Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On Sunday's match overall...
“I thought for us to come here, move the ball the way that we did and possess the ball well, I thought we had a lot of the game in their half, especially in the first half. Thought second half it became a little more end-to-end, especially after they scored. I thought we were deserving of the point here tonight. I thought that we did a good job coming off of our game on Thursday night. It was emotional and also a little physically taxing, but at the end I think we had enough energy to come play here tonight, and I thought they did a good job to stay in the game and find a way back in.”
On balancing MLS and Champions League...
“Anytime you can go on the road, whether in CCL or not, you know to go in and get a point on the road is an important aspect. To get three is great. Tonight, doing that in lieu of what happened Thursday night is even more important. It’s keeping us at least within the group of the league and keeping us competitive.”
On the impact his substitutes had tonight...
“I always think it’s important that the guys you bring into the game, subs, have an impact. I thought that Kelyn Rowe played well in the game, too, and Johnny [Russell] came in and got us the goal that we needed at the time and was important, so it’s important that there is an impact from substitutions.”
Sporting Kansas City Forward Johnny Russell
On Sunday’s game...
“It was a tough game. It was nice to steal a point out there and shortly on as well. It's always a difficult place to come here.”
On his instructions prior to subbing on...
“(Vermes) just said go and get at them and try and create something and make something happen. It didn’t really happen up until the free kick, where we were playing well. I’m just glad that I could come on, contribute a little bit and help the team get the point.”
Sporting Kansas City Defender Seth Sinovic
On Sunday’s game...
“It was an interesting game; thought we had a lot of possession. We were dangerous at times, but Colorado is very dangerous on the counter and with some direct play. I think we’re a little disappointed not to get a better result out of it, but to fight and come back and get a tie after being down a goal so late, it feels good to come back.”
On the international break and upcoming game...
“I think we need to take advantage of that. We’ve obviously had a pretty congested schedule with a lot of travel at the beginning of the year with Champions League and the start of the MLS season. Guys need to take it easy and make sure we get prepared. Get mentally fresh and physically fresh leaning into our next little stretch here.”
Colorado Rapids Head Coach Anthony Hudson
Opening statement...
“First, I just want to thank all of the fans again, staying with us right until the end. It’s hard because it almost feels like a loss at the end because in my view it’s definitely two points dropped. Coming in at the end, although it feels to myself, the staff, and the players, it feels like a loss, I think what’s important for myself and the message I try to get across was: we cannot take away from the performance that the players put in today. They put against probably one of the top teams in the country, who have a lot of quality not only in in the first eleven, but coming off the bench as we saw tonight.
Credit to them and their coach, they are a fantastic team. We’ve literally for 90-plus minutes, for me, have been the better team, created a lot of chances, even situations that didn't turn into chances were good situations, and we played tonight as a team. That was one thing I was very proud of, we played as a team. I think the players absolutely fought for each other, we were brave, we were aggressive, we were positive. I have to say I am very proud of the players, and taking the result out of it, again, it was a very good performance.”
On the new-look offense...
“We are still early in our development in our attack. Every game we are seeing more and more that our fullbacks getting involved, more and more we are seeing our attacking midfielders getting involved. The first half Kellyn Acosta, for example, makes a great run out wide on the left and cuts in and plays the ball across the face of the goal. Every game we’re progressing in the final third and the two strikers are an absolute handful. Not only are they a massive threat, but they both have the most unbelievable mentality and attitude and are team players. You see there at the end with ten men Kei [Kamara] still running around and occupying the back four and fighting and scrapping. It’s an area that we will keep improving on, it’s early days for us, but for us to get thirteen-plus shots off tonight, good chances, and also situations that didn't turn into shots.”
Colorado Rapids Midfielder Benny Feilhaber
On the 90 minutes...
“It’s obviously disappointing. We dropped two points at the end. There are both positive and negative things to take away from the game. I think we did a decent job of not giving them too many chances, especially for a quality team like them. From our perspective, we created some chances, but I’d still like us to be a little more adventurous in terms of possessing the ball. But obviously, the big story being that we dropped two points.”
Colorado Rapids Forward Diego Rubio
On his first goal with the Rapids...
“It started with Kei [Kamara] applying good pressure. Sporting Kansas City likes to pass the ball around the back of their defense. The goalie made a bad touch on the ball and I took the opportunity.”
On playing up top with Kei Kamara...
“Kei is an experienced striker and goal scorer, so of course it’s good to have him. He showed up late to preseason and training camp, so I think we need to continue to build on our chemistry. But he’s a fantastic player and I think he makes everything easier for us.”
On having a good offensive and defensive game as a team…
“It was a good game for us. I don't think they had many chances to score on us. I just think we need to continue to keep doing what we are doing. We’re playing hard, and we need to keep giving a 200 percent effort. It’s a long season, but of course we need to score more goals, especially at home. We just need to keep doing what we are doing.”
