MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2005 - METROSTARS 3, COLUMBUS CREW 2
METROSTARS HEAD COACH BOB BRADLEY
On Ante Razov:
"I've known Ante a long time. I think he's a dangerous striker. I think he has a good way of moving on the field. The hope is that he will continue to get sharper and sharper but his movement is good and when he gets chances running in on goal his ability to finish and beat the keeper is as good as anybody in the league."
"Honestly, I think from the end of last year, Ante was hopeful to be a MetroStar. I think that his whole purpose right now is that he is happy to be here. He feels that we have a lot of good things going for us. He's excited what he sees in training everyday and the environment we have and he is excited to contribute what he can to make it better."
On goalkeeper Zach Wells:
"Anytime your goalkeeper saves a penalty it's a boost for a the team. I think Zach has shown now that when the other team gets penalties there is going to be no freebees. He's quick and reads things well. So that is something that works well for us. Hopefully we don't keep giving up penalties, we've given up more than I'd like."
METROSTARS FORWARD ANTE RAZOV
On playing against Columbus:
"It's just coincidence that they (Columbus) came up this fast. If we would have played them in six weeks it wouldn't have been a big deal. I knew those questions were going to come and it just happened that way. But we got three points and we won, that's the most important thing."
On the momentum shifts:
"Well that's the thing you need to win. You need your goalie to make a save sometimes when he has no right doing it. He's saved two penalty kicks in a row and kept us in the game tonight. We did let them back into the game though and that is something that we have to take away from tonight. It's a lesson to be learned that when you have a team on the ropes you have to knock them out, you can't let them back in."
METROSTARS GOALKEEPER ZACH WELLS
On the last five minutes of the game:
"We didn't have a chance to play on the turf this week and it was a little more slippery than usual but it's just something I need to work out with the back four."
On the penalty kick he saved:
"I thought it was a harsh call when I brought down Cornell, but I thought it was my duty to save the kick. That was the second penalty where I brought down someone in the box and I need to cut down on that."
METROSTARS PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER ALEXI LALAS
On the game:
"I don't think anybody left here tonight not getting their money's worth. It's as simple as that. That was an entertaining game of soccer, but it's only 90 minutes, it's only one game and it's certainly nothing that I did. And I want to congratulate Bob and the team for sending away our fans with a smile, but more importantly the appreciation for the effort and the passion they showed tonight. And yeah, you can say if that penalty goes in it's a different game, but that's soccer. You got to make big plays. It was a great stop by Zach and its nice where you can get a trade for a guy who comes on and in his second game scores two goals. That's what he's here to do and we expect Ante to continue."
On the team and Bradley:
"This week I talked to the team. It was very short and sweet and I let them know what I expect of them. I let them know that my assessment of them as Major League Soccer players in MLS is the success that they bring on the field and off the field to this organization. I let them know that I will accept nothing less than an MLS Cup this year, or any other year that I am here. Bob and I had a long talk and Bob Bradley makes me laugh. As I said before he is definitely the most misunderstood guy in this league. He is a grumpy old man but I love him very much and we are working on a lot of things on and off the field. He also understands my expectations of him. They are no different. He is to win an MLS Cup. We compare ourselves to not only the teams in this league, but to everyone else around the world. And that is the expectation of all the big clubs, and we are a big club, a "superclub" if you will."
COLUMBUS CREW FORWARD CORNELL GLEN
On the game:
"Obviously we missed the PK and they scored two and it was early in the game so we had a chance to get back into the game and probably win the game. We kept going at it, going at it and scored eventually, but the third goal put us where we were. Even though they scored a third goal we had a chance and we had to keep fighting and try to get a goal and try to get back into the game."
On regrouping:
"We first need to forget this game and try to work harder to try to get back, it is all about moving on."
On the positives of the game:
"We scored two goals on the road, scoring two goals on the road is a good thing. We need to defend better and defend from the front, from the forward to the back, we need to work on that some more."
COLUMBUS CREW MIDFIELDER CHRIS HENDERSON
On the change of momentum:
"I have been hitting PKs for ten years and I just didn't hit it well. Cornell wanted to take it and he just got fouled so I stepped out and didn't hit it well and it would have changed the momentum because they came right down right away and got a goal, it was pretty demoralizing for the team. Just getting the injury in the groin, I wasn't able to get the ball on my left and tried to play right through it, but it was too sore."
On the positives:
"We battled and Cornell got behind the defense and he was threatening all night. Some character from the guys, we have to just come back home and work on getting the points at home. Definitely disappointing because we had some opportunities. We have to keep going and keep fighting."
