Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match…
"I think there were certain moments that were good in the game. I also think at the end, giving up a goal at the end like we did, it shows a lack of concentration which has to do with a lack of fatigue. I think there were a lot of guys out there that just weren’t 90 minutes fit to play at the pace we want to play at. There is no doubt that fitness had a lot to do with it. Some guys had really good performances. I thought [Tyler] Pasher was really good at let back. I thought when [Kris] Tyrpak came on, he gave us a little bit of an injection. He created a couple nice chances and maybe we could have finished one of them off. I thought [Diego] Rubio worked hard. It was not only a good goal, but he was good on the ball and he did some good things from us. From that perspective, those things were good."
On if Diego Rubio’s goal gives him confidence going back to MLS play…
"I think he has the ability to come in and help us in MLS games, for sure. There is a reason we signed him on a full-time basis. We feel that the has the potential to be a real contributor as time goes forward."
On how the team performed coming out of the delay…
"It was a soft goal. Were we soft? Yes. Was it a soft goal? Yes. One guy dribbled through three of our guys at the end. There is no way that should happen. He gets a great cross across and the guy beats us to the ball. It’s a snowball effect, it’s just one breakdown after another."
On Alphonso Davies…
"He’s got some good tools. He’s got some tools for the game including his speed and he is confident on the ball. He can be effective at times and dangerous, but at the same time, I think always for coaches, you are very conservative with how you look at players."
Sporting KC forward Diego Rubio
Thoughts on the match...
"It was difficult with the delay, but I thought both teams had a chance to win this game. Both teams had chances. Especially in the second half, after my goal, it was wide open. We gave everything, they gave everything, but they were able to score the second goal."
Thoughts on the goal...
"I always say that if my goal helped to win, I am really happy. I am not happy because I’m a winner and I want to win every time. I am disappointed tonight."
Vancouver Whitecaps Head Coach Carl Robinson
On Alphonso Davies...
"He's a young talent, he's one of many young talents we have in our program. I've included him in the squad this year over the last few months because he deserves a chance. We as a club, when we think you're ready to make that step up, we'll give you that chance. He showed today a lot of good things, but he also did a lot of things that he was a little naive in his decision making. But you get senior players that make wrong decisions at times, so he should be very proud of his performance, as should every one of them in that locker room. We created a bit of history for the football club today, managing to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Champions League, so we're delighted."
Having already qualified for the Quarterfinals with one group stage match remaining...
"It's very nice. We didn't come here to try and get a tie, we came here to try and win the game. You see us at the end of the game, Peter [Vermes] and his team are trying to win the game and we are trying to win the game as well by pushing numbers forward and trying to catch them on the counter attack. But we've got a lot of work to do in MLS playoffs. We know that. We're below this red line that everyone keeps talking about and we are underdogs. We have a massive game on Saturday. Our season is on Saturday against our rival Seattle. A very good team as well, but our focus firmly switches now to MLS playoffs."
On the delay...
"I gave them a little poke after 34 minutes when the delay happened because I thought we did okay. But okay's not good enough at this level. I thought we were a yard off, I thought KC were the better team for the first 20ish minutes. When one person is off, his timing in relation to closing down, it's a knock-on effect and I think we did that. So I gave them a little poke. A calm poke, but I let them know what I thought and 10 minutes after the rain delay the response was absolutely spot-on. I feel for the players sometimes because you put themselves in their position. It's horrible as a professional athlete to get yourself up to play 30 minutes and then have to wait an hour in the changing room to play another 10 minutes. Same for both teams, but again, it's not ideal."
On the moral boost with the win...
"You focus one game at a time and we lost two weeks ago at home to the New York Red Bulls a little bit unfairly. Like I said at the time, the performance was spot on, they couldn't fault us and Eric had missed a number of chances in that game and credit to him in the last two games he's managed to score two goals. You've got to show character in this league. The teams that have character are left at the end of the season. We've got character guys in there, yet we're young and yet we make mistakes sometimes. Hopefully that result building on Saturday's result will stand us in good because we need to get on a roll now."
