Feilhaber delivers sarcastic gem of an interview after Sporting KC's playoff loss
Benny Feilhaber was livid during and after Sporting Kansas City's playoff ouster at the hands of the Seattle Sounders Thursday night, and he had good reason.
Following a Sporting KC goal by Matt Besler that was disallowed for a narrow (but correct) offside call, Feilhaber was chopped down by a sliding Osvaldo Alonso on a crunching tackle in midfield. With the Seattle Sounders captain already sitting on a yellow and engaging in the hard challenge, Feilhaber demanded a second yellow be shown, but referee Ismail Elfath didn't bite. That sent Feilhaber off the rails, though he nearly compensated with a spectacular attempt on goal that was turned away by Stefan Frei.
Seattle went on to win 1-0 on a controversial Nelson Valdez goal, with replays showing he was offside on the 88th-minute winner. Following the final whistle, Feilhaber made a beeline for the referees, but if you were expecting him to blow his lid during his postgame comments, he had a surprise for you:
"I was wrong," Feilhaber said, oozing sarcasm. "It was obviously a correct call. They got the throw-in, so obviously Alonso kicked it right off of me. A clean tackle, obviously. I was definitely wrong in asking for a yellow card on that play.
"I think we can blame nobody but ourselves tonight for not getting the win. The linesmen were superb. They kept their flag up when Besler was offside, and they kept their flag down when Valdez was clearly onside."
It may have been Feilhaber's last act as a member of Sporting Kansas City, too.
Feilhaber is out of contract, and according to the FS1 broadcast Thursday night, he said he is 50-50 whether he'll return. SI's Grant Wahl reported that Sporting KC turned down a $500,000 offer from Israeli club Hapoel Be'er Sheva at the end of the summer transfer window.
At the very least, he won't be subjected to a fine for postgame criticism of the officials.
