Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match…
It's a really hard one, because we were not ready. That's the truth. We were not ready in the first half for this fight and that is hard to swallow because cup games are fight games first. And against lower division teams, you have to be ready mentally to accept the fight. I don't think it has anything to do with tactics or with anything else. It's that we didn't win duels, we didn't win second balls, we didn't win 1v1 duels. They were way more aggressive than we were. And, if you don't have those basics then it's very difficult. I don't think we need to start talking about, is the build-up shape good? Is the build-up shape bad? It's not about that. It's about being ready for these fights and we were not, unfortunately.
On the team not being ready…
Right now, after the game, I cannot give an answer to that. The fact is that they were winning almost every duel. They were playing long balls and they had the second balls. They had more fight in them. I cannot give you the answer right now. That is the fact from the first half. And then I think it was pretty late to react. We tried to react in the second half with playing different as well, because it wasn't easy but they also played football, so it should be able for us as well. But we tried to be a bit more direct and give them more of a fight, which I think we did, but not enough. The first half clearly was just not enough.
On his message to the team…
I told them exactly what I told you right now. I told them exactly those words and nothing else, nothing more.
On the team’s reaction…
I mean, immediately after a game in the locker room, it's not that they respond. I gave the team a message and I think we are all on the same boat, right? I told them that we all have to ask ourselves, why were we not ready for this fight in the first half? That's a question every individual has to ask themselves. Why were they more hungry? Why did they want it more? Because I believe it was that, first and foremost, and then there is always another response. I don't want a response right now. We travel back no, and then we will sit together tomorrow and we will have to prepare for the next game, which is arriving very, very fast.
On the red card to Shapi Suleymanov…
I haven't had a chance to look at it. I have obviously seen the foul against Shapi and then obviously there's frustration, but I haven't seen the rest.
Sporting KC forward Taylor Calheira
Thoughts on the match…
Obviously it’s just disappointing, the result in general -- not just the first half, but the whole game. I just think they just came out with more fire and more desire. As a USL team, they want to be in an MLS team so they came out fighting. We have just got to learn from it and take this one to the chest and know that it's just not good enough, especially for a club this big. We are just going to have to look at it and we have got a quick turnaround so take it on the chin and come out swinging next game.
On his experience as an underdog in the Open Cup…
Their dream is probably to play in MLS so when you get a chance to play against an MLS team, you play like it's the World Cup Final. I've been there and done the same. It doesn't have anything to do with talent. I think it's just desire and just wanting to prove something. We're an MLS team and we should prove that we deserve to be here.
On coming in for the second half…
Obviously we were 2-0 down in such an important cup against a USL team. The message was just we have got to want it more. They came out on the front foot, and we just had to have more desire and be better. Even still, the second half maybe was a little bit better, but at the same time it wasn't good enough. We should still be able to come back and we still gave up another goal. It definitely hurts, but we'll keep working.
