CHICAGO (Oct. 4, 2023) - Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Frank Klopas and five other players spoke to the media following the 4-1 victory over Inter Miami CF on Oct. 4 at Soldier Field.
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Frank Klopas
On the momentum generated by the victory...
"Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. We talked about moments like this and opportunities that you have to grab. This game was sold out months ago. So I think we were looking forward to the match, obviously. I think stepping on the field and having a performance like this, I know the fans, a lot of them maybe came for the first time because they wanted to see also Lionel Messi and who doesn't want to see him? He's such a great player. Unfortunately, things happen, he wasn't here, but I think that they saw a great performance from our team.
I think it's important now to refocus, we have a game Saturday. And I think the one thing that I'm really confident is that I'm proud of the guys because they really showed the level that we can pla, and now we have to be more consistent and maintain that kind of level almost every game, you know? And I think that's an important thing. And everything is in our hands. We talked about a team that can be in the playoffs and I think we took a huge step tonight in doing that."
On how this result can lure fans back to Soldier Field...
"I think it's huge. We've had special games, you know, when you play international friendlies in the past where you pack this place. But now it seems like wherever Messi goes, you know, it's amazing what he's done to the league. So I think opportunities like this, you have to grab by having great performances, like we did tonight.
And then I put pressure on our guys, that the guys need to make a difference and have impact in games. You know, they stepped up big tonight. [Xherdan] Shaqiri was huge tonight. We brought [Maren Haile-Selassie] in and I think, he hasn't been as sharp of late, you know, then we put him in and he had a really good performance, scoring two goals, obviously. But as a team, Gaston Giménez was excellent, excellent. But on a whole, the whole team was fantastic.
But you have to grab these opportunities and moments, especially when you get to a place that's packed tonight. And I guarantee you that a lot of people will go home and say, 'Man, that was a great performance.' The game was entertaining. I think both teams came out to play, it was an open game. They saw some great goals. And I think that's what people want to see. It's still about putting a show on the field. And that's why people want to come and see special players like Messi. We have Shaqiri, I think he's special. We have Brian Gutiérrez, you know, but they need to be able to do it like they did it tonight. And I think the fans will walk away and I definitely feel that. I don't know if they'll be season ticket holders, but I definitely believe that they'll come in and see a number of games next year. Hopefully not just the Miami game again."
On building long-term off this result...
"I think that we had, as a team, I felt we had a great performance in the win against the Red Bulls, and you come back and you follow against another even better performance tonight. And I think, how do you follow up? You have to win. You have to continue to win. We have to be a team that's going to be in the playoffs, not just once every six or seven, eight years. I mean, this city is built on winning and the fans want to see winners. So, I think it's important that we're a team that, yeah, our goal should be the playoffs because that gives you an opportunity to win championships. And we need to be a team that's consistently there every year – and that's how you get the fans. If we're not, you know, then we shouldn't expect more. I think there's a culture, the soccer fans out here. But the team on the field, and I'm not sugarcoating stuff we all know, we have to be better. And we have to be a team that's in the playoffs every year. There's no other way I can put it in any words."
On the message to the team at halftime...
"I mean, even the first half, we had opportunities. We just, I think we were not confident– sloppy a little bit with the ball. Look, we had maybe seven or eight really good moments in transition. We knew that they're a team that are going to look to overplay out of everything, they're going to force balls. We talked about counter-pressing because once we lose the ball, I mean initially, it's like for them, they try to play, they take a lot of risks. We knew that, and the moments in the first half that we weren't dangerous enough, I think those moments turned into great opportunities and to goals the second half. I think that was the key and everybody stepped up, we had really good performances. And I think as a whole, I think when you look overall – individually and from a collective standpoint – the performance was excellent from everyone."
On a sterling performance from Fabian Herbers...
"I think he's a guy that you can plug in different spots on the field. I was gonna switch him to bring him on the left side because I think we were having some issues with [DeAndre] Yedlin on that side. I was gonna do it, then Guti had an issue the second half, a little bit, with his knee. Nothing serious, but he was feeling some problems and we didn't want to take a risk.
Fabi has been great, you can plug him in different spots. He's the kind of guy that, you know, as wingers, you need production. But then, when he doesn't even get production, he always finds ways to help the team. So you know, he's an experienced player; always in the final third with him, it's like, now can it be more dangerous? But when he gets to assist and score some big goals like he did and he has this year, it's been great. He's a guy that you can count on, for sure, in every match."
On what the result would have been with Lionel Messi on the field...
"Maybe 5-1 for us? I have to be confident. I don't know, I couldn't tell you, I couldn't tell you. I mean, obviously, what I said before is, the other day people asked me, I think a reporter from Miami, about Messi. I feel that Miami is still a very good team, you know? You have [Sergio] Busquets, I know [Jordi] Alba is missing, but you still have a, they have a good team. They brought a lot of players in the secondary window, [Facundo] Farías. I mean, I know they were missing guys, but we were missing guys, too. That's just part of the game with the season, you have to deal with it.
Obviously, Messi is a special player. He can change the game in an instant, but I can't worry about that, if Messi is here. If you [ask] me what the outcome would be, Fire would win. I'm a confident person, I believe in my team, there's no other way. There's no way I think any other way. I came in here expecting, we prepared for Messi to play. He's a great player, I love watching him, I've always loved, he's not here. But we have to play Miami. We're not playing Messi."
On Xherdan Shaqiri's performance under pressure...
"I don't know, maybe he needs 60,000 fans every game to perform like this. I mean for him, it's a big stage and I think he always, you know, big players perform on big stages. And he knew what was at stake today. He knew, not only MLS, I think worldwide, people were watching and he had an incredible performance. But I think we expect him– and I expect him – to be able to make a difference in every game. And today, he scored some great goals. But the way he played and the way he worked and stuff like that and he was very positive with everyone and it's great to see. For me, in every game, he always makes one or two, three passes that are world class. And I see how much he helps us, even though sometimes the numbers are not there as far as goals in this, and he needs to as a DP player. We all know that. You need that production from DP players, but I think his ability also to help his teammates and be more positive. I think that's also a responsibility with every DP that comes here. But today was a great performance. He's got to continue. Let's go Saturday."
Chicago Fire FC Defender Wyatt Omsberg
On the result of the game and record setting crowd…
“Yeah it’s awesome. I mean, awesome night for us for sure. One we were looking forward to for a while and we were able to give ourselves a little bit of momentum on Saturday with an away win, and we know we have everything to play for tonight. We also needed the three points against a really good team. I think we were focused, it was a quick turnaround but we were really focused. The crowd gave us a ton of energy, in the second half we came out flying, just a great night overall.”
On his emotions when finding out Messi wouldn’t be playing…
“A little bit mixed. On the one hand it would be amazing to play against him, but on the other hand, obviously, they’re a little bit of a less dangerous team with the best player in the world not on the field. I think it’s probably better for us tonight that he wasn’t here, but at the same time probably would’ve liked to play against him, but at the end of the day just glad to get the win.”
On where this game ranks among the moments in his career…
“Right at the top I would say. Just walking out for warmups we all knew it was going to be a really special night for us. Our fans are always awesome, but tonight especially 60,000 fans was a really unique experience for us and hopefully come Saturday we can get a lot of fans to pack the place and give us energy because it’ll be another huge game.”
On how this performance could lead to a lot of new Fire fans…
“We knew the kind of pressure that would be on us. There’s a lot of fans here that we wanted to win over tonight and we wanted to do that with a complete performance and leave it all out there and make the city proud. Whether you’re out fans or whether you’re a Messi fan coming to watch Miami play whatever it is, we wanted to leave a good mark on this game. I feel like we put in a complete performance. Hopefully we made the fans proud and earned some new fans tonight.”
Goalkeeper Chris Brady
On playing Inter Miami without Messi…
“So going into the game we're obviously prepared for if he was going to be on the field, but it's a bit of a relief to hear that he wasn't playing. Aside from Messi, they still have dangerous players with their attack so we're just focused on the basics, you know staying compact defensively and being a compact unit all over the field and they’re attacking third in our defensive third. I mean not taking anything away from Messi but they have really good players aside from him”.
On being 19 years-old, playing in front of 60,000 fans in his hometown…
“Well, unfortunate to give away a PK, but I feel great. And yeah I really appreciate everyone coming out and I know the team does as well. For me, especially coming from here, I've honestly never been in Soldier Field with that many people. I've never been to a Bears game, never been to any of those, so it was a first for me. And it was amazing. So yeah, we really appreciate all the fans and that was definitely our 12th man out there pushing us to get all four goals. So yeah, amazing”.
On converting Messi fans in attendance into Fire fans…
“Well hopefully on Saturday they are wearing red shirts. Yeah, that was kind of our goal. We knew going into this we'd have a lot of fans come in to support us but we also had a lot of fans come in to support Messi and maybe Inter Miami. But yeah, hopefully after today's performance, a lot of those people wear Fire jerseys. That was another one of our goals”.
On whether the Club was focused on converting new fans…
“It wasn’t high on the priority list, but for a game like tonight where Messi could potentially play, it was up there. So yeah, for us I mean, the biggest thing was just taking it game by game and getting results tonight. That was obviously the top of the priority list. It's so essential to be able to do that.”
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie
On his emotions scoring two goals in front of the sold out crowd at home…
“Obviously, it was an amazing feeling, like you said in front of the huge crowd. And in addition it was really important for the team. So I'm really glad.”
On how it feels for him and Swiss teammate Xherdan Shaqiri each creating a big moment in the game…
“It was a nice moment for both of us. But I think first of all, it was huge for the team, for the coach, for the staff, for everyone. So we're really happy but we have the next game in three days. So we'll have to look forward.”
On how important it was for the club to perform and try to turn fans into Fire fans and bring them back to Soldier Field….
“Yeah, that was something that the coach told us that we have to give the fans something back so they can go home excited again. Looking forward for the next game. We hope they're coming for the next game to support us and yeah, it was huge.”
On which assist he thought was better for his goals…
“Both were amazing, they saw me taking the run through the space and it was a big pass and huge for the team.”
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Fabian Herbers
On how it felt to play in front of a sold out crowd…
“It's good. It's nice to see a big crowd, obviously. You know, the biggest one since I've been in Chicago by far, so it's nice to see them and us having this game, probably one of the better ones in the whole season. And you see the excitement in the crowd. The excitement comes over to the players as well obviously and they push us and we're just very happy and grateful. We got the three points here.”
On if there were more people in the crowd than his hometown Ahaus, Germany…
“That’s true, yeah.”
On what it means to be able to put on a performance like this for people who may be seeing the Fire for the first time…
“Yeah, I think it's good for us to obviously get the win to get a lot of goals because American fans tend to think that soccer is always a little bit low scoring and a little bit boring. So I think the second half really helped us, having some amazing plays, scoring some really nice goals. And I think we got the crowd excited and they excited us, to play in front of them. I think they push us like three or four percent. You give a little bit extra on the field when you hear them pushing you so I think that helped us, hopefully, they can come back. Hopefully, we inspired them. They inspired us, at least on the field. So hopefully, they will become more and more loyal Chicago Fire fans.”
On the feeling in the locker room as the Fire push for a playoff spot and if confidence is building around the team…
“Yeah, obviously wins always help. The last two games were successful. Before that we had kind of a tough stretch, to be fair. But I think now we gained confidence back. We know what we're capable of and winning at home 4-1 against Miami. It's a big confidence booster, but at the same time, we got to stay humble, because we're not yet in the playoffs. So we have a big task ahead of us against Charlotte on Saturday. And you know, it's not about focusing on that. Recovering from the game and really trying to get the three points against Charlotte as well.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Rafael Czichos
On tonight’s victory…
“It was a good fight in front of a good fight. Too many pink jerseys, actually. But like I said, a really important home win for us. Finally able to score some goals and that was very important today and we played very well defensively and we were good in the offense. That brought us the win tonight.”
On the crowd at Soldier Field tonight…
“I thought we did a great job to try it today. But yeah, when you live in Chicago or in the Chicago area, and you are interested in soccer then you should support your home club. I don’t think that all of the people wearing pink were from Miami today so I hope that they’ll be there on Saturday or next season with a different color.”
On coming out strong offensively in the second half…
“Yeah we were happy with our game against the ball, but not happy at all with the game with the ball. That was what we wanted to change and I think, like you said, in the second half we did a way better job with the ball and yeah, we scored goals. That’s the most important thing in soccer.”
On Xherdan Shaqiri’s performance…
“I think that as a DP, as the star of the team, you should shine in those games, and that’s what he did today. Also happy for Maren, who came off the bench. Yeah, very important for the team.”
On the atmosphere of Soldier Field…
“Yeah, we felt it in front of the game that it was different than normally. We wanted to use it to get more people to our games, and we want to make the city proud and we tried everything today. We won against a very good team and that is all we were able to do today.”
On momentum heading into the final two games of the regular season…
“I think if we win on Saturday, we have a pretty good chance to make the playoffs. That’s our motivation and we know it’s going to be a completely different game but we’re going to be prepared for it. We’re going to be ready for it.”
