NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 1, PACHUCA 0
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On getting the eventual game-winning penalty kick called:
"You never really get those calls. It's always nice to be getting them and I'm sure Pachuca is feeling a bit hard done by to be on the end of it. Again, it is a tough one for the referee. Does the ball have a go at the arm? Yes it does; then the old arguments starts whether it is a penalty or not. I always go back to the schoolyard when you were a kid and that happened, nobody had a problem with a penalty, but obviously I'm saying that after being on the good side of it."
On missing so many starters and regular players because of injury:
"We had three minimum salary players, a developmental player, a Generation adidas player -- we had half the reserve team playing tonight and I thought every one of them did a great job. We never left any holes. (Pachuca) had one chance in the first half where the guy might have scored and they put it wide. After that, there were a couple of half chances but nothing else. To give credit again, we kept a good shape and we still made a couple of chances ourselves. We won the game - a stroke of luck with the penalty - but we deserve all we get at the moment because we're working for it."
On Khano Smith taking the penalty kick:
"It certainly wasn't planned, I can assure you of that. Shalrie Joseph is the designated penalty taker. If Steve Ralston is not on the field then Shalrie should have taken it. We've gotten away with it because Khano (Smith) put it away so it is obviously a good penalty. But had it gone the other way then we certainly wouldn't have been quite as forgiving."
On Pat Phelan's injury:
"It is a great header clear and obviously two people going for the ball (Pat Phelan) gets there first. I can't say I saw it but I'm pretty sure the other guy probably connected heads with him and caught him in the wrong place and he was out."
On Shalrie Joseph:
"(Shalrie Joseph) is just huge. If it is a soccer game you want, he'll outdo you in soccer. If it is a fight you want, then he'll outfight you. You name it -- pretty much in every category he is going to outdo you with talent and with aggression and the will to win."
On SuperLiga results gaining respect for MLS teams in Mexico:
"Absolutely I think so. We can only speak for ourselves. I'm sure those two Mexican teams have come here in the past four or five days and I'm sure they're leaving here with a little bit healthier outlook on our team certainly and MLS in general."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION GOALKEEPER MATT REIS
On the end of the game:
"At the end, I think that if the penalty was called against us we'd be very disappointed. But we had (a lot) rookies on the field at the end, we played solid for 90 minutes and we got the result."
On the results in the first two games:
"As a team, we're very solid. We're not giving up a goal and squeaking some games out against some tough competition. We're advancing out of the group and we're happy about that."
On his save in the second half:
"(Damian Alvarez) hit the snot out of the ball. That thing was moving all over the place. I got a piece of it, luckily it went off the post and out."
On Pat Phelan's injury:
"I saw him go up and there were two guys that hit each other. I don't know if it was heads or the ball or what it was, but he was out cold."
On playing a 4-4-2 formation again:
"They're in their preseason so they're not at full strength and traveling cross-country is definitely not an easy thing to do. But Stevie (Nicol) talked about just making sure we were in good spots and we were all night. I think that playing with four in the back allowed our outside midfielders to get forward and we've done a very good job of possessing the ball, which we haven't done that well this year."
On gaining respect from the Mexican teams:
"I think so -- I hope so. We're not at full strength. We pieced together a team tonight because we had a bunch of guys who are injured and we came out with a victory, so I think we'll get some measure of respect. But until we play them at full strength, then I'm not sure if they'll give us that full respect yet."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER KHANO SMITH
On taking the penalty kick:
"Stevie (Nicol) was going nuts; he didn't want me to take it. But I asked Shalrie (Joseph) if I could have it and he said, 'Yeah, go ahead.' If I would have missed it, I'm sure (Nicol) could have had something to say about it."
On getting the ball out on the left and running at the defense:
"Yeah, I think Sainey (Nyassi) did as well. The formation helped us out because we are both pretty quick, so we were able to do less defending because we had somebody behind us. We were able to use more of our energy to attack."
On how the game ended:
"I mean it's unfortunate for (Pachuca). I'm sure if it was us, we would be upset. Seeing those calls not getting made, I'm not going to complain."
On gaining respect from the Mexican clubs:
"I'm sure we did, but we have to take it into context. They're still in preseason, so they're not as fit as they could be. I'm sure they know MLS is improving all the time, and will be a force to reckoned with in the years to come."
PACHUCA HEAD COACH ENRIQUE MEZA
On the penalty kick decision:
"It was called, but ultimately I don't really know whether or not it was a handball. It was too close to really know whether it was or not"
On how his team played:
"I liked the team and the way we played, but it's difficult to play on these types of surfaces that we're not used to. I think we played well. I think we had the best chances of the games. Ultimately, it was the penalty that decided the game. I think in the end, though, we came out of the game having created the better chances. The reality is that we lost, but whether or not we advance to the next round is still in our hands. It will be a tough game, though, because it's Santos."
On MLS:
"I think it's a competitive league. I think these games have shown the level and quality of play of the league."
