TUKWILA, Wash. — Seattle Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer on Friday denied admitting midfielder Osvaldo Alonso should have been sent off during the team's Western Conference Knockout Round match on Thursday against Sporting Kansas City, an implication made by SKC head coach Peter Vermes during a passionate press conference following the match.
Vermes railed against the officiating crew following the Sounders' 1-0 win on Thursday night and repeatedly insisted Alonso should have been sent off with a second yellow card for a rash tackle on SKC playmaker Benny Feilhaber in the second half. Vermes also said Schmetzer admitted to him privately following the game that Alonso should have been sent off, which Schmetzer denied on Friday following the Sounders' training session.
"[Schmetzer] said, 'Hey look, I know it doesn't mean that much and there's nothing you can do about it now, but it was for sure a red card,'" Vermes said Thursday night.
“No,” Schmetzer said when asked whether he had said as much to Vermes. “No.”
Vermes said that SKC players and coaches left the game with an "incredible bad taste in our mouths" and that the Professional Referee Organization and Major League Soccer should issue SKC an apology for potential missed calls.
“We always control the controllables,” Schmetzer said Friday. “Whatever Pete says, that’s his business, I can’t address that. What I can address is that this league is a tough league. Until there’s some form of instant replay where we can go back and make calls correctly, whatever the opposing teams or fans say in an emotional moment, whatever he’s trying to get at, I can’t control that.
“The fact of the matter is that referees have a tough job. They also make mistakes. And we live and die sometimes by their calls.”
Schmetzer then referenced the 2012 U.S. Open Cup final against SKC when Zach Scott was whistled for a handball in the box when his arm was tucked at his side and SKC was awarded a penalty kick, which Kei Kamara ultimately converted.
“Sigi [Schmid] never complained about that,” Schmetzer said. “Pete did what he had to do. I have the utmost respect for Pete and what he does for his club, but that’s his business. My business is taking care of my guys.”
