A smirky staredown with Zlatan Ibrahimovic before kickoff.
A stunning equalizer from Johnny Russell just before full time.
And a cathartic post-game Tweet just shy of 1:30 in the morning.
Defender Matt Besler experienced a full range of emotions on Saturday night, captaining Sporting Kansas City to a 1-1 draw against the LA Galaxy that propelled the side into the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Joining The Border Patrol hosts Nate Bukaty and Steven St. John for his customary Sports Radio 810 WHB appearance this morning, Besler reflected on the emotional night in great detail.
First came the staredown with Ibrahimovic, the iconic Galaxy forward whose world-class pedigree is matched by his brash confidence and bold character. Besler, who got the best of Ibrahimovic in Sporting KC's 2-0 win over the Galaxy in April, found himself locked eye-to-eye with the smirking Swede in the seconds leading up to kickoff at Children's Mercy Park.
"Before we kicked off, he was just staring at me smiling for like 30 seconds," Besler said. "I've never had that happen to me, where someone's trying to get into your head. I was actually laughing, too, because I love that sort of thing. I thought it was awesome."
As the game unfolded, Sporting KC struggled to translate their dominance into a lead on the scoreboard. LA led from the 25th minute until the 83rd minute, when Russell canceled out Ibrahimovic's penalty kick with a sensational solo effort that ignited wild celebrations around the stadium.
"I've seen it happen all season in training, but for it to come off in a game is great to see," Besler said. "It's a highlight-reel goal, and it's even bigger considering how badly we needed that one. He's got an insane ability with the ball at his feet."
Besler then explained the Tweet he posted a few hours after the game, sharing his candid thoughts on a controversial match in which Sporting KC were aggrieved not to get more than a point.
"In the locker room guys were pissed and emotions were high, but it was almost like this feeling of, 'You know what, let's go!' It feels like a lot of things were stacking up against us, but let's use this to motivate us in our next game. We're ready to go, and that's the feeling I had the moment I left the locker room. It's also the reason I was still fired up a few hours after the game, so I wanted to get that (Tweet) out for people to see. It let people know how fired up we are and how excited we were to put in a performance like that where our intensity was so high that the other team couldn't keep up, and the referee couldn't keep up either."
Sam McDowell, the Kansas City Star's beat reporter for Sporting KC, also appeared on Sports Radio 810 today, joining Soren Petro on The Program to discuss the referee controversies that marred Saturday's contest. He also touched on the U.S. Men's National Team returning to Children's Mercy Park for the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup, which was announced earlier this morning.
Listen to the entirety of both podcasts below.
Sporting KC defender Matt Besler on The Border Patrol
Kansas City Star reporter Sam McDowell on The Program
