A few weeks after Wilmer Cabrera admitted his Houston Dynamo team needed to curb indiscipline on the field, a red card earned in Thursday's 3-2 loss against NYCFC at Yankee Stadium led to more tough words from the head coach.
Romell Quioto picked up a red card in the 29th minute for what appeared to be a retaliatory elbow on NYCFC defender Ronald Matarrita. The game was tied 1-1 at the time, and while Houston would take a 2-1 lead late in the second half, two goals even later from the home side led to zero points for the Dynamo in the end.
"I already spoke to the New York City coaching staff and I apologized to the referees because that behavior is not the reflection of who we are in Houston Dynamo and I will not tolerate it more on the team because we come to play football," Cabrera told reporters after the game.
"We are neither boxers nor street fighters or anything, we are football players and we come to play football and my team has to play football. I apologize to the fans, the Houston Dynamo team and the entire league because what happened today and what happened against Atlanta, is not the Dynamo and it will not happen again," Cabrera continued.
Quioto's red card comes after his compatriot and teammate, Alberth Elis, picked up two early yellow cards and bumped a referee in a road game against Atlanta United, which the Dynamo lost 5-0, on July 17. Elis was suspended an additional match for his actions, which Cabrera publicly called a "childish mistake" by the star player.
For his part, Quioto publicly apologized for his actions on social media after the game.
Quioto wrote: "I’d like to apologize to my teammates, to the fans and to the Houston Dynamo for my actions in last night’s game. I feel embarrassed and at the same time motivated to work harder to make myself first a better person and then a player that represents the values of our team and city."
As a result of his red card, Quioto is suspended for the Dynamo's next game, on Sunday at the Philadelphia Union (6 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US; DAZN in Canada).
