Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On Remi Walter's red card in the 21st minute...
Up until the point of the red card, I think we had 72% possession. We were creating good stuff away from home and playing really well. The red card happens and I've had a chance to see it. I see (Remi Walter) going to poke (the ball) and he pulls his leg back. The player makes a meal of it and the referee gives him a red. I find it incredibly difficult to accept that in the game, whenever we got the ball, they would foul us in a tactical move. I understand that. But it's the referee's job to be the one who deals with that.
Cam Duke was fouled many times within the first 20 minutes of the game and didn't even get a call. It blows me away. Four yellow cards and a red (for Sporting) to two yellow cards (for Minnesota). There are things I understand and things I don't understand. If you want to get to the game, I would tell you that it says a lot about our team to be able to go up against this challenge week in and week out.
On Sporting's toughness in getting the road result...
Our guys are up for the challenge and they bring it. No matter what the circumstances are, they go to fight. I have incredible respect for the group of guys in that locker room because they know it, they feel it, they see it, they experience it. Unfortunately they don't get the respect they deserve. And like always, I don't ask for people to make stuff up. But the stuff that gets handed down to us and the fouls that don't get called and the guys that don't get the respect on the field, it's just disgusting. I'm disgusted with it. I'm proud of our guys. They fought with a great mentality. To get a point against a good team like we played today-which Minnesota is a very good team with a lot of different weapons coming off the bench-and to play at their place with 10 men for the time that we had to, that was big time.
On the referee's decision making...
There are certain things that I can comprehend and other things that I just cannot. When I say respect, I talk about respect for the players when they get fouled. The fact that guys on my team don't dive and try to fight through tackles and you can't realize that as you're calling a game? My guys respect the game. He respects the way he's playing. He actually respects the referee because he's not trying to dupe him. He's not trying to get the call. I call that respect. I call it a lack of respect when guys on our team are running through full stride, get tackled and don't' get a call. A guy on the other team comes into the game, our guys chase him down, we have two guys around him, he falls down and our guy gets a yellow card. If you want to give that, I'll accept it. But do it for us as well. And it doesn't happen. It's sad. Time and time again, I'm disgusted with it.
The incredible thing is that our team, left and right, fights our it. That's our mentality. They aren't going to be denied. They're going to work for it. I give them all of the respect in the world for that piece.
On goalkeeper Tim Melia's performance...
Tim was excellent, but Tim's been excellent all year. He's another guy who doesn't get recognized in the way that he should. Week in and week out, he is a consistent goalkeeper. Excellent at shot stopping, excellent with his feet and a great team guy. Just tremendous. He had a great game, but I can't take away the effort that all of the guys showed for as long as they did being down a man. That was great.
On Alan Pulido's injury in the second half...
He got hurt and it was a consequence of that tackle. What can I tell you?
On playing seven matches in 22 days...
I keep getting impressed with the consistency of how they fight when, at every turn, they get into situations on the field where everything is stacked against them. They find a way. They don't get deterred from it, they just keep fighting and fighting. I'm incredibly proud of the effort and incredibly proud of their mentality. They care and they're committed. In my profession, if you have that, you have everything. I'm really happy with the guys. I'm glad we don't' have a midweek game next week. We'll give the guys a couple of days off and then we can have a nice buildup to our next game with some real training, which we haven't really had for six weeks.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia
Thoughts on the match...
After the red card, that was just a battle. There wasn't a ton of soccer going on. That type of performance where we all come together as a group and everyone is sacrificing their body all over the field and running players down, that's the type of performance for me that galvanizes you as a group. We didn't walk away with three points but so proud of the way we played tonight. Even if they had snuck a goal in there at the end, it wouldn't change the way I feel about the game at all because we truly came together as a group and we fought for every inch on that field today.
On the team battling through schedule congestion...
It's been a difficult season. We started a little bit later. We have breaks. We have congestion. We have guys out for a plethora of different reasons. To play these games on short rest - a Wednesday then Saturday game is a difficult amount of time to be prepared, especially coming against a really good opponent in Minnesota and especially playing on the road - so all those factors are just making us stronger and making us more prepared to hopefully be in our best form toward the end of the year so we can really make a run at getting into the playoffs and getting home field advantage. Those are always the goals that the season starts with.
On the level of respect for the team...
That's not our responsibility. Our responsibility on the field is to play the game plan that we set up that week to play. We're here to get results. I'm a big believer that if we start worrying about what everybody else does, we're going to start sacrificing what we're able to do. I'm not looking into any of that stuff. I'm just focusing on what we can do as individuals, what we can do as a team and how we can prepare for each group that we're playing against.
Sporting Kansas City defender Andreu Fontas
Thoughts on the match...
We have to be happy (with a draw), being down a man and playing away after a tough game at home. I think a result on the road again and with 10 men is huge for us. A great effort from everybody from the first minute to the last to try to get at least a point. We had a few opportunities to get an even better result but obviously we have to be happy with that point.
On the calls that went against the team...
It's so frustrating. I think we did a great job of fighting against absolutely everything, not just Minnesota. We have to be happy with that point but I think we showed that at 11v11 we were doing better than them. Also, with 10, I think we had a good game. We suffered, obviously. That's normal. We have to be happy with that point.
On the team's six-game road unbeaten run...
It's huge. This means a lot for us. Obviously, we were coming for the three points and I think we showed that at the beginning. Then things happen and we had to play 11 against 10. Down a man, still we fought and we showed that we want to be up there. We deserve to be up there. It's been an amazing season going on the road and our performances that we've been doing. It's huge. It's great. Now we have to make this point good at home. We can not lose more points at home. Now we have an entire week to rest and prepare for the next game. I think we have to get the three points and make this one even better.
