D.C. UNITED 1, KANSAS CITY WIZARDS 0
D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH PETER NOWAK
On the game:
"We knew it was going to be a very tough game, and we knew it was going to be a one-goal game. Troy (Perkins) made a tremendous save in the first half. I said to my players, it's not going to be an individual effort, it's going to be a team effort tonight. With these weather conditions, you have to play as a unit, as a team. So, defensively we didn't make too many mistakes, although sometimes Facundo (Erpen) gave me a heart attack. But the rest is fine. I'm glad to get over with these three points, and we move forward."
On looking ahead:
"It's going to be a tough schedule. We're glad to have Jaime (Moreno) back. One day, after the Wednesday game, we didn't know how long he's going to be out and, the next thing you know, he's scoring the winning goal. Santino (Quaranta) is back. We still have a couple of injuries, but it's good to give the boys who didn't play yet some minutes. So Justin Moose and Santino come in and I think they did a pretty good job today. So, we will look forward to another game."
On the weather:
"Yeah, it was too hot. Having the tough schedule, when you're playing in these kind of weather conditions, is always difficult. So, I'm glad that the rain cooled us off a little bit. We were better with the ball, that's for sure. We didn't play well in the first half. The first 50 minutes before the break, we had a couple of good shots from distance, but that was it. So, we didn't have anyone really up top, with Freddy (Adu) and Jaime playing. Mostly, they were withdrawn strikers. So, as I said, as a team, we really put some effort together and I'm glad we got the three points."
On the demanding schedule:
"Yeah, we need a break. It's not only the physical part, but the mental part. The schedule is going to be like that. It's going to be hot weather, difficult weather conditions. We've got to go through. You have to fight through, running and fighting. Sometimes, the soccer is not great. This is not what we're looking for, but you have to fight through it with running, fighting, scratching, grabbing. We are always going to fight for the three points. I'm proud of them. They came out of these four games with eight points. The last two games weren't easy, so if you win the games, close them down. Of course it's going to be nice if you win 3-, 4-0, but we're not there, yet."
On Troy Perkins:
"I think Troy has a lot of shutouts. It's good to keep this going, keep him in form, and he's very sharp in the practice. So, it's difficult to tell him that he's going to have time off. I think right now it's like that, and we will see how he feels. We're going to ask every player how he feels before the games we will have, and we're going to adjust to the situation. A couple of guys are going to be back from injuries and we have to make a good rotation for the players, make sure that if they're going to come in, they're going to perform. That's the main point."
On Ben Olsen's return from the World Cup:
"Before the game I talked to Benny. He just got back from Germany, so we will see how he feels. I know it's difficult when you come back, the time difference you always feel for a whole week or two weeks. You still have it in your system and we have, right now, the guys who can fill the spot for him. We will see, we will ask him what is the best option, given that we're going to give him a couple of days, see how he feels. We have another game in Kansas City on Wednesday, so we will see if he's going to be available or not. If he's not, then we're going to wait for the game against Dallas on the Fourth of July."
On Santino Quaranta:
"I think he is fully fit. It's important to give him some minutes right now so he will feel like a part of this team. It's difficult, if you are more than a couple of weeks away from this team and you just do running, fitness and you don't touch the ball. Now, after this last week, two weeks, he start to do a lot of work with the ball. The 10, 15 minutes you give him every single game, he will benefit from that and we will look forward to putting him in the games when some guys will struggle mentally-wise or soccer-wise."
On Devon McTavish:
"Devon did pretty good. The shot was first class. Defensively, he was always solid. I encouraged him to go forward, but it's still a learning process. Things will not happen overnight and he needs to learn from this experience. He's a smart player so I'm sure that he's going to be OK."
D.C. UNITED FORWARD SANTINO QUARANTA
On his season thus far:
"I had high hopes for this year and it was a little upsetting to go through some of that stuff. I went through a lot and I can't wait to write a book when I'm done."
On his fitness:
"I'm still getting fit, you know, game fit, but I'm still 100 percent physically. My hamstring is great. I've done a lot of rehab and a lot of running. (Head coach) Peter (Nowak) put a stamp down and everybody is just going to run until they're ready to come back on the field, and that's what I've done. Right now I feel really healthy."
On where he is playing:
"Last year I played striker and I scored a couple times. I'm really excited about getting back out there. I'll do anything for this team, wherever I have to play. I like playing on the right, but I'll play anywhere, anywhere I have to. That's my attitude."
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER JOSH GROS
On the team's demanding schedule:
"We're tired but we're still getting wins.I feel pretty good. I'd rather play games than practice. We run a lot in practice when we don't play games, so I'd rather play games. It's all the same."
On the weather delay:
"I've never been part of a rain delay before, except in little league baseball, but I think we were ready to go in the first five minutes of play before the rain delay. We were just sitting in here going stir-crazy and when they finally let us out we were ready."
On the goal and his assist:
"Clyde (Simms) played a great ball through and we caught them off guard. They were all stepping up and I was making the run, and Clyde played a great ball and Jaime [Moreno] was wide open so it was just an easy pass over to him."
D.C. UNITED GOALKEEPER TROY PERKINS
On his play vs. Kansas City:
"You do your job and that's all it is."
On the defense's play this season:
"It's a team effort. I think we jelled pretty well when we were in Spain (for preseason) as a team. Getting away up in the mountains was good, so I think we're all fighting for each other this year. That's a big difference, unlike last year when we lacked that chemistry."
On his save against Scott Sealy:
"You get in the moment and you just find the right frame of mind. That's the job. It's kind of known as a goalkeeper - you can be the hero or the villain, you never know. You could come out in two weeks and let a soft goal in and everybody is pointing the finger at you. So you take it as you go and you give credit where credit is due - to the guys in front of me for helping me out."
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER DEVON MCTAVISH
On his starting role:
"Being in the starting 11 was a great feeling. I just wanted to get out there and try and do what I did last Wednesday - just play simple and try and keep my shape. Nerves kind of got to me. It took me 20, 25 minutes to get into the game. We had to make a switch to the left side and that helped me a lot and eventually I settled down and started playing my game I think."
On his shot off the cross bar:
"I thought it was in. I was just waiting for the net to move, and all of a sudden his hand came from nowhere. It was a great save, what can I say?"
D.C. UNITED FORWARD JAIME MORENO
On his injury from previous game:
"It hurts a little bit, but we decide when I talked to coach. I felt well yesterday in practice. I did a couple moves that you need to do before the game so I knew I was fine, but still I got my MRI done and (it) shows there wasn't any knee damage. I was a little bit concerned, but once I was cleared I was ready to go."
On his goal:
"It was a nice ball from Clyde (Simms) and a great cross from Josh (Gros) and I just ran near post and I just touched it. It was really nice. What a goal."
On team's current standing in the Eastern Conference:
"We take it game by game. Every game is different and we know that. Like I said, we just go with the mentality of winning and we work it."
On team's tiredness:
"(We are) very tired. I think everyone can see that."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH BOB GANSLER
On the bad history with D.C. United:
"It's not a bad history with us. I think we've had inclement weather here at least two or three times."
On how long it will take for the World Cup guys to get back into things:
"The story is that these guys have got to come themselves and statistics are for losers. But they do point out that D.C. is on the way to win and congratulations to them for that. When those guys come back, we'll welcome them and we'll figure it out."
On the players' frustrations:
"Well I think they were disappointed that we couldn't get something to come together. We got shots off, we had shots on goal, but United was a good team. And for sure, when they got the first goal, they were the better team. I thought we did OK in the first half; we changed a couple of little things and obviously we weren't quite ready for the second beginning of the second half."
On the delay interrupting momentum:
"The onus is on us for the form. It's about delays, it's not about that. It's about their guys and our guys. And that's our frustration, so we lost to them three times this year. Had we been right against the wall in any one of those three ... it's not a boxing match. It's not about points gathered, it's about knockout blows."
On how a delay like that affects play:
"I don't make anything out of it. These guys are polished. They have to be able to deal with that and we weren't quite alert and up. Once again, to D.C.'s credit, they worked because they went from the half-way line into our goal in the second minute of play (after the dealy). We've got to learn from that."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS FORWARD SCOTT SEALY
On the game:
"(D.C. United goalkeeper Troy) Perkins came up big. Sometimes it's your night and tonight was his night. He made a few key saves."
On Bryan Namoff's first-half clearance:
"No, (it shouldn't have been a penalty), I have to settle it better. It didn't really look like a call. If he calls it, he calls it and if not you deal with it."
On K.C.'s performance coming out of the rain delay:
"I thought we did well. We had chances, good chances. Coming out and having a break probably had a little to with it because we came out a little slow ... and I think second half we did pretty good with chances."
