MONTREAL – Marco Schälllibaum wanted to set the record straight.
In the wake of his sending off last Saturday in Kansas City, the Montreal Impact boss spoke to the media on Tuesday morning to address a number of details regarding the incident, which happened after Graham Zusi 80th-minute goal all but confirmed Sporting Kansas City’s 2-0 win over the Impact.
Reports published following the game quoted Schällibaum as saying that he had thrown a water bottle. On Tuesday, though, the Swiss coach insisted that he never did such a thing.
Schällibaum took responsibility, however, and admitted that he squirt a bit of water from a bottle toward the space behind the two benches – where the fourth official works – at Sporting Park.
“When I make mistakes, I always own up to them,” Schällibaum told reporters. “What I did wasn’t major, but it wasn’t nice. I read somewhere that I’d thrown the bottle, and that’s not true. I only threw a bit of water on the other side. But it’s a mistake on my part. The other side provoked us for 90 minutes, but I still have to control my emotions.”
Schällibaum did not, however, point out what the provocations were on the record.
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The Montreal Impact will nevertheless play their second ‘home opener’ on April 13 at Stade Saputo without Schällibaum on the sidelines.
“I'll be there, I’ll prepare the game the right way and I fully trust that [assistant coaches] Mauro [Biello] and Philippe [Eullaffroy] will do great work during the game, but I certainly am bitter because I really wanted to be there for the first game,” Schällibaum said. “I was really looking forward to going to Stade Saputo. … It breaks my heart.”
