Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja
Opening Statement
“It was a game that we should have won. I thought we had our opportunities, I thought we had the actions to define the game. The effort of the players was there constantly, and Chicago had a few instances just to get out of those moments. But we felt that we fell short, we should have won it, and it is disappointing still. We see the team growing in some areas and, again, the players effort is always for me remarkable.”
On the non-call on Ivan Angulo in the first half
“The first [thought is] that we should have scored that one. The second, is that I can't understand why it's not a PK. Surely if I go with what I should say today, I will be fined or something. But it is inexcusable for the referees to not give us that PK. We saw it, the [Chicago] guy who came from behind and pushed him to avoid him taking a kick. Clear PK.”
On defending Chicago’s push in the last 20 minutes of the match
“I thought we had to increase our organization, especially in the middle. They [Chicago] started to occupy in the spaces in the middle that we couldn't control. And as the game went on, we felt that Chicago was having some dangerous actions in here. We had ours too, a couple of ones that we could have defined better. But it's true that in the last part we lost a little bit of control.”
Orlando City SC Forward Facundo Torres
Overall thoughts on the game
“I think it was a game that was really favorable for us in the way that we started, where we were executing in what we wanted to bring to the game, and we were able to get the early goal. Then for one reason or another we started to, not necessarily underestimate, but play easy with the ball and they were able to find their way into the game and push us into our half and get the goal. For own responsibility we let the game escape us and at the end of the day I think the draw was justified because we started well, but we let the game escape us.”
On what he saw on his goal
“It was a ball that fell to my right foot, and I was trying to control and finish it, but it escaped me a little bit. Then there was a thousand different situations in which we were trying to get it in, and it didn’t end up that way, but then it fell to my left foot in a way where I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to finish. But thankfully it went in and at the end of the day it didn’t help us too much with only the draw, but happy that I was able to put the ball in the back of the net.”
On if the field surface impacted the way the team played
“There’s no excuses. The responsibility lies with ourselves, especially given the way we want to play with the ball and maintain control of the game and when we weren’t doing that Chicago was able to grow into the game and believe in themselves. This team takes nothing but responsibility for the result tonight.”
