Needless to say, the Kansas City Wizards locker room was not a happy place after a red card and subsequent goal left them with a 2-2 draw with the Colorado Rapids on Sunday evening.
But most of the displeasure was directed at referee Tim Weyland following a match that saw eight yellow cards issued (four to Kansas City), along with the ejection of Jose Burciaga, Jr. More pointedly, the Wizards suffered three injuries, two of which required X-rays.
"Absolutely a disgrace -- we got a big time job here today," said Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo.
It seemed clear from the outset that the Rapids intended to use physical tactics to throw off the Wizards rhythm.
"Of course [they did], but the referee certainly didn't help the cause. He actually provoked it by giving us cards when they're kicking us the entire game," Onalfo said. "I'm livid, absolutely livid. Two points just stolen from us because guys don't do their job. ... A referee's job is to ref and do it the right way. That didn't happen.
"It's very frustrating. It got worse every single minute. It didn't get better. I talked to the fourth official at halftime about how he needs to understand what the tactics of the team are, and that's what bothers me. It's not the actual calls, it's understanding what tactics are and then letting the other team get away with it."
In the face of the Rapids' intent, the Wizards still jumped on top through their scoring wizard, Eddie Johnson, who struck for both of the home side's goals, in the 24th and 43rd minutes. Onalfo had only praise for Johnson and his partner up front, Davy Arnaud.
"A great ball in from Davy on one," Onalfo said. "[Johnson] is a winner, and he's playing excellent soccer right now."
Arnaud, the chief offensive instigator all night for the Wizards through his slicing runs and unending exuberance, lamented the final result.
"Ten men or not 10 men, we're a good enough team that two goals should be good enough to get a win at home," he said. "Having said that, we had chances that it could have been three or four. It's unfortunate because we played well enough to get a win."
The Rapids capitalized on a penalty kick to draw level at 1-1 as Kansas City's Jimmy Conrad was whistled for apparently pulling down Herculez Gomez after the ball they both were running for was cut off by Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
"I couldn't really see [the called infraction] because I was so far away picking up the ball. It went from such a non-threatening situation to a penalty kick," said the bewildered Hartman.
The second Colorado leveler came on a corner kick 10 minutes after Burciaga and Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul scrambled for a loose ball in the Colorado box that Coundoul had fumbled. The tussle led to Burciaga being ejected for violent conduct.
"We were tangling for the ball, and he finally gets it. He [then] kicked me three times while on the ground. I get up to say, 'Why is he kicking me?' And he's kicking me on my waist and now I have studs all up in my throat," said Burciaga, still wearing the resulting marks on his neck.
Besides the wounds taken from the penalty, the ejection and their own neglect, the Wizards came away with a hospital bill to boot.
Johnson, injured from a tackle from behind on his first goal, went for X-rays on his right ankle after the match. He was preceded by midfielder Sasha Victorine, who was struck in the neck area by a violent hit from Rapids midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy at the end of the first half. X-rays were negative on Victorine's clavicle. Finally, substitute Yura Movsisyan was taken out after only eight minutes due to an injury to his left calf after someone fell on him.
"When there is one team just pounding on one team and you have players coming out because of injuries, there's something wrong," Burciaga said.
The general feel in the Wizards camp was summed up by Hartman.
"It was probably the most frustrating game of soccer I've been a part of since I became a professional soccer player," he said.
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
