Sporting Kansas City II head coach Paulo Nagamura
On the 2-1 loss to Charlotte…
We came in with a game plan, and even though we had guys who hadn’t trained much with each other in terms of preparing for a game, it was a fine performance. We had eight players coming in from the first team and we just finished preseason with our new guys. When you look at it that way, I think we did really well. I think we controlled most of it, we had chances and we had shots on goal. The players did what we asked of them, we had the game in our hands and we just let it slip away.
On the debuts of Petar Cuic, Fredinho Mompremier and Enoch Mushagalusa.
They have done very well. Petar was excellent today. He was good coming out of the back aggressively and defending. It was a very good performance from him. Fredinho had his moments, too, and I think he showed he can be dangerous offensively. The new guys that we have brought in have really added quality to the group. Enoch was dangerous when he came on—he was trying to create some things further up the field.
On his takeaways after the first match…
Again, it’s early in the season and it’s a work in progress. I always say that, and we’ve only had four or five weeks with our guys. I believe that we will only get better with time. It’s frustrating that we didn’t get a result today because, to be honest, I thought we deserved much more than what we got. But that’s how it is, right? If you give away a bad ball in your defensive half and you don’t defend how you’re supposed to defend, teams will punish you. But I still think the guys did well and we can take a lot of positives out of this game.
Sporting Kansas City II defender Petar Cuic
On making his Sporting KC II debut…
The first game was tough. I feel bad about losing all three points because I think we deserved a lot more than that. Honestly, I think we deserved three points today. But that’s soccer, so we need to keep going.
On the positives of Sunday’s performance…
There are some positives, although you do not want to concede two goals. We had 20 shots, so that’s a positive thing—to be offensive and to have 70 percent of ball possession. I think we are going in the right direction. Today the luck wasn’t on our side, so hopefully the next game will be better.
On acclimating to his new club…
The integration has been top level. The boys are great and we have a really good squad. I’m very happy for what is to come.
Sporting Kansas City II forward Fredinho Mompremier
On making his Sporting KC II debut…
It was a good day for me and a good first game with this new club. I am disappointed we did not win today, but we will come back ready for the next game, for sure. There are a lot of good things we can take from today. It’s the result that matters, so we just have to keep working hard, working on our finishing and get the result we want next time.
On acclimating to his new club…
It’s a very good environment. Everyone here is confident in the team and we all like playing with each other. We are working hard every day in training with the (goal) of getting the result. We didn’t do that today, but it’s still a very good environment and I am very happy to be playing here.
