Colorado Rapids rookie 18-year midfielder Shane O'Neill made his professional debut in the 2-1 win over English Premier League side Swansea City:
On making his debut:
"I just wanted to play like I play in a normal game, like I play in the academy. For me, going forward feels natural so I just wanted to keep it simple and play my game. I wasn’t going to change it up just because of the stage or because it was my debut. So I was just playing my game and I like to go forward and I felt like I created a couple of things; I should have probably pulled the trigger on one of them at the time."
On being with the U-18 team and the first team in the same week:
"It’s been a lot of soccer but it’s been a lot of fun. Obviously the [Development Academy] playoffs didn’t go as well as we wanted to, but then I got to get a good experience in Salt Lake. The atmosphere was really nice and I think being on the bench for those last couple of games really helped me out. I didn’t feel as much pressure going on tonight. I felt really comfortable and once I got a couple of touches in tonight it was just a lot of fun and I just got to enjoy it. So I’m just very happy."
On his emotions when they called him to go into the game:
"Obviously I was quite nervous and I had butterflies. But like I said, once I got my first couple of touches I kind of relaxed and got involved in the game and just wanted to do as well as I could and I think I played fairly well tonight."
