Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the team’s mentality…
We came back out, got re-warmed up and all that. I told them, ‘Everything now is all about mentality. That's all it is. It's all about mentality.’ I have to applaud (them). We controlled that remaining 40 minutes. We were good. Other than the goal we gave up, we were all over them. And then I thought we were really smart in in the overtimes as well. We were good. It was a well deserved win for the guys, for sure.
On closing out the game…
I told Dany Rosero, ‘Thank God you scored because you made up.” He should have been the guy in the middle there when the player turned. I think it was (Petar) Musa, I can't remember. But when he turned, it should have been Dany there. So I said, ‘You should be happy right now because you canceled out that mistake.” He should have been there but the good thing is he got the goal, which is great.
On playing Dallas in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup…
We have met each other a lot. I can't speak for them. I can only say that we've always taken this tournament very seriously. I always say that. I think every other team does. It's just that sometimes it doesn't work out for them because of the team they put on the field or the way they played that day. But, at the end of the day, our guys fought for it and we've had some real battles against them. We've been down a man. There's a lot of different things.
I feel like every game I coach, I know less and less about the game because how their defender doesn't get a red card, I have no idea. They're trying to say that the ball is going away from the (goal). It's not. He got in front of him. He's taking his touch to the goal. All I know is if that was reversed, we get the red card. And that's frustrates me for our guys.
But the game was one of those ones where you have to have an incredible amount of concentration and mentality. It was really good for our guys tonight. We won more than just getting to the semifinals in this game tonight. And then the last thing is that playing the team back to back the way we just did and winning both games, that’s not easy at all.
On the weather delay…
You kind of know that it's automatically going to be 30 minutes at a minimum. So we always have a timeline that we follow. But then it was very obvious that it was going to be longer. And at that point, I just let the guys relax and I tell everybody to leave them alone because if you start talking too much, it's just too much information. It was really more about when it was time to go. Let's get ourselves out on the field. We're not going to warm up like we normally do. We're going to do a different warm up, which we did. And I think it got the guys ready and, like I said, from the opening whistle we took it to them, which was great. I think that set the tone for the rest of the game. They couldn't find a rhythm.
On the short turnaround to Saturday…
We go back to 20 guys. We’ll have to make some (changes). I can't bury a bunch of guys. One of the problems is (Zorhan) Bassong being out for that next game. That hurts a little bit, but then Jake (Davis) is gone. Jake leaves tomorrow. So we'll have some challenges we'll have to deal with, but we'll have to deal with that on Saturday morning to start really talking about the inventory of where the players are.
On Willy Agada’s goal…
Let's talk about Khiry (Shelton) for just a second. An unbelievable match for him tonight. I know people get on him and all this other stuff. That guy, he played a great game tonight. He was locked down on that side of the field. For not being a player that's played there really at all in his career, he had a tremendous game and that was not an easy task that he had because the guy he played against is fast as well and he's good on the ball. But he was stellar tonight and to be able to go 120 minutes was big time. We needed that.
In regards to the goal, great movement off the ball. We work on that pattern of play a lot. It doesn't always work out, but the timing was excellent. The pass was really good. Everything was just spot on.
I can't say enough about Jake (Davis) too. Since Jake has come into the middle of midfield, his energy, his work ethic, his winning the ball back has been excellent. He's been a competitor in there. He has really proven to be a player that has really made it. And I don't say that lightly. A lot of times guys come in and they try to find their way. In their first contract, they're just kind of hanging on. But he's taken the bull by the horns and really taken his career to a different level. I’m happy for him.
On their versatility…
Khiry (Shelton) first off, 6’3” right back is not normal. It's such an advantage because we also get another guy who's really good in the air in the box, especially for set pieces. And you can see at the end of the game when he flipped that ball to the back stick and went up with those guys, he makes a challenge for them.
With Jake (Davis), the difference is that he adjusted to right back, which he never played, and he's getting his head all straight for that. And now I have to push him back to the midfield because we're decimated there. But his instincts have really come to fruition because he's a competitor. He fights for the ball. He has great energy. So I guess I would say his adaptation was very quick because he has really good qualities for the position.
Sporting Kansas City captain Johnny Russell
On the team’s mentality…
The first half was difficult. I don't think we played well at all. We were probably lucky to get in tied. Then obviously, we start back. We start okay in the first five and then, to be honest, I think the break helps us massively. We sort of re-grouped. We spoke about a lot of things and changed a few things here and there. And I think you could see the way we came out after the delay that. We looked like a different team. A great team goal. And I should give the ball to Erik (Thommy). Stupidly, I try to cut inside and give it away and give them a chance to get back in it. I'm just glad I could help play a part in the winner. You know if you hang it up there then there's always a chance with Danny (Rosero) working about in there. It's a great header and then the save from Tim (Melia) and the block from (Tim) Leibold at the end is outrageous to be honest. Tim made some really big saves for us tonight. And then that block from Leibold, I think you can see how much everyone wanted it and was willing to put anything on the line. It was a difficult 120 minutes, but we set out at the start of it to be in the semifinal and we're in the semifinal so, trust me, we are very, very happy but just very tired as well.
On how late the game ended…
I think we played an 11 p.m. game in the bubble and then we played a 9 a.m. game so that was a wild one. I think this one probably finished the latest. I'll go home and my daughter will probably be up for a night feed right about now. It's probably the latest I've had a game finish, but we spoke about it. It was going to be about mentality coming back out after that delay. And I think we showed how much we wanted it. They did, too, but I feel like we just showed a little bit more.
On playing Dallas back to back…
Especially the second half at the weekend, we allowed them back in the game and gave up some sloppy goals. I think that gave them a lot more confidence than if we would have continued the way we played in the first half of that game and added a few more goals. But we knew they were going to make changes. They were going to go back to what's full strength for what they have available. It's cup football. We knew it was just going to be a grind. It wasn't the prettiest of games. You just have to win them. You have to win them. We've done that. We've got a semifinal to look forward to and we definitely will be looking forward to that.
On how they killed time during the delay…
A couple of guys were playing Uno on their phone. We just relaxed. We watched a little bit of the LAFC game and just completely relaxed. We were speaking about the game and then when we sort of got the heads up that it was coming, we start to get your body moving again and feeling good. We just came out a totally different team. I think you've seen that. We took the game to them. We controlled the game. We let them back in the game with a counter attack that was good play by them at the end but, like I said, I should play the easy pass to (Erik) Thommy instead of trying to cut inside and open it up. Sometimes you make mistakes. We made up for it in the end. We went about it the hard way, but we done it. And I want to say a huge shoutout as well to the fans that stayed and even the fans that turned up. I know it's not easy. I saw a bunch of kids out there. Trust me, I know what that feels like when you keep your kids up. So to each and every fan that turned up, that watched and especially the guys that stayed, you have no idea how much we appreciate that. We understand it. That hasn't been easy at times this year but to stick by us like that, it means the world to us. It really does.
Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia
On the team’s mentality…
I think we were unfortunate not to close it out in regulation, but I think that this is the type of performance that we should truly rally around because we had stretches of the game where we played well. We had stretches of the game where we played poorly. We had stretches of the game where we were attacking really well. We had stretches where we defended really well. And then we gave up a late goal, which has been kind of our MO this year. And then to overcome that and to, I thought, put in a really quality performance in the overtime and to get out of here with not going to the penalties is something that we should be proud of. That should galvanize our group and give us confidence going into San Jose.
On persevering…
That's the biggest thing. We had so many different emotions throughout the game and we were able to overcome it. We're learning. We're coming together as a group. The effort at the end of the game and even in phases of the game all over the place was tremendous. We've had a lot of games. Guys are tired. Everyone is tired. It's humid. You have that break. It kind of messes with you mentally. But that's why I think we should be truly, truly proud of this performance in the sense that it's not easy to go spend an hour and a half in the locker room, go down a goal when you should have not gone down a goal, and then to overcome it and get out of there not going into penalties. We should be proud of that.
On his save at the end…
Even after I made the save, (Tim Leibold) made a fantastic defensive block. Those are the type of performances and those are the type of efforts that we need from everyone if we're going to kind of pull ourselves out of this hole.
