QUOTE
SHEET – LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP “PLAY-IN” GAME
D.C.
UNITED 2 : 1 REAL SALT LAKE (AET)
WEDNESDAY,
JUNE 2, 2010
RFK
STADIUM – WASHINGTON, D.C.
REAL
SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On the
result:
“I walk away from that very proud of what our
players put into it - very proud of the effort they gave. There was never any
die in our team. I’m very pleased with the way we’re handling ourselves on the
road, at home - in difficult circumstances.”
On
RSL’s chances
“Even in the first sixty minutes, we created
a couple chances, and I thought we were the better team. It would have been
outstanding if we had capitalized on one of those chances and put ourselves in
a better position.”
On how
playing 120 minutes will affect the team on Saturday
“Those are all conversations that have yet to
come, with the players in particular, to see how many guys are really up to it.
We have to make sure we do everything we can for them to get them prepared [for
Saturday].”
REAL
SALT LAKE DEFENDER/MIDFIELDER TONY BELTRAN
On the
loss:
“We’re not happy about it, but on Saturday
we’ll learn from it, and be the better team then.”
On
playing in a different position:
“I got to play outside midfield, which is
exciting. For the first 20 minutes I was a little off out there positionally,
but I settled down and I felt comfortable with the ball, especially in the
second half. After that I dropped back into left back where I’m very
comfortable at.”
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER WILL JOHNSON
On the match:
“We had a lot of chances but it didn’t quite
go our way on the night, and you’re going to have that from time to time. Our
effort was god and our passing was crisp, but we got into the final third and
it just didn’t quite click tonight.”
On Saturday’s rematch in MLS play:
“This game is done and, as of the final
whistle, we’ve put it behind us. We’re focusing on the task at hand. It’s a big
opportunity on Saturday to get three points. We’ve got two big games now before
this [World Cup] break to put ourselves in a really good spot. It’s a crucial
game, a massive opportunity for us.”
REAL SALT LAKE DEFENDER/CAPTAIN NAT BORCHERS
On the match:
“It’s really disappointing that we weren’t
victorious in this game because we came out firing on all cylinders. We
possessed the ball and dominated them at the beginning. They had no answers for
us in the first half. We shifted our shape a bit back to our regular 4-4-2 at
the end and unfortunately we got exposed and stretched out a few times and that
gave them chances to counter. But at the same time we had a few chances to
score ourselves and we were disappointed that we couldn’t convert those.”
On Saturday’s impending contest:
“I think everybody’s fired up for this game
on Saturday. I think that we know if we come out and play that type of football
and bring a little more into the final third that we’re going to come out on
top.”
REAL
SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER ANDY WILLIAMS
On what
he expects for Saturday’s MLS game:
“I know that both teams are going to be super
tired Saturday. I thought the game went pretty well for us. We created chances
at the end to tie it up - a couple chances were cleared off the line, and
Perkins made a couple saves, so that kind of upset our night. So hopefully
Saturday we can forget about this and come out and play better.”
On
playing in the Open Cup:
“Any
chance you can win a Cup you really try. We have a good bunch of players that
need these games, reserve games or the Open Cup games - we have a bunch of
reserve players that can come in and do well, and as of tonight they did well.
Luis Gil played his first match for RSL tonight, ever, and I thought he did
well. Open Cup games like this tonight help out guys like that.”
D.C.
UNITED HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
On
coming out of a losing streak:
We’ve put together some good performances
over the last couple of weeks and we just want to build on that. We’ve stayed
positive throughout our difficult times. You get to find out who you are, I
believe, through the tough times, not through the easy times. It’s easy to
coach a team when you’re winning and it’s easy to play through things when
you’re winning. You got to dig deep and our group has dug deep. We’ve gotten
some guys back from injury and that’s certainly helped us. And now we just have
to enjoy this for the night and make sure tomorrow we get ourselves ready and
focused the right way. We’re playing against the MLS Cup champions on Saturday
in front of our home crowd in a game that we need points so we’re going to make
sure we’re rested, we’re prepared and we give everything we possibly can to get
the points we need.
On
confidence and winning:
“They go hand-in-hand. Winning breeds
confidence and confidence breeds winning so it’s that snowball-type effect
where I think earlier in the year we got ourselves into certain situations
where we’re like, ‘Oh no, here we go again,’ and those are psychological
barriers you have to get over. They’re not easy things to get over, but it’s a
tribute to our guys, they have a real fighting spirit and we’re very organized
and we’re playing good soccer too. We’ve just got to continue to do it. We’ve
got to consistently do it so we can creep up the standings.”
On Andy
Najar’s goal:
“[The goal] was a special little play and in
games like these you’ve got to make plays on both sides of the field. That was
a great play on the offensive part of the field to make a difference in the
game. He’s a 17 year old with a lot of energy coming in and playing against
guys who have been playing 110 minutes prior to that. We waited to keep that
sub as long as we could and it ended up being the difference.”
D.C.
UNITED GOALKEEPER TROY PERKINS
On
United’s victory:
“I think [this victory] is huge for this
team, coming off of an AC Milan win where we fought to the end to preserve a
lead, and a good win at the weekend where we came back, and now to go through
this as a team where everyone contributed - I think we have proven to ourselves
we can win, no matter what. Now we have to just keep doing the things we
have been doing.”
On his performance in goal:
“The first half was hard, there were a lot of heads and elbows thrown in my
face, but we just have to be better obviously with our marks. We fought, they
fought, and now we have to fight them again on Saturday.”
D.C.
UNITED MIDFIELDER STEPHEN KING
On his
increased playing time:
“I feel great, having played in the Milan
game and the past week against Chivas, and again tonight, three games in a week
is awesome. Those are the most minutes I have played in about a year, so for me
it has been really exciting. I am excited to be back on the field, and more
importantly I am excited that we are winning games. Obviously each of these
games has been a little different. The first one [against AC Milan] was a
friendly, and then we had the League game [against Chivas], and now the Open
Cup win over Real Salt Lake, and we take the Open Cup Cup very seriously - we
want to win it.”
D.C.
UNITED MIDFIELDER ANDY NAJAR
On his
match-winning goal:
“It was so exciting to get the goal, because
we have been trying to win. To get an extra time finish is great, and I am just
so excited for the team.”
On
playing Real Salt Lake again on Saturday in the League:
“I am going to work hard for this next game
[against Real Salt Lake]. We really want to win, because they were the
champions last year, and we will have to work very hard to beat them.”
D.C.
UNITED DEFENDER JORDAN GRAYE
On
playing 120 minutes:
“I feel pretty tired to be honest. I feel
like it is a culmination of playing three games in a row, but it feels very
good to get these wins. My goal is just to rebound quickly and be ready once
again for Saturday.”
On
winning three matches in a row
“I think the AC Milan win let us know that we
can beat anyone. Whether they were playing hard or not, it was still AC Milan,
and we came out with the mindset that we can beat anyone we play. We took that
[mindset] into the Chivas game and tonight’s match, and it has paid off. Now we
need to do it all over again on Saturday.”
