DALvSKC Quotes: “Their goalkeeper made two great saves, but we’ve got to score”

Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes

On Sporting KC’s first goal of the season…

“We went forward very well in all our games. The problem is when you don’t create chances. We knew the goals would come eventually. I wasn’t worried about that at all. I was more focused on making sure we didn’t give the other team easy chances which we (made easy) with their second goal tonight. That’s probably what we focused on more than anything else.”

Conceded two goals in the second half and missed two penalties…

“I think their first goal was a good goal. It was a good build-up from them. They turned the ball around in the middle of midfield and I don’t know if it was a foul or not, but we had a chance.” To defend. They got the ball down the left flank pretty well and it was a good finish. It’s just going to happen. The second goal, I can’t really talk about it. We had two chances to take penalties and we t. You should score those goals, at least 80 percent in your favor. Your goalkeeper made two great saves but we have to score.”

On striker Willy Agada’s start to the season…

“He had chances tonight and he had chances in every game. If you say he started slowly and you mean he didn’t score then yes I would probably agree. But he had chances and he needs to just keep putting it in front of the net and have the guts to throw it in.”

Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi

Sporting KC’s first goal of the season…

“I’m happy with that first goal of the season, but not with the result. Hopefully the first win will come very soon because we can’t keep dropping points.”

In the second half of the game…

“We gave them way too much space. I think we fell back too far. Dallas are a good team. They will take their chances and they will take them well. They scored two good goals and we have our penalties and some others lost.” Opportunities. It’s not good enough, I have a feeling.

Nico Estevez, head coach of FC Dallas

General thoughts on the game…

“We are happy about the win, the home win is important. The lads know that and in the second half they turned it on and showed we were hungry to win. We were a bit unlucky with the deflected goal, a few things didn’t go the way we wanted. Even though we had some brilliant moments in the first half. The opponent is playing well and the results do not reflect the numbers they have set up and how they are performing on the field. Things like this show us how difficult and close these games can be.”

Maarten Paes’ penalty…

“I always say that football is about momentum. They could have an advantage if the opponents aren’t playing at their best, but a goal can change the dynamic of the game. This psychological part of the game is difficult to control. We’ve seen big teams win and ended up falling short because the opposition got going with a goal they scored. In our case, the penalty save was massive for us. The message Maarten (Paes) sent to his teammates read: “Hey, I’m here; Do your job and I’ll do mine. Let’s go’. We know how competitive he is and how good he is as a goalkeeper. We are grateful to have him here.”

On the momentum shift that led to the comeback…

“We are not at the level where we want to be permanently. We have good moments throughout the game but we’re still not where we want to be. We’ll break up for a second, but we’ll get back to what we’re supposed to do. We have to keep working on that. There are final sequences that we need to perfect. Whether it’s the last pass, the last action, and the previous pass before the last pass are things we need to adjust and correct. At half-time I told them that I don’t care how we finished the first half, we have to play our way. I didn’t care if we won, lost or drew. I just wanted to be ourselves. The other point we talked about was to focus on completing the action properly. It doesn’t matter how it ends, as long as you do the action you know you’re supposed to do. We score one and then focus on getting the second. The lads might have had a boring second half but we did the job and that’s all that matters.”

FC Dallas forward Alan Velasco

Thoughts on his two goals this season…

“Compared to last season, this year I’ve been there from the start of the season. That is very good for me and boosts my self-confidence.”

With two home wins in a row…

“For our team, a win is always important and that is our job. We train for it every day and it helps us be more confident of winning the game.”

For the debut of Jesús Jiménez…

“I’m very happy, a new player in the team means we have more potential. Jesus came in and was great. We will keep working throughout the week to get more results like today.”

FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes

“We always do our homework. Agada finished first and had six stutters, so it’s almost impossible to time as a goalkeeper with those rules now. You have to time really well, so I found it a bit hard. As I said, we did our homework on the second. I just went full out and I didn’t think he hit it that well because I had to adjust with my left hand. Luckily I was able to push it out first. Crazy coaster game but we managed to get three points. At the end of the season nobody talks about how we did it. The most important thing is that we got three points.”

About what’s going through his mind during the video review where he might have been sent off…

“I was ready for Agada to head the ball, then he headed to Nkosi (Tafari), then he dropped in the middle and I went to get the ball. I think I barely touched the guy. There might have been some light contact, but I barely touched it, so I figured they’d check it out for the fall. Then I heard on the bench that it might be offside, so with both incidents I thought there was a big chance it would be cancelled. It’s weird because you have to refocus but luckily with our great defensive work we were able to keep the door closed.”

What goes through his head after a game like this…

“Welcome to MLS. I think the way they played was really dangerous because Agada and Salloi had a lot of speed. I don’t know if you remember, but in the first half I had a clash with Agada. I had to be very far from my line and help them with high balls and sometimes you collide. Sometimes they are the first and sometimes I am the first. I think the first penalty I was a little too eager to get the ball but it was a great lesson. I know I had to rehabilitate myself and I think I have a good record on penalties.”