MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
FC DALLAS HEAD COACH COLIN CLARKE
On the win:
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2005 - FC DALLAS 4, LOS ANGELES GALAXY 1
"We're absolutely delighted. The first half was a great performance and we got the goals that the performance warranted. And then in the second half we did a good job of shutting up shop and keeping things tight."
On the recent win streak:
"It's important to go into the playoffs on a roll, a winning habit is a good habit and we'd like to keep that going as long as possible."
On the team's spirit over the past week:
"The spirit has always been pretty good. We always had belief, we just weren't getting any results because of some little things. There wasn't any one reason that things weren't going right so we knew that once we got the first result that things would lift off. This is our home, our home field and it took a while to give it ourselves a home-field advantage, but we're starting to do that."
On the play of Roberto Mina:
"He's a great player and now that he's scoring goals, he's full of confidence so I'm absolutely delighted for him. There is always healthy competition for spots in the team and we have a couple missing at the minute and he's having to do the workload and he's doing a great job. He was fantastic tonight."
FC DALLAS MIDFIELDER MARK WILSON
On getting the 3-0 halftime advantage:
"Psychologically, going into the next two games against (the Galaxy), it's a great big boost for the boys. We performed great tonight and it's a fantastic win that sets us up now for the next two or three games."
On the team's recent turn of fortune:
"It's been a massive turn around in attitude, work rate, ethics. We're doing everything as it should be done and as a result, we're getting good results."
FC DALLAS MIDFIELDER SIMO VALAKARI
On his return from injury:
"I haven't played for a while in the league so it was nice to get back out on the field, but it was even nicer to get a result. It feels good."
On playing with a three-goal lead:
"Being 3-0 up, we knew that they were going to throw everything that they had and put us under pressure, but I thought that we handled it well and it was excellent just to get 3-0 up. We're playing well and scoring goals, but our game comes down to how we defend, so it was a little sad to give a goal away, but that's the game and we'll take the result."
FC DALLAS GOALKEEPER SCOTT GARLICK
On the play of his defense:
"Everybody knows that when we defend as a group, which we've done better the last couple of games, we are going to give ourselves a chance to win games, and the teams in this league that do that are the ones that win games and championships."
On the disappointment of giving up a late goal:
"To be honest, mistakes happen, and we were under 45 minutes of straight pressure in the second half, and unfortunately one did. But in that situation I wouldn't look at anybody else but me so I'll take full responsibility and we'll move on."
FC DALLAS FORWARD ROBERTO MINA
On his recent form:
"I'm very happy with my performance, but it's the whole team and not only me. It's good that I'm getting into a rhythm (in front of goal), and hopefully I can keep that up."
On his first goal:
"I made a good run and nice move to get past the defender and to the goal, and I just saw that little window and hit it. It may have hit the back of one of the defenders, but it went into the net and that's the important thing."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY HEAD COACH STEVE SAMPSON
On why FC Dallas won tonight:
"I think that if we could've finished a couple of early opportunities in the game, that would have made a difference for us. Chris Albright's opportunity, which Scott Garlick saved, was a big psychological boost for them. Then we take the own goal and the two things combined caused some problems."
On Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup Final:
"I think this team understands that we have to be able to resolve those issues in the first half and bring more energy to the game, and play more tactfully more intelligently. More players have to have better games than what we saw tonight. We have to use this game as a motivator for our upcoming matches and I'm sure that they will. This team will show it's abilities, I'm sure in the final parts of this season and I'm sure that they will so our fans get what they want to see in the Open Cup Final against Dallas on Wednesday."
On positives in tonight's game:
"In the second half our players played with a lot of pride. They showed they weren't going to drop their heads and roll over. That was important, because it shows that they want to show in front of Dallas' fans, show that we can play this game too. The game is very important, hopefully we will bring the kind of energy we had in the second half to the U.S. Open Cup Final on Wednesday. "
LOS ANGELES GALAXY MIDFIELDER PETE VAGENAS
On L.A.'s defense:
"It's tough when you give up a silly goal like that - it slices your spirits up. The second goal was just as bad, and there's an old saying, 'Defense wins championships' and there's a big question mark there. It's been there the whole season, it's been our Achilles heel. We can talk about it all we want, coaches continue to harp on it, but it takes our defensive players on the field to stand up and do their job and it's as simple as that. You have to be able to mark one-and-one as a defender in this league. If you can't, you serve no purpose."
On facing FC Dallas in the U.S. Open Cup Final:
"We've got to know that it's going to be a tough game. We can't think that just because we are playing at home that it will be a walk in the park. Obviously, they showed tonight that they want to end in second place in our conference and want home field advantage, so it's going to be a huge statement, because this is going to be the team will either going to end our season or going to be the springboard to our championship, so we'll have to deal with them."
