CHICAGO FIRE 1, D.C. UNITED 0
CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH JUAN CARLOS OSORIO
On the result:
"Very pleased with the performance, very happy with the result and we will rest these next three days and we will be back on Monday and prepare the team for the next game on Thursday."
On the defense:
"We know that it's not a secret, we played against a very good attacking team, the best in the league -- 50-something goals during the regular season, Emilio 20 goals, they have goals by Gomez, Moreno. Olsen played very well as well as Fred on the flanks, so it's a very difficult team to play against. We limited them again to very few chances so we're very pleased with the defensive side of things today."
On Luciano Emilio and Jaime Moreno not starting the game:
"We planned the whole week and we put out a team with a system thinking that they were going to start the game. They didn't and we didn't change it, it worked out well for us. After we scored our goal we probably didn't play as well as I'd expect and that's when we changed back to 4-4-2. The second half we changed it again, and then once they put in Emilio Moreno we changed it to the way we planned it and it worked out well for us today."
On taking Blanco out of the game:
"I think the last 10 minutes is about getting the result. I wanted fresh legs and I decided to make the sub. Chad was hurt and the more they pushed up then I thought Calen Carr would be very good with his speed. I think this is a team effort, I needed fresh legs. I think John Thorrington deserved to play, he did very well the last game and today I wasn't going to take Calen because he was the freshest of everybody and he's the quickest of everybody on our team. Chris Rolfe always gives us a chance to score, so I decided it was Cuauhtémoc and I was fine with that."
On next Thursday's game:
"I think it's going to be a very difficult game, a very tight game and hopefully we'll get the result that we need."
CHICAGO FIRE FORWARD CHRIS ROLFE
On getting the goal:
"As a forward, for the majority of the time the ball's coming in the air towards the other forward I'm kind of getting behind. I did a lot of that with Nate Jaqua when I first was on the team here, and Chad kind of does the same thing that Nate did. I was just anticipating some sort of bounce coming my way, and fortunately it went right to me. I couldn't tell who it hit exactly, but I was just trying to anticipate. I just saw those two guys going up for it, it might have been three, two of their guys and Chad, they left me alone and it was great.
On D.C. United:
"They've got a great attack and they're a very good possession team, so after we got the goal we were kind of making sure that we were behind them. So trying to play a little bit less aggressive and trying to make sure we kept everything in front of us and then we could counterattack from there."
CHICAGO FIRE MIDFIELDER CHRIS ARMAS
On the game:
"You want to get the result. You certainly don't want to give up anything, especially the first goal. So it's very important to keep it tight, but that's easier said than done because you're playing a team that has a lot of different weapons that can hurt you. I give them credit. They came out. They pushed the game. We went ahead and they still pushed it. I thought we limited their chances on our end. We obviously created the goal and I can count three other chances that we had that were pretty good, but these games are sometimes a little choppy like that."
On the quality of play:
"I don't think the soccer was great either way. It becomes a thing where every foul is contested with the referees. It's just a lot of that gamesmanship going on. But obviously it's playoff time and you expect the heat to rise. It was a good result at home. You always say you want to win at home but it's not a given. You still have to put in the work. Chris Rolfe scored a great goal for us. We defended pretty well and limited their chances. You'd love to get that second goal, but we're content with that victory."
D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH TOM SOEHN
On his decision playing Moreno and Emilio in the second half:
"[Emilio] is the leading goal-scorer for the entire league. The decision is that they are good soccer players. We knew we couldn't run them too long but I knew we could get something out of them, so it was important to bring Jaime [Moreno] in and Luciano [Emilio] to see where they are at. We gave them a few minutes to see if they could impact the game. The important thing is that they came out healthy so that was a positive."
On the result:
"It's disappointing that you lose, but it's a two-game series and we've been dealing with two-game series with these international games but we've never had the home-field advantage. So now you go home and you know what you have to do. You come into our building and it's not an easy place to play. We are going to make it really tough on them."
On the play of D.C. during the second half:
"Yes, we had a lot of the possession. We created a lot of opportunities. They were solely relying on the counterattacks. In our building it's going to be horrible."
On the physical play:
"It's the playoffs, that's normal. It's going to be intense. That's how it should be."
On his defense:
"Early the wind was a bit of a factor playing balls up and we broke down there [when the Fire scored] but after that I thought we settled in and they had a couple counters late but that's because we were pushing to get the goal. But overall it was a good performance possession-wise but we still lost so know we know what we have to do at home."
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER BEN OLSEN
On the result:
"To get down a goal to that team is the last thing you want to do. Because they do know how to defend. They have six, seven guys committed to defend and hold down the fort and they do a good job in the back. So it's important for us next week to push early and get that goal and draw them out a little bit. Overall, I think we are in good shape."
On being down a goal:
They took care of their home field, 1-0, and now we have the chance to take care of ours. Would I like a tie or a win? Absolutely. But the situation is that it's not panic time and we have to go ahead and take care of our home."
DC UNITED GOALKEEPER TROY PERKINS
On the goal:
"It's just a botched clearance, really. Two guys go to it and let it bounce, and any time a ball bounces 20 yards out from goal, that is not a good thing. And Rolfe runs onto it and hits it really well, puts it in the upper corner and hits it with a lot of power and there's nothing I can do about it. We really shot ourselves in the foot with it."
On any added pressure being down a goal:
"Yes, a little bit. But we can't think about that, we have to go out and keep playing our game. We didn't create a whole lot tonight. We have to go back and work on that this week and shore some things up defensively and we'll be back and ready again."
