Down 5-0 in their Concacaf Champions League semifinal series with 90 minutes to go, Sporting Kansas City aren't throwing in the towel ahead of Thursday's second leg against Monterrey.
āThereās always a chance,ā said winger Johnny Russell after Sporting's 1-1 draw at FC Cincinnati on Sunday. āWe didnāt do ourselves any justice in the away tie. We know how difficult itās going to be. The odds are stacked against us for the home tie, but you never know. Iāve seen what this teamās capable of, and weāre capable of coming from behind."
Peter Vermes echoed the Scottish wingerās sentiments after his teamās draw.
āIt would be great to do well in the game and see if we can make a run at it,ā said Sporting KCās head coach.
Vermes cited Monterreyās recent Liga MX results as evidence that Los Rayados are vulnerable away from home. Add to that Sporting's recent 7-1 home win over the Montreal Impact, and the case becomes a bit more compelling.
ā[Monterrey] just lost 5-1 to Toluca, so stuff happens,ā said Vermes. āI think we have a good team. I donāt think we are seven goals better than Montreal, and I donāt think weāre five goals worse than Monterrey. Sometimes games happen like that. We have to respond in the right way and I think today against Cincinnati was a good first step in the right direction.ā
With the Champions League series on both sides of Sunday's match, Vermes made eight changes to his starting eleven against FC Cincinnati. The MLSās longest-tenured coach rested first-team regulars and selected a youthful roster that featured fresh faces like MLS debutant Gedion Zelalem and Gianluca Busio, who scored Sportingās goal.
āWe made a lot of changes to the lineup, obviously. I thought the guys that came in, for not having a lot of games under their belt, in all did a really good job,ā Vermes explained. āItās not easy to go get a result anywhere in this league, let alone do it with a lot of guys that havenāt played a lot of games in succession, so from that perspective, Iām proud of these guys. Iām proud of them for trying to play the way that we want to play.ā
Russell was one of the few regular starters who played big minutes in Cincinnati after starting in Mexico three days prior. He hopes some rest will help his Sporting KC teammates rise to the challenge they face later this week.
āThereās a lot of guys that played a lot of minutes and put in a lot of work, so they need a rest when they can get one. Weāve got a big squad, a very quality squad as well. Weāve always got the opportunity to make changes, and hopefully the guys get their rest, and it puts us in good stead for next game, because we know how hard a battle thatās going to be, to even try to get anything back from that after the position we left ourselves in.ā