Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match…
The environment was out of this world. It was fantastic. It's a prelude to what probably will be here for the World cup and then some. This was incredible. It was a great environment. I thought the fans were tremendous in all respects. It was a great environment to play in front of.
On the performance…
I would say the effort for the guys, the concentration for the entire game, was excellent. It really was. We played very well in the game. I would say that there's one very specific thing that happened in this game, that it's different than all the other teams you play against in the league. We lost the ball three times and they just have the quality that, when you do, they can punish you. And there's a lot of games in MLS where you play back and forth. You play against other teams and they give up some chances, you give up some chances. But at the end of the day, the quality that they have if you just look at the first goal. The pass that (Lionel) Messi makes and then the second goal with the ball that he hits from where he hits it from. I think you all would agree that you don't see that regularly in MLS and you do when you play against them. They can punish you and that's what they did. But I thought we played very, very well. I really do. I really do. A little luck and maybe it could have been a little different.
On the atmosphere…
Obviously there's a lot of people that want to come and see Messi, which I understand. If I was in a different situation, I'd want to come see him as well. So I understand that aspect. I was very, very happy with the intentions of the crowd. The majority of it was for us. Obviously, there's a lot of people that wanted to see him no matter what. But just the involvement was really, really good.
On if it’s a glimpse of a World Cup atmosphere…
I think the difference is that you'll have whatever two teams are playing. You're going to have sort of a competitiveness from the fans perspective as well. This stadium provides a great environment also from an acoustic perspective, just the way you can hear everyone. It's really good. And I just think that environment in the stadium is excellent. I never had the ability to play in front of a crowd like that when I played here, but it was good to coach in front of it. It was good.
On the players rising to the occasion…
As I said, I thought that they played very well. I thought they kept their emotions in check. It would have been very easy to get just caught up in the moment. I would say that there's a lot of guys in there that have not played in front of 70,000 people before. So that in itself can have a change in your emotions and the way you play the game. You could lose a lot of nervous energy early on, but I thought their concentration was excellent. Sometimes what happens is that you might make a poor decision. Am I going to say that the decisions were really, really bad? No, I don't think so. I just think that the difference is that they got the quality to really finish you off.
On the play of Erik Thommy…
Erik was a machine today. His first goal was fantastic. The action was. Tim (Leibold) wins the ball and does what we work on a lot. He goes right up the gut and lays it off to him. It’s an unbelievable first touch and then what a great finish. And Thommy has that quality. But his second one, that's just a world-class goal. He was a machine today on the field.
On the turnover prior to the last goal…
I think that ball has got to get hit long. I think it's a tough situation for Jake (Davis). I think he's running backwards facing our goal and already the player is pressing him. It's better just to hit the ball long and we'll fight another day there. It's not time to build out at that moment. So that was tough on him. He tried to clip it by him, but obviously he stole it. And like I said, their guys are smart. (Luis) Suarez, he knows where to be. He's a goal scorer. He's done it all over the world and for big clubs and everyone else. It's unfortunate.
Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi
Thoughts on the atmosphere…
It’s amazing and the fans did a great job creating a great atmosphere. I think this is a taste for everybody for what the World Cup is going to bring. This is great. I wish we could have held a tie or gotten a win, but overall, to the fans, just thank you so much because this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us too.
On the crowd…
I was hoping for it. I think people in this area are very proud of their teams. In other cities, maybe this wouldn't have happened. We knew that there was going to be Messi fans but I was hoping there would be a majority of Sporting fans. Even people who I ran into in the city, they were saying they're coming to the game and they want to see Messi play but they are supporting Sporting. We really appreciate that and it was not on them. They did their best.
On why it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience?
Playing in Arrowhead, a lot of champions have played here before and this is home of the Chiefs who have done an amazing job. Sporting started here as the Wizards and this is just history, a full circle moment. And coming back here and filling up this stadium is unreal. Playing against these guys, this is just something that doesn't happen every time. So I think we all have to soak it in and take away that as a positive. Obviously we have to analyze the game and the mistakes we've made but that's the positive for me.
On playing against Messi…
Obviously an unbelievable player and he can create something out of thin air. That's just his whole career. So congrats to them and good luck in the season. This was a great experience for all of us to play against these guys and we just have to learn from our mistakes.
On the play of Erik Thommy…
Erik is great and his goals were unreal. I’m so happy for him. We just have to be able to score this many goals and close the game out.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia
Thoughts on the match…
Disappointing. We started the game really well. We kind of pulled them out of shape and then we just kind of got beat with quality on two goals and beat ourselves on the third one.
On Messi’s goal…
It's a very good shot. I'm not taking anything away, but it's also swirling wind in there which is just making it more difficult. It's unfortunate, but, the through ball on the first one and then the shot on the second one is the reason why he is who he is and he proves it in most games. It is what it is.
On playing against Messi…
He's able to beat me, so just be set and be ready to move either direction. I don't think a lot of guys get around the ball like he did and that's a position where a goalie can usually start to lean one direction. They can only go one way, but he was trying to put it back to the far post and he got a lot of power on it. When I was kind of watching it approach, and that's something we talked about throughout the week, they like to cut those balls back like they scored on the first goal. I know it was a little different because it was coming from the middle, but they kind of pull the ball back to in between the penalty spot and the 18 in the center and get those opportunities. So as a goalie, you have just got to kind of be set.
On Messi’s assist…
It was just a slow ball. So it makes a lot of people do things they shouldn't do. We give the ball away and then we're out of shape and then we're trying to catch up 3-4 yards and he sees that. So he just kind of plays a slow ball right in behind our back line and the guy does well to finish it. It hits the top of my foot. I'm pissed I don't save it, but it is what it is.
On the third goal…
That was my fault. That's not Jake's fault. I need to just open that up and hit it long. I can't put Jake in that situation. That's on me.
