Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the game overall…
“We wish we had won, but to not walk out of here with that situation is acceptable at the moment based on the series that we have. Now we have to get home and get ready for the final. That’s what it is. It’s not going to be easy, obviously. We understand they came with everything tonight. It was a tough game. I thought defensively we were very strong. Tim [Melia] was excellent in goal. Maybe if we’re a little bit better around the box today, maybe we stick one of those in in the second half. But I thought the second half was much different than the first.”
On the difference in the second half, when they had eight of their nine shots in the game…
“I think we realized there were a couple of things that we could do to break them down a little bit more, and I think that really started to open things up. I also think that they pushed some numbers forward a little. They wanted to stretch the game. They wanted to get a win here at home, and I think the combination of those two provided opportunities. I don’t know how the one at the end that kind of trickled through the goal doesn’t go in. But it is what it is.”
On the physicality of the game…
“I think it’s a playoff game. I actually think the referee crew did a fantastic job in the game. Robert [Sibiga] kept really cool when he could have thrown out a million yellow cards. I think he kind of settled the game down, and I think that he was very consistent throughout the game. He was very smart in that regard.”
On getting a clean sheet against the Timbers in Providence Park…
“I can’t tell you other than that it’s a credit to the guys. They work hard. They were very disciplined here. I think they have been throughout the season. I think we’re a pretty good defensive team and we’ve been consistently that for a long time. And at the same time I think it also takes guys to be concentrated and a lot of hard work, and I think we did that tonight.”
On defender Matt Besler…
“I think, obviously, he was good, but he’s been very good as of late, and I mean probably the last eight games, 10 games or whatever. But I think the whole group was very good, very solid defensively, and the discipline and the balance, the way that we went forward and our active defending going forward was excellent in today’s match.”
On whether he was surprised by the Timbers’ start…
“No. I think that we expected that…look, it’s not an easy place to play. They have a lot of very good players on their team. We were aware that there were certain things that we had to eliminate if we could. I think, all in all, over the course of the game, we were solid on that side of the park in regards to defensive [play]. Like I said, I think in the second half we had some really good chances and that’s because we saw some things in the first half that we thought we could isolate in the second half and we did a pretty good job of doing it.”
On the position of the team after a 0-0 draw in the first leg…
“I don’t know who goes into any of these games thinking they’re going to go for a tie. You just can’t do it. You’ve got to go for the win. That’s what this next game ends up being. It’s truly a final and they’re going to be really good, and we’re going to try to be really good and everybody’s going to be going after it. It’s going to be one of those games where it’s probably going to be down to the wire.”
On the priorities for the team over the next 24, 48 hours…
“Good nutrition. Good rest. Recover. And get ready for Thursday night because it’s going to be a battle.”
On goalkeeper Tim Melia…
“Tim has been very consistent for us for a long time. These are the types of games that you expect and you want your number ones to play well, and I think all over the field we had that. I think Tim was on top of his game. He was very focused, very concentrated. It doesn’t surprise me because we’ve seen it [from him] a long time now.”
On how he feels about the outcome of the game…
“Better than a loss, right? So we go home and we know what it is. It’s a final at home. You know you’ve got to win. But at the end of the day, whether it’s here or there, it’s a final now for both teams and we have to be very disciplined going back, but it’s a good result going back home. Obviously, we would have preferred to win. It didn’t happen, but now we get to go home and have the next game.”
Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler
On the position of the team going into Thursday’s game after the 0-0 draw…
“It puts us in a good position. At the same time, there’s a lot of work to be done. We know that Portland’s a team that plays really well on the road with their style and they’re a dangerous team. We put in a lot of good work today. It’s halftime, and like I said, we’re in a good position. We control our own destiny and we know that we get to play in front of our fans next time, and if we win, we’re in MLS Cup.”
On the performance of the Timbers that made it hard for Sporting KC to score…
“They’re a good defensive team, especially here at home. This is a tough place to play and they have an extremely good record all season long. We expected that. We had a couple decent chances there in the second half. So it would have been a perfect situation to stick one of those in, but unfortunately we weren’t able to. But at the same time, we did a lot of good work. I think overall it was a pretty good result for us.”
On the changes the team will need to make heading into the second leg…
“It’s going to be a completely different game because we’re going to be at home. We’re going to be in front of our fans. We expect to play at probably a higher tempo. It was a difficult game [tonight], I think for both sides. The game never settled down. It had a very frantic pace, and we expected that to start the game, but we also expected it to calm down at some point and for us to get on the ball a little bit, and for them to get on the ball. That never happened. It was back and forth for 90-plus minutes, and credit to the guys. We competed hard, and we made enough plays to keep it zero.”
On the physicality of the game…
“It was just playoffs. The intensity is always higher in the playoffs. Like I said, it never calmed down. I thought the ref tonight did a good job. He probably could have called 50 fouls, but he didn’t. He let it play a little bit, but I think he was fair for both sides so he did a good job.”
Sporting Kansas City forward Johnny Russell
On the result…
“It was a good result for us. Obviously, we would have liked to come in here and get the win and get that late goal. In the second half, we had plenty of chances that we could have done that, especially myself. I need to bury that one. I had to go high and I went too high but it’s another positive result. It’s another game on the road in the playoffs without losing, as well, so although we wanted to get the win, the draw is a good result for us, especially going back home 90 minutes away from the MLS Cup. We’re in a good position. We know it’s going to be another difficult game, but we feel like getting back to our place, playing a home game, we’ve got a really good chance.”
On the ball he sent over the crossbar in the 47th minute…
“When I took my touch, I was going to go far side, but the Timbers defenders had blocked that and I can’t remember who it was, but one of their center backs, as he comes to press me, I saw the goalkeeper take a step so I knew I had to go high and I just got under the ball too much and I didn’t catch it cleanly. You know, like I said, it’s a chance I know I should have buried, but there’s no point thinking about it now, you know. Get over it and move onto Thursday when I’ll hopefully get another opportunity.”
On the physicality of the game…
“You know, you’re going to get decisions, you’re not going to get some. It was a physical game. We knew it was going to be like that. It’s always a tough place to come. But you know, some games are like that. We showed, tonight, another side of the game that we’re more than capable of playing. We came through it unscathed. No one’s hurt so it was fine.”
On knowing that if they win at home in the second leg that they’ll advance to MLS Cup…
“If you had told us at the beginning of the season that we were going to be 90 minutes away from the Cup final, at home, of course we’re going to take that. We’ve worked hard all season. We’ve worked so hard to be in that position, to get that game, and we’ve got ourselves there. It’s going to be another game like tonight. We’ve got to give it everything. We’ll have guys step up, and if we do that then we’re confident that we’ll be able to get the result that we need.”
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Ilie Sánchez
On the game overall…
“We got one of our two objectives, our two goals. We didn’t give up any goals, but we could not score. That could be a huge part for us, but I think we did a good job, and we got a pretty good result for the second leg.”
On the physicality of the game, especially the first half…
“It’s funny. In the end, everyone wants to play in these games. And one of the reasons is what you just said. Also, their crowd was excellent tonight, and I think that raised that intensity for both teams. I don’t expect anything less at home Thursday.”
On the differences in the team’s attack that led to more shots in the second half…
“We talked before the game that when you play these kinds of rounds [two legs], you try to play four halves like if they were four games. In the first half, I think that they were a little bit better. We understood what we needed to do in the second half much better and that showed in the last 45 minutes. We just have to keep that mentality for the next 45 minutes and then the last 45 minutes at home.”
On the position of the team needing to only win Thursday’s game to go through to MLS Cup…
“Normal week. Knowing that we have 90 minutes at home to get to the championship final, it’s a dream for us.”
