COLORADO RAPIDS 1, NEW YORK RED BULLS 0
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the team's performance:
"It was a bad performance of our part. No excuses. We were very poor. I think we got outplayed in the first half just in terms of the effort aspect of the game. In the second half I thought our performance on the technical side was horrible. Poor crossing, poor finishing, poor passing which was the case for 90 minutes.
"We missed some of the players that were out, but most games you don't have a complete lineup.
"I thought it was a poor performance. I'm very disappointed in the effort in the first half. Certainly we got it together in the second half and had those opportunities in the early part of the second half to even the game up and then make it more challenging for Colorado but we weren't able to get the goal back and put them under pressure."
On the absence of Claudio Reyna:
"He hasn't played every game for us. We've won games without him on the field. Certainly it helps. Center midfield was not good for us today, but I don't think there was one aspect of our game that was impressive today."
On the team's fitness:
"Well, let's face it, everybody is tired. We weren't running on fresh legs either. The travel takes something out of you and we played 120 minutes on Tuesday. It's not a reason why we lost; it just made us a little bit tired as well."
On Juan Pablo Angel's performance:
"I didn't think it was real good. He didn't get the kind of service he wanted. He had a couple of chances in the game he'd like to have back I'm sure, especially the one to start the second half. There's not a player that we can single out today that was real good."
On Jozy Altidore:
"That's going to be the case in every game, not everybody can play. Jozy's had his good moments and his not so good moments. It's no different than anyone else. I was also trying to help him a little bit - he has a U-20 [national team] game on Tuesday. But, that wasn't the basis of the decision. If I felt he needed to be on the field from the start he would have been."
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER DEMA KOVALENKO
On the effort:
"The effort was not there today, we just have to fix that. That's not us, that's not our team. That's not how we play. We have to just come out and fight and compete and we need to find a way and we didn't today. It's just an effort thing. We didn't fight, we didn't battle.
"They had their chance and the one chance they had they scored. That was the difference."
On the absence of Claudio Reyna:
"Of course we miss Claudio. He's our captain, he's our leader. With him there, we move the ball. It's more calm. It's unfortunate that it happened but he will be back."
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER CLINT MATHIS
On what he would attribute the poor performance to:
"I know there are guys in this locker room that go out and give 100 percent. Things just weren't working out technically. We weren't passing well, like I said. It's almost like we were brain-dead out there for a little bit, things just weren't going, we weren't giving the extra effort like we normally do and I don't know what to attribute that to, but I'm glad we just got that one out of the way."
On whether the team missed Claudio Reyna on the field today:
"Of course, any time a guy of his caliber is not out there playing, yeah. But we definitely had the guys out there that can do the job as well, and we just didn't get it done today. Bad game today."
NEW YORK RED BULLS FORWARD JUAN PABLO ANGEL
On how he would compare today's game to Tuesday night's game vs. Los Angeles:
"I think it was a big difference as a team. We didn't create chances and we were off the pace. I think there wasn't a big difference between the two sides apart from the goal, which I think was a bit of a fortunate goal for them."
On whether he missed his few chances due to rustiness:
"Yeah, we took the chances. I think we should have done better. But in general I think our performance wasn't good. We were off the pace, as I said, and we have the whole week just to work out, to try to get things better. I think we've got a great bunch of players in here and we know that we didn't play well today, and we have to get ready for next week."
On his performance:
"I think it was an average performance. As the season goes on I think I'm going to get better, and the players will get to know me, I'll get to know them, we'll get to know the system and I'll be fine."
On how the Colombian community has received him so far:
"I think it was great. It wasn't that big of a crowd today because of the circumstances, but in general I think it was good, people were cheering us from the beginning, and we are a bit disappointed because of the result."
On if the team missed Claudio Reyna:
"Yeah, I think it's a big loss for us. It was a bit unfortunate for him because he just pulled out yesterday and he is a big influence for us - he is a big character, he is the captain. But we've got to deal with those situations because we'll have to face them during the year. We've got to be able to play without him - without any other player - and do well."
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH FERNANDO CLAVIJO
On the team's performance:
"Any time we come to New York and get three points it's good so we have to make sure they keep working.
"I'm happy normally when we get the three points but we played as a team. We played tactically perfect for 90 minutes. We never allowed them to get a rhythm. We scored when we needed to. We created chances, we didn't give them chances and that's what we had to do as a team. More than anything else, it wasn't easy to come in here and win on the road and that's what we're doing."
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER KYLE BECKERMAN
On the team:
"It's great. We came off two disappointing results at home and we put out an awesome effort that was disciplined, organized and we were able to get the win.
"It was just a lot of concentration. I thought in the beginning of the game we started better than they did passing the ball. Then we got the goal we needed and after that it was just about being disciplined and holding our one goal lead."
On his play and the goal:
"I've always had that offensive side but it has started to come out more and more these past two years. I was told to play more defensively today and it just so happened that Pablo (Mastroeni) stepped up and we won the ball together and then saw Herculez (Gomez) going and just chipped the ball in. It's something I always look for; I always try and get into the attack. I have to play defense. It's part of my game so I have to do both."
