Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 Philadelphia Union
Sigi Schmid – Sounders FC Head Coach
(Opening Statement)… “Obviously we are pleased we got the win. Today, coming back, we made it hard for ourselves. We had some good chances in the first half-(Lamar) Neagle’s off the post, obviously as well as the penalty kick. We didn’t put those chances away…. But I am proud of our team, our character, our willingness and ability to fight back again.”
(On the come-from-behind victory…) “The guys fight for each other, the guys battle for each other. We said it at the beginning of the season-we wanted to be a team that fought to the very end of the game and we’ve done that. We’re showing that when the crowd is here, and they’re behind us, and it’s raining, and they’re still singing, chanting and jumping up and down-we deserve to keep working for them.”
(On Osvaldo Alonso taking the penalty kick…) “Ozzie’s wife is pregnant, so the guys let him take a penalty for his new baby.”
(On Marco Pappa’s performance off the bench…) “Marco came in and helped us. (Dylan) Remick got injured and we needed to take him out. We were thinking about bringing a defender to that position, but I felt we needed to get Marco on and we could move Brad Evans back there to left back. I thought that was a good way to do it. I think Marco’s passing certainly helped us getting some combinations and going forward.”
John Hackworth – Philadelphia Union Head Coach
(On the result…) “It’s a difficult one to take because you came in and played well in the first half and we got up a goal. Even in the second half we had some chances to get a second one and we didn’t put those away. You’re playing a really good team though; you’ve got to give full credit to Seattle. They came back to get back in the game and Chad Marshall makes a great play on the corner kick, don’t know what to say.”
(On Maurice Edu’s play recently…) “Mo’s a good player; he’s done a really good job for us. I thought he had a good game today; the service from Maidana was excellent on the goal. I haven’t seen it but I think Brad at the end last touched it but it was a good one by Mo.”
(On Maurice Edu’s possible inclusion on the World Cup team…) “Yeah, I think he has earned that spot for sure, in my opinion. But that’s not up to me; I think he’s proven game in and game out that he’s capable of playing at a very high level. Right now our issues are our team, not so much individuals. We have a lot of guys that are playing good. We continue to make mistakes in some critical moments.”
(On Amobi Okugo…) “I think Amobi has put himself in a position where he should be a guy that, if he can reach his game should probably be included in there in the next cycle as a guy we talk about. He still has some room to improve and he has to first and foremost respond when given the opportunity.”
(On Okugo’s versatility helping his chances of playing for the national team…) “Yeah, probably; depends on what they’re looking for.”
(On what they can take from this game into the next game…) “We take way that we can come into probably one of the most difficult environments in the MLS and compete and play with in my opinion probably the best team in the league right now and we had an opportunity to get a result tonight. Once again we kind of let ourselves down.”
