CHICAGO FIRE 0, COLUMBUS CREW 0
CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH JUAN CARLOS OSORIO
On the team's performance:
"Defensively, I think for the second game in a row, we limited the opposition to very few chances. If I'm not mistaken, I remember Matt [Pickens] making a great save towards the end, but other than that I don't think he was really stretched. I think defensively we did well. We dealt very well with Moreno today and with Guillermo Schelotto. I think what we planned during the week worked out. Offensively, I have to be critical to my players and say that we have to be more effective with our chances, because there will be plenty of games like today's game where we only have two or three chances and we just need to finish one of them and we will have a chance to win games. But the effort was there. We competed very well with them. I think we looked like we were in the game for the whole 90 minutes. As performance goes, I'm reasonably happy with what we did but we need to finish our chances better."
On Paulo Wanchope coming off bench:
"I think they (Calen Carr and Chad Barrett) did enough to deserve a place in the starting lineup. Today, Paulo got in very good positions but was a little rusty. He needs to do more training sessions. We've done 16 training sessions and he has only done four or five. So I decided that he still needs more finishing and work around the box and that's what we will be doing next week."
On Fire forward Chris Rolfe:
"Similar to Paulo, my plan was to resist the temptation to start him with the team, because, without a doubt, he will be a great asset for us in the last part of the season. But he's also training full strength with the team and the more training he does the more he will regain his match fitness."
CHICAGO FIRE MIDFIELDER DIEGO GUTIERREZ
On Cuauhtémoc Blanco being fouled:
"He's a guy that is going to get a lot of touches on the ball. So it can be expected that he is going to suffer a lot of fouls. At the same time, we've got to remind him that he is new to these referees and it's completely different from the Mexican league and the international game. He's just got to get used to it and be patient. Some calls are going to go against and some for him, so he's just got to keep his cool and keep playing."
On play of goalkeeper Matt Pickens:
"He was crucial like he is most of the time. Especially on that last one, he sacrificed for the team and was able to keep a clean sheet. Obviously, we think pretty highly of him."
COLUMBUS CREW HEAD COACH SIGI SCHMID
On limiting Cuauhtémoc Blanco:
"I thought we did a pretty good job taking away his time and space. In first half I thought we defended a little bit more than we would have liked, in the second half I thought we did a better job at knocking the ball around. When you look at it, we had some pretty clean chances in the game. We created some chances. Their chances came from a lot of free kicks. There were a lot of calls, I don't know, you have to look at the tape and see. It was a hard-fought game."
On the league protecting creative players:
"Yes, we need to see that, but I think if a guy gets fouled it needs to be called and if guy is not fouled it shouldn't be called. I think that is something the referee has to decide at the end of the day. For me, I can't comment on whether there were good calls, bad calls. There were a lot of calls."
On whether he's pleased with the result:
"Yes, obviously our mindset when we came in the second half, we want to win it. But if we are not going to win it, we are not going to lose it. I thought we did a good job. I didn't think we gave away a lot of chances. The best chance was the one what Wanchope got late in the second half and that is one he should have done a lot better with. We had a scramble in front of the goal, I think we had two or three of those. There was a chance Stefani [Miglioranzi] had in the first half off the set piece."
COLUMBUS CREW MIDFIELDER NED GRABAVOY
On the match:
"I think the game was going both ways. Both teams showed a lot of energy in the game. Not just physically by running but there was a lot of emotions out there tonight."
On feeling pressure to make the playoffs:
"I don't think we are feeling any pressure. I think we take it one game at a time. I think we try to go all out and get a result. Tonight we didn't get three points but I know we want to. We picked up a point on the road. If we can take care of business at home like we've been doing, and pick up points here and there on the road, I think we will be all right. I think pretty much every game our team has played this year we've had a chance to win the game. Saying that, that gives us confidence to go on the road and play against any team in the league."
