After two days of training to open camp '08, Dominic Kinnear gave his Men in Orange Sunday off. In the meantime, Brian Ching appears fit and ready to contribute after last season's calf injury during the playoffs that forced Ching to miss the 2007 MLS Cup Championship. Here's Ching from the opening media session of camp.
Q: Are you more eager to get out here than most training camps because of the late season injury?
Ching: In my case, I think it is just the normal time away from the game. Our seasons are so long you grow accustomed to it. So, waking up in the off-season--after two weeks you want to kick the ball around again. So it has kind of been eagerly anticipated by almost everyone.
Q: What is this like coming back for 2008 after again having been on top of the soccer world?
Ching: Exciting. When you are away from the game and your teammates for two and half months after the season we had it is always fun and exciting to get back. Last night I had a hard time sleeping; kind of like a kid again. I just wanted to get out here and see the guys and get things going again.
Q: How hard is it to not think about three in a row and simply focus on the next day?
Ching: One thing about our team is we go out there expecting to win every game. We want to build upon last season and to do that hopefully we do better in CONCACAF Champions' Cup and SuperLiga, and then Open Cup as well. I think about how we played early last year. I think our goal is to improve upon that but the first couple of days is just getting back out here and getting the rust off.
Q: You guys have lost some key players. Are you concerned about it?
Ching: There is a little bit of concern there. We lost two great players; two players who were pivotal for us last season. In Joe (Ngwenya) and Nate (Jaqua) it's's going to be a big task to fill those shoes but I have all the faith in Dom and John (Spencer) in the world. Look what they did last year. Look for them to make some moves this year to bolster our offense.
Q: Does the word "Dynasty" fit here?
Ching: I would say so, if you have to look over our years in San Jose as well. We have been to the finals and won it four times since 2001 so you can say this franchise is a dynasty. But having said that, every year is a new year and we can not look or act like we are a dynasty. We have to prove it.
Q: Are you totally healthy for camp?
Ching: Yeah, I have been totally healthy been working out the last couple of weeks with Danny Arnold down at Plex. I'm ready to go.
