Burn defender Cory Gibbs is currently with the national team as they face Grenada in the first round of World Cup qualifying. Gibbs took some time following the United States' 3-0 victory in the first leg over Grenada to chat with dallasburn.com.
Did you get to watch the Burn's 3-1 victory over New England?
No, I just followed it online, saw the goals and stuff like that.
That's the first time that the team has won without you in the lineup and the team has given up quite a few goals in the games that you've missed. What does last weekend's solid performance tell you about the defense?
Yeah, it's definitely a confidence builder. Its good and it's a positive for us. We have a lot of talented players, (Matt) Behncke could step in and do well, (Steve) Jolley is back there, and it's a confidence builder. And not to mention the play of (Jeff) Cassar to step in and make some huge saves. The team has the confidence to know they can win with or without me. It's good because maybe I may not be there for a lot of games due to national team responsibilities and I think that this game proves that with or without me they can win, and more than anything it is a big confidence booster for the team and for the defense itself.
Talk a little bit about the U.S. performance vs. Grenada. What was the mindset going into that game?
The mindset was to go in and play well, but when you play these qualifiers and everything works by aggregate what it comes down to is to score as many goals as possible and not give up any, and I think we accomplished that goal. That last goal that we scored in the last minute really helped us out a lot by (Greg) Vanney, and I think coming away with that third goal really boosted us up. If we had gone into the second leg 2-0 you know its still a little bit rough and you're still thinking that there is still a lot of pressure, but a third goal makes us a little bit more at ease and helps us out a lot.
Was there any concern at half time when it was just 1-0? What was said at half time? The team was obviously creating chances.
Yeah, I mean it could have been 0-0 if it wasn't for (DaMarcus) Beasley's goal but you know we didn't play particularly well but I think that maybe Beasley's goal really boosted the team. What was said was "to just keep on going, you know you guys have got to pick it up and play at a higher level, and just keep on going and finish your chances."
So what's the attitude heading into this weekend's game?
It's a great attitude. The team is together right now, we're confident, we feel what is most important is that we are together as one. Everybody's together, there's a good camaraderie between the whole team and the players themselves, the camaraderie is good and we are at a good level right now and everything is all right.
How about your groin injury that has been plaguing you lately? Any effects?
Yeah, it was bothering me through out the week. It's actually not the right side, it's the left side that is compensating for my right side that was injured. There is a lot of tightness in it, but I've been doing a lot of rehab and its 100% right now so I should be ok. Or close to a hundred, close enough to a hundred.
Are we going to see you in the return leg Sunday?
Yeah, I mean I hope so. I hope so, we will see what happens but I hope so. It looks like it.
