Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the game’s final minutes…
I have not had a chance to review the red card, so I don’t know what happened there. Unfortunately, it’s a red card right now. I don’t know what else to say. Up until then we had a pretty good tactic. We were really good. We didn’t give much away. We were managing the game really well. At that point, obviously, we got the red card and then they were throwing a lot of numbers forward. It’s disappointing from the perspective we put a lot of good work into the game and we had good control of it. That part was disappointing.
On the team looking a little tired towards the end…
Well, first of all, we don’t have this kind of heat right now in Kansas City, so that’s the first piece. We were fine. We were actually really good when the second half started there were no problems. Being a man down, at that point, it got very difficult. We had one guy who got injured and it started a snowball effect on trying to sub guys in and out. That was more of a difficulty being a man down.
On Jimmy Nielsen’s performance…
He was good. He started to come out of his goal actually, as well, a couple of times, which then helped us with some of the balls they were serving into the box. When you can get your keeper to come off his line and do that, it can control the aerial duel inside the box. He did well. He managed the game well.
On Teal Bunbury…
He’s getting there. It’s really minutes. Even that was a far stretch for him tonight, getting 20 minutes. He was really starting to suck wind there the last five minutes of the game because it wound up being 25 because of the extra time. But, he is coming along. He is. The good thing is he’s back.
On the red card…
I saw it, but I don’t know all of it because I don’t know where the ball came from. I can tell you this. I know CJ (Sapong). He would never try to intentionally kick a ball at someone. It’s just not his personality. I’m just telling you it’s not his personality. I just don’t know how that ball came in there and how the whole thing led to it.
Sporting Kansas City Goalkeeper/Captain Jimmy Nielsen
On the red card…
I think 11 v 11 we did a great job. Of course it’s going to be tough with 10 men. We gave a lot with 10 men. We were dropping back. Dallas got room to serve the balls they wanted to and we had a tough time dealing with those balls and gave away two goals in the last five minutes of the game.
On the team's attitude after the game...
Right now it’s a huge disappointment but you can turn it around and say they hit the post twice in the first half so, overall, a tie is a fair result but right now it feels like a defeat.
On playing on the road...
We did a hell of a good job. We had good momentum. We were pretty smart out there as well, had good possession in their half of the field. I think 11 v 11 we did an outstanding job. Right now it feels like a defeat but when we recover from this feeling we’ve still got to remember we got a point in a very, very tough place to play.
On the team's approach to the match…
We did a pretty good job to keep the ball away from their dangerous players. They have a lot of good offensive players on the team but I think we did a great job on that. We forced them to hit the long balls. Unfortunately, not enough.
Sporting Kansas City forward Kei Kamara
On the penalty kick...
The defenders from Dallas were holding a lot in the first five to 10 minutes. The referee saw that. He didn’t call one of mine when (George) John was holding me but Aurelien Colin was trying to poke a ball in and they pulled him back and that led to the penalty kick.
On conceding two late goals…
Dallas has been a really strong team on set plays – corner kicks and free kicks – and we gave them an awful lot today and they capitalized on it. Me personally, on both of the goals they scored I could have played a bigger hand in it but I let them slip away. I had a big hand in letting those go. But that’s what they’ve been really good at. They’ve been really aggressive going forward on set plays and that was one of the focuses for us coming into the game but we blew it.
On earning a point on the road…
It doesn’t matter if we’re playing at home or away. We’re a team that goes at it. We’re not going to sit back and wait for anyone. Unfortunately, we got the red card which made us sit back a bit but we were still able to go forward and Dallas knows that. But those were three points for us to take home and we just gave it away to them. It feels like a defeat to us.
Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler
On the team's tactics…
We had a solid game plan. I thought for the first 65-70 minutes, when we had 11 men, we executed almost perfectly. We had success the last time we came here and we followed the game plan from that game. Obviously things didn’t go in our favor at the end of the game.
On the own goal…
Every time we have a corner, the way Graham Zusi serves the ball, he puts it in dangerous spots every single time. For us it’s weapon. We’ve got guys who can attack the ball. We got two goals off of set pieces as well.
On moving forward...
The positive that we take out of this is that for 65-70 minutes away on the road we were beating the best team in the league right now, 2-0. We take the positive out of it and we move on. We have another home game against Columbus on Saturday.
FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman
On the 16,361 in attendance...
For everyone out in the stands, we heard you. The players showed a lot of desire and determination to come back and score two late goals.
On Blas Perez...
Blas was great. The timing he had with the ball, good pacing with the ball. Also, it was a point in time in the game where we felt that we needed Kenny [Cooper] and Blas in there together. I think he did help us.
On the penalty kick awarded to Sporting KC...
I don’t know. I was having a hard time figuring out what happened on the PK. I haven’t had the time, quite honestly, to look at the video. Whether it was a foul or it was a handball, I really don’t know. As for [Andrew Jacobson], I thought he fought awfully hard in this game. He had a new partner up there in Je-Vaughn Watson, and AJ had a very good game for us.
On hitting the woodwork twice in the first half...
We probably should have found the goal in the first half. I kept looking up above the stadium, where there was a full moon and sometimes full moons are bad karma or bad luck or whatever it may be. Even though we were up a man, I didn’t know if we were going to find a goal tonight.
On the play of substitute Ramon Nunez...
One guy who really made a difference coming onto the field besides Blas [Perez] was Ramon. He got a lot of touches on the ball and really opened more opportunities for David [Ferreira] to get free. You could see there were very good moments of possession and combination with Ramon on the field.
On Walker Zimmerman not being called into represent the U.S. Under-20 team in the World Cup...
[The U.S. U-20s] could have definitely used [Zimmerman]. We were surprised he wasn’t on the roster. At the same time, those coaches made decisions for their own reasons. We like Walker a lot. The more you’ll see of him the more you’ll like him. He’s such a competitor. He’s such a good guy. The guys like being around him. He’s got great timing and a lot of courage when he gets near the ball. He’s going to be a good one for us.
On the red card...
You know what, I don’t know. I think it was a goofy red. If you think back, there was a lot of time wasting, a lot of disruptive play. That’s one of the things we talked about at half time. If we’re going to continue to let them be disruptive and foul us and delay the game, we’re going to lose. I don’t know if we would have been able to score if they’d have had 11 on the field but there also probably could have been more yellow cards given out to both teams.
On the character of the team...
Very seldom do I talk to the team at the end of the game on the field, because normally I talk to them in the locker room, but I got them all together because I wanted to let them know what a great sign it was for them - their determination and desire not to lose. For us to have a good season, we have to do well at home. Tonight showed the character of this team. I’m sure you've seen it on different teams and in different sports, but team chemistry and character is one of the strongest things that can get you through difficult times. We have that right now.
FC Dallas defender George John
General thoughts on the game…
They are a very strong team with very talented players. Luckily, we got a point after being down 2-0 and coming back in the last five minutes.
On the red card...
Yeah, of course. They got a red card. They went down a man, so it gave us quite an advantage there. I think it really gave us a lot of momentum towards the end to get two goals back.
On the two goals...
Yeah it’s huge, a 2-0 lead is kind of dangerous and once we got one, you could feel the energy on the field and the energy in the crowd. The crowd did a great part in helping us come back. Walker [Zimmerman] came up huge for us. It was a great ball by David [Ferreira] and I couldn’t be happier for Walker’s moment tonight.
On the transition coming from Matt Hedges to Walker…
It’s always tough. It’s a huge partnership on the field between the two center backs. There is a lot of communicating going on and playing off each other. So obviously it took us a few minutes to get on the same page, but you know Walker is a great player and he got the pace real fast. It wasn’t the first time playing with him, so it was not a big deal at all.
FC Dallas midfielder Ramon Núñez
On his assist…
(Andrew Jacobson) was winning everything all night long, and luckily he got the goal to help us push on.
On his first minutes at home…
Yeah, it’s something very important to take a step forward. Injuries are a thing of the past now and just focusing on doing the job for the team. I’m very happy I was able to come in and play a part in a tie. We feel we could have gotten a win, but in the end after being down 2-0, I think a tie is good.
On his fitness...
I feel good. I think everything else is going to come by playing minutes, and I think today is the start of something good to come. Obviously I’m going to keep working harder and harder each day. I know I can give a lot more, so just keep working harder and I know things will come.
