays it over to Willy (Agada). Willy could have easily played it to Johnny (Russell) and Johnny's one on one with the keeper. We had good responses in the game but at the end, we fell short.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Erik Thommy
On his goal…
I think it was a quick answer, a quick equalizer. Like Peter said, I think we made not a bad game. We made a good game, especially the first 90 minutes. We tried to use our chances up front. It's tough to find the right words because I think everyone worked really hard. We deserved it I think as much as LAFC, but at the end it's maybe the advantage that you play at home. I don't know, maybe it’s the fans. Congrats to them. It's really sad for us.
On LAFC’s first goal…
Like Peter said, I think it's a foul because I had the ball, he grabbed me. If it's offside at the end, I mean, in Europe I think we draw a line and here in the states, we don't. So we should think about it for the future, because these are big games for us. I think details count in soccer and if you're 1-0 down, you come back with an equalizer really quick. That’s a lot of credit for us. That shows our mentality. It's all about the team. It's not about me. And like I said, at the end, it's a result. It's 3-1 for LAFC. It’s sad. That’s how it is.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia
Thoughts on the match…
I don’t know if I’ve processed all of it yet if I’m being honest. I thought our effort throughout the entire game was incredible. We were fighting. There were, at times, when we felt maybe a little bit overpowered but guys were doing everything they could to keep the score where it was. But ultimately we fell short.
On the team’s response to going down a goal…
An immediate response. You can’t ask for anything better. It’s unfortunate because all of the things you needed to win a final were there. We just kind of got overpowered at the end.
On LAFC’s first goal…
The first goal was weird. (Olivier) Giroud was all the way in front of me. You can kind of see the guy kind of get behind the line who I thought was offside. I haven’t gone back to look at it. It was just kind of a broken play where I step and he’s in the middle. It was kind of a play where dominoes started to fall and they all kind of fell at the same time. It’s unfortunate timing but to have an immediate response like we did with a quality goal from Thommy was everything you could ask for in a final.
On the result…
They deserved to win. They scored three goals. You can’t take anything away from that. They generated chances to win the game and they’re a quality team. They won the game.
On the team’s mood…
It’s quiet. Everyone is just processing, including myself. You’re always (thinking), what can I do better as an individual? What can we do better as a group? To say the least, I think we really should be happy with the effort that we put into the game. We didn’t win. We fell short. It’s a final. You always want to win but you also want to take the silver lining from the game a little bit.
