Caleb Stanko wants to 'humiliate' Columbus Crew in Hell is Real Derby
FC Cincinnati midfielder Caleb Stanko says he wants to inflict “humiliation” on rivals Columbus Crew ahead of the Hell is Real Derby on Friday.
The friction between these two Eastern Conference sides began in 2017 during the first ever Ohio Derby, where USL side FC Cincinnati shockingly defeated Columbus in front of 30,160 fans. That one match was enough to set the tone for further meetings.
As midfielder Stanko heads into his seventh derby, he maintains that the fire between the two teams remains strong as ever.
"I think that this one is gonna be a little bit spicier than the last one, just because of how the last one went down," Stanko observed. "I feel like we are a little bit scarred from that last one. I think that there were some questionable calls, and unfortunately, we didn't have anybody to give it back to them, to inflict some pain on them. So I'm hoping that the team will be mentally prepared to be able to just dominate them in their stadium."
The two last met on July 9, drawing 2-2 after the Crew heroically salvaged the score while being two goals and a man down before half time.
During the post-match media availability, Columbus head coach Caleb Porter taunted his rivals, stating: "They have to be devastated over there in that other locker room because how can you be up 2-0 and up a man and not win the game?”
Now, Stanko wants to avenge the July 9 match and the words spoken by Porter.
“Everyone told us you know, we heard about that, and that always sticks in your mind," Stanko said of Porter's diss. "I mean, at least it does for me. I mean that kind of stuff pisses me off, it really makes me upset to see because it's in our home stadium, so we want to do similar things like that to them.
“We want to be able to make them have a terrible day where they are not winning the 50-50s, they are getting scored on and maybe even a little bit of humiliation like they did to us."