Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On tonight's game...
“Credit to Dallas, they were the better team today. Scored a penalty kick, timely goal right before the half, and then a timely goal right after half. I thought we were second best. It wasn't good enough out of our group, and so we congratulate Dallas. They showed why they're the best team in the league with their performance tonight.”
On whether or not early chances could have changed the game…
“Yeah, that’s most soccer games. It’s my job to look at that. The biggest thing we can’t do is panic in this one game. Every team in the league has games like this. Obviously we lost to a very good team, who hasn’t lost at home. We give up a penalty kick early in the game, that sets the tone a little bit. I thought we responded okay from that, and then we give up a goal right before the end of the first half, so that was the back breaker. We had some chances. [Lucas] Melano had a breakaway early in the game when he dribbled the goalkeeper and that didn’t quite come off. We also hit the crossbar at 2-0. So there are always moments where it could swing. Obviously the penalty kick was a big turning point in the game. But, they scored a goal before half, and they scored another goal after half. So, for me, we were second best today. They were the better team today but it’s important to realize it’s one game. Last year, we lost to this team 4-1 in July. We went on to win the MLS Cup. So like I said, every team has these days. You never like it. We don’t accept it. We take responsibility for it. But, seven days ago we had a very, very good performance. So, it’s easy to look at this game and think it’s broken. It’s not. We played a very good team. We weren’t good enough on the day, and we have to obviously take responsibility for that and we have to correct it. How you correct it is you don’t dwell, you don’t feel sorry for yourself. You make it right, you accept responsibility. There were some performances today that I didn’t think were good enough. Obviously losing [Darlington] Nagbe and Alvas Powell played a part. There were moments in the game that played a part as well, but it’s over, it’s history. We have two days to put it behind us. We’ll take those two days to get over it. In that locker room there is a group of guys that aren’t happy. I’m not happy. We don’t accept today. It’s at a stage in the season where every point matters. We have six games to go, so we have to make it right with these two home games coming up. That’s what we’re going to focus on.”
On adjustments the team needs to make to win on the road…
“Yeah, it’s been a strange season on the road. We’ve been one of the best teams in the league on the road, so that’s what makes it even more mystifying because last year we won seven games on the road. The year prior we won seven games on the road. That’s 14 road wins. That’s the most in MLS. This year, everyone says, ‘We haven’t won,’ and that’s true but we’ve been close all year. We’ve drawn six games and in four of those games, we were up. But, we’ve just not found that kind of breakthrough result. Today was no different, unfortunately. We take it on the chin. We get a bit bloodied but I have a good group of guys. We have to move on from it. That’s all we can do. I’m going to choose to chalk it up to we lost to a good team today. I’m not going to chalk it up to anything else because seven days ago was our best performance of the year and I know it's in there."
Portland Timbers FC defender Liam Ridgewell
On tonight's game...
“Not good enough. We need to start picking up points quickly. We didn't perform as we should have and it was a disappointing result.”
On how to correct the team's winless road record...
“Win games. It's coming into the business end of the season and we want to make sure we're in the playoffs come the end of the season and start picking up wins and winning games. Tonight was enough and it’s something we need to put right next week.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri
On the impact of their goal just before the half…
“It’s a big impact on the game, but we couldn’t score in the first 20 minutes of the second half. And, then when they scored the third one, I think they managed the score. They sat back a little bit more. They tried to counter and they did it well, and we scored late. But, we have to move on. We move on and focus on the next game.”
On team’s desire to still fight and score late in the game…
“It’s the same feeling that we had in the last two seasons. As you said, we’re a tough group. We have to fight until then, so we need to move on. We’ll rest well these next couple of days, and then focus on Real Salt Lake.”
On how the team plans to focus on the upcoming games…
“By being realistic. With this group, we know that we can make the playoffs. We know that we can go across the group in the CONCACAF Champions League. So, we have to think now on Real Salt Lake and on the next game, and the one after that. And, that’s it. We have confidence in this group, in this quality. We’ll fight.”
FC Dallas Quotes
FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja
General thoughts on the match…
“What a good night for FC Dallas with three important points. Credit again to these players who have been playing in three tournaments at the same time, and I will say probably more because some of them are also playing in national team qualifications for the World Cup, so the job has been great. Credit as well for the players who were not regulars in the team, and tonight they stepped up and occupied that position and did an excellent job. Regarding the game, I thought we had a great first half where we could have had a lot of answers for the game. As the game went, we were the best team. We created options. Especially in the first half, we were finding the last third, and then the second half, we managed to create many options, and it could have been larger, but respect to Portland. They gave us competition and kept us tight during the whole game.”
On being back home after a tough road stretch…
“It has been tough, but we are proud. The boys have put all those circumstances away, and with a lot of professionalism just given us a lot of soccer in the games at home and away, getting points. We are really focused on what we want. The thing I like the most is this group, they are really taking the journey one step at the time. I want them just to come and perform every day the way they are, and that made me feel very honored to coach them.”
FC Dallas Homegrown player Victor Ulloa
On being back at home…
“It felt great to be back at home. We had a stretch of games away and a lot of long trips. It was good to be back home and be able to prepare for a full week for an opponent.”
On his goal…
“I was in the right place at the right time. I was focusing this week on getting myself into the box. I’m glad that I did. I am glad I got the goal.”
FC Dallas defender Walker Zimmerman
On his defensive chemistry with Ryan Hollingshead…
“With Ryan [Hollingshead] in particular, he has a lot of experience there [at left back]. It’s not a new guy coming to a new position. He’s comfortable there and we’re comfortable with having him back there. We’re comfortable with playing alongside anyone. And to have a whole week to prepare in training, since the absences [international call ups] left, was big and important that we got to really work and familiarize ourselves with each other again.”
Notes:
- Midfielder Diego Valeri scored his 11th goal of the season, tying him with Frank Lampard for the eighth-most goals in MLS this season. Valeri also tied his career-high for goals in MLS, which he originally set in the 2014 season.
- Valeri recorded his 34th goal in his MLS career, placing him one goal shy of fifth place on the Timbers all-time goal-scoring list behind Dale Mitchell, who played in the club's NASL era from 1979-82.
- Midfielder Diego Chara started his 170th regular season match for Portland, tying him with teammate Darlington Nagbe for the most starts across all eras in club history (since 1975).
- Zarek Valentin recorded his first assist of the season, marking his first assist in an MLS match since July 4, 2012, when he was a member of the Montreal Impact.
- Jack Barmby made his second start for the Timbers.
