CHICAGO FIRE 1, MKS CRACOVIA 0
CHICAGO FIRE INTERIM HEAD COACH DENIS HAMLETT
On his impression of the game:
"I think the guys went out and showed what the fire is all about. They competed from the get-go. They showed some urgency and I was happy with that. I think Cracovia is a good team, they call this a friendly but both teams went out there to win the game. I thought sitting back and watching it that this was a good entertaining game. A lot of chances for both teams and the goalkeepers made some good saves. All-in-all it was a good show for our guys tonight."
On his pre-game speech:
"Basically I told them to go out and enjoy the game. Play for each other, if you make a mistake the next guy will cover you. I think they went out with that idea, and created some good chances. These guys are professionals and they know what to do out there on the field."
On the win:
"Hey it's good. Anytime you win it's good, it's contagious, you want to win. So you just build on that and work from there. I think for us, given the week we had, getting the lead was important."
On goalkeeper Jon Busch's play:
"First of all I though he did very well tonight. He made some great key saves when they were pushing the game. We had planned on playing him because we'll be playing three games this week. The whole idea was to give him a full 90 minutes. That's why we have Busch here, we needed a solid guy that can push back. That's why you have two of the best goalkeepers in the league - in case one guy goes down, the other steps in. Tonight was great and I think he did very well. He was in control of all of the defenders, I was happy with his play."
On his first game as interim head coach:
"It wasn't about me tonight. I told the guys these last two days that this is about the Chicago Fire. That's what this team is about. I've been lucky enough to be here for 10 years and see all the things that have taken place here."
CRACOVIA HEAD COACH STEFAN MAJEWSKI
On the Fire:
"First of I would like to congratulate the Chicago Fire on winning the game, but it wasn't easy for them to win. We have to think that we are at the beginning of our preparation season and the Chicago Fire are in the middle of their season."
On the quality of the Chicago Fire team:
"It's very hard to say after one game something more about the Chicago Fire and compare to the play of the Polish League. It would be better to play two or three games in order to compare and say something more."
On the competitiveness of the game:
"It was a very interesting game. The Chicago Fire has a very fine playing game because they are good passers and their fast-break attack. We are very happy for the game's situations with a lot of shots on goal for us and for the Chicago Fire, and especially for the audience. It was a very good game."
On Cracovia's inability to score:
"We started the game after two or three training sessions and our best scorer was injured for the game. He scored ten goals in our league last year. It was very easy to see that he was absent at the game."
On the fans at Toyota Park:
"That was a very good atmosphere at the stadium for both teams, Cracovia and the Chicago Fire, and it made it a lot of fun. The audience was very, very loud and we thank them for that."
