Callum Williams, Andy Edwards and Carter Augustine returned to the airwaves last night for a new episode of the Sporting KC Show on Sports Radio 810-WHB. The hosts were joined by Sporting KC midfielder Paulo Nagamura and Houston Dynamo midfielder Andrew Driver. Listen to the podcast or read excerpts from the interview below:
Sporting KC midfielder Paulo Nagamura
On the return from injury
"It feels great to be back. We all knew how important these last two games were for Sporting KC, especially the game against New England. I had to fight against my fitness, I wasn't 100%, and I knew that I needed to help the team and fortunately I could do that."
On Sporting KC's position in the playoff series
"We are in a very much better position than last year. But I don't put us as a favorite. I think Houston has a good team. They are a team that has experience and they know how to do it in the playoffs. But in the same way, playing in front of our fans and our stadium, with the fans pushing us through the full 90 minutes, yeah, we might be able to say we have a slight advantage. But to be honest, it's going to be just another battle."
On gaining playoff experience the past two years
"It showed Saturday in Houston. It's not about playing beautiful soccer, it's about getting results. And we went down to Houston and we grabbed a 0-0 [tie], which is the result that we wanted. We wanted to bring the second leg home where we could just get a 1-0 [result] to go to MLS Cup. It shows that the team has the experience and is more mature. We did the job in Houston and now it's just about doing the job in KC."
Houston Dynamo midfielder Andrew Driver
On the first leg in Houston
"By no means was it a classic. It was a game where both teams had played so many games recently ... I think both teams will be fairly happy. Both teams wanted to win but will make for a good second leg.
Thoughts going into the second leg
"As teams go, we are pretty even. So I don't think anyone is massively the favorite. Obviously, Kansas City is at home, but we were massive underdogs against New York and went in and did a good job up there. We need to take the same mentality into this game. I think the quality of the game will be a lot better having a couple weeks to rest and recuperate. Both teams know it's a Cup final, it's a one-off, so anything can happen."
