COLORADO RAPIDS 4, NEW YORK RED BULLS 0
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH FERNANDO CLAVIJO
On the game:
"It (the game) reminded me of the first game of the year, against Los Angeles. To be honest, I thought we had been playing well throughout the last four or five games, we just couldn't score. Every game we play at home we have a chance to win, and today we proved it. Everyone had an outstanding game, and we played solid. It was really an outstanding effort by everyone."
On traditionally outstanding play of the team on Forth of July:
"I think you can see that players react well to the crowd and these kinds of atmospheres. You wonder why Toronto has the kind of record they do. And I think this shows you the players like to play under this kind of situation. So hopefully we can copy this kind of effort and turn it into a favorable result in the upcoming game."
On lineup changes:
"Today we made a couple of changes, with three in the back and bringing Mehdi (Ballouchy) into the midfield. This allowed Christian (Gomez) to be freer. We had a good attitude from the beginning, and we have to keep doing this. I've said it all along, we have a very good team, but you cannot win without scoring goals."
On insertion of Mehdi Ballouchy into the starting lineup:
"I've said it all along; Mehdi unfortunately has had Christian Gomez playing his position. But Christian has become an easy target to get man-marked out of the game, and having Mehdi there created a lot of problems for them (the Red Bulls) today."
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER COLIN CLARK
On the lineup:
"When we play 3-5-2, it's a lot easier for me to get forward and be creative with the ball."
On the game:
"The atmosphere was great tonight, and we did what we're capable of doing. Obviously, we're not going to score four goals every game, but we're going to come away with much better results than we've been getting lately. The fans were great though, and it makes it so much easier for everyone to play well on the field."
COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER PABLO MASTROENI
On playing in the back:
"I don't mind playing in the back, I like it, I always like to organize and with this team it's a good position for me to play. The guys are really receptive to me, and the more we work on it the better we are going to be."
On the game:
"We felt some pressure today, we hadn't had a win in a while, so we wanted to come out strong and be aggressive. We wanted to make sure we pressured them quickly when they had the ball, and I think we did a great job of that today. We have the players on this team, one through 28 that can step in and make a difference; we just have to believe we can do it and do it more often."
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEACH COACH JUAN CARLOS OSORIO
On the game:
"We were not at the races. I think that we did not compete today and in the end we got what we deserved. We matched them up and played the same system that we have been playing. It came down to the players. I don't think any of the players can really look me in the eyes and tell me that they played today. Colorado was very clinical and finished their chances very well. Credit to Colorado, they played very well today. This means nothing moving forward. I cannot wait until the 15th of July where we can sign some players and make a very competitive team. At the moment I think that all of our players have had a chance to really shine and stake a claim. I think a lot of them have failed to do that."
NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER HUNTER FREEMAN
On the game:
"Obviously we have had a busy schedule in the last two weeks. I think it has been something like five games in 14 days. But that is no excuse for what happened here tonight. In the beginning of the game it was back and forth. Then they scored a goal. Obviously we did not want to be down a goal but it is not the end of the world. The second goal right before the end of the first half really put us behind the 8-ball. We changed some things and basically went for broke in the second half. It did not work out, and Colorado got two more goals. And that was that. In a three-man backline there is some more space and clearly Colorado has some fast players. We need to expect their speed and if you do not you pay for it. We paid for it tonight. We whipped some good balls in, but never really got on the end of them. We kept the ball but we never really did anything with it, whereas Colorado did something with it. I thought that in the final third we had no answers, lacked creativity and obviously did not get a goal. We had a good chance in the first half and their 'keeper made a good save. That is soccer."
NEW YORK RED BULLS FORWARD JUAN PABLO ANGEL
On the game:
"I think it was a very bad performance overall. I'm very disappointed; I think we should've done a better job. But this is it; we've got to move on and try to get our heads right for the Kansas City game."
On his return:
"It's good to be back. I felt well physically. Obviously, this is the first game I've played in over three weeks and I need to build up on it. But I'm obviously disappointed about the performance for the team -- I would prefer to have had a different result."
