METROSTARS HEAD COACH BOB BRADLEY
On the game:
"After halftime, I think we were calm to keep playing and the chances would come. When a player can go out and score a great goal at the half I think it puts exclamation point on his effort. Fabian's [Taylor] shown that he has drive and the ability to score goals. He's getting sharper and fitter every day. The thing that always impresses me is his ability to score in different ways. He's able to score shooting low, with his left foot, right foot; he does well with his chances with headers, so we saw a little bit of all of that."
On Taylor becoming a starter:
"There's no timetable for that. Every week we have to look at everybody and make decisions on that."
On his confidence with the offense:
"I would just say that I think that we've made progress. I think we're better and able to create more chances. I think we're a little more creative than we were in the past and I think we're better in the first two games, which led to more goals. I think the first half today when a team like D.C. puts pressure on us, we still have to improve to be sharper and move the ball out of those little tight spots and find ways to get out of their pressure, and luckily for us we were better in the second half and I don't think they [D.C.] were able to sustain that effort.
On the play of Freddy Adu:
"Freddy's always got a few things that are very exciting and now he gets his first goal. So I'm sure there will be many more."
On the status of Eddie Pope:
"He was cramping so at that point, I think we needed to get him off. He's still working his way from being out for a little bit. It was a little warmer today than it's been and I think it just caught up with him. He would've played as long as he could have."
On Wolyniec's contribution:
"John works hard every day. He puts himself in very good positions and I think now he's shown that the confidence he's gained over the second part of last year and over the winter with the national team has paid off and there will be more goals. I think that the one thing that he still needed to show in this league was that he can be a scorer and in two games the indication that he's going to come around and show that."
METROSTARS FORWARD FABIAN TAYLOR:
On getting his first goal in Giants Stadium:
"It feels very good to get my first goal here and I just hope to take it from there."
On his second goal:
"I was elated for both of the goals. I think as the season goes on you get better."
On no big goal celebration:
"I think next time around you'll see some of that."
On if he felt that he upstaged Freddy Adu:
"Not really. My job was to go there and do a job for the team and that's what I did."
On his training this week:
"I was just getting back to good fitness. This week in training I worked very hard. My pace was good and I think I had a good week of training."
METROSTARS DEFENDER EDDIE POPE:
On winning the home opener:
"It was just exciting, obviously. We came from behind and we did really well in the second half. We got some exciting goals."
On the atmosphere in locker room this season compared to last season:
"I just think that everything is positive here suddenly. The camaraderie is a little bit better and we are maybe more like a family then we were last year."
METROSTARS FORWARD JOHN WOLYNIEC:
On the home opener:
"It was very exciting. The crowd was great. They were into it. We got a win against our division opponent. That's all you can ask for."
On his goal:
"I think it was a great ball from Amado. It was an alright finish for me - and a less than par celebration, but that's all right."
On atmosphere in locker room:
"It's great. It's a lot of fun. I'm excited to come to work everyday and to play. It's a lot of fun. Guys are working for each other and it shows on the field."
D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH PETER NOWAK:
On the game:
"In the first half and in the last couple of games we were OK and in the second half I think we stopped playing soccer, and within 10 minutes you get three goals. If you see the goals, I think the second one was very controversial. As I said from the bench I cannot say anything. You guys know."
On what happened with the MetroStars second goal:
"It was an absolute foul on Bryan Namoff. There was no question about that."
On starting Warren over Rimando:
"I think Doug was very good for three or four weeks. I decided to give Doug a chance, and in Los Angeles I wished he would do better. I don't know about today's game."
On the play of Freddy Adu:
"I'm very happy for Freddy. For three weeks he was working very hard. Soon he's going to earn his spot. Most of all he's a good finisher. He needs the experience and he's going to be very good."
D.C. UNITED FORWARD FREDDY ADU
On his first MLS goal:
"Unfortunately I scored on a losing day, I didn't even get to celebrate it. But it felt great and just opened the floodgates and hopefully I can build on it."
On scoring in Giants Stadium:
"It was a great feeling and made it even more special because it's the biggest rivalry D.C. has. To get a chance to score against them is a special thing, and like I said it's a bit unfortunate 'cause we lost. Hopefully we've learned from this game and we can build on it."
On relieving pressure with the score:
"It takes a lot of pressure off of me. Every player wants to get that first goal and once you get that first goal you just want to go out there and get more goals. It just opens everything up and I can't wait for next game."
On getting the goal:
"I worked really hard for that goal. I was way behind the defender and kind of threw myself in front of him and stuck my foot in there and the ball deflected off my foot into the back of the net and it worked out great.
"I actually was making a far post run and the ball was kind of missed by one of the defenders in the clearing. I expected the defender in front of me to clear it so I just quickly got around him stuck my foot in there and it went in the net."
On getting the game ball:
"I actually did not get the ball yet but when I do it will go in my trophy case."
His feelings after scoring:
"It was a great feeling. After I scored there was still about 10-15 minutes left in the game so it gave us a chance. But unfortunately we didn't pull through. It was a great feeling. I can't really explain it. It was like scoring the in the U-20 World Cup.
"I felt like that after the first game. The first game it was like the coach could bring me off the bench. It put me in a situation that I could succeed. I'm ready to start. I feel like I've been playing well in training. I expect the coach to decide whether to start me or not.
"It's tough, real tough. But the coach makes the decisions and does what he feels is best for our team. As tough as it is I have to accept it and just go with it for the best of the team."
On the defenders in MLS:
"They're tougher and stronger. You have to outsmart them, so to speak, and can't fall for their little shenanigans they do when they try to hit you and get into your head and all that stuff. I'm at the point where I'm used to that stuff and it's part of my normal routine out there. I just keep playing and don't worry about it."
On fans cheering for him in Giants Stadium:
"I was expecting them to boo me. The fans were great. It was kind of funny and I can't imagine what the other players were thinking. It was great and gave me a little more energy to start playing and have fun."
"It's still kind of like a circus and I've never experienced this before. Every time I go out there, it's kind of weird because everyone's screaming your name and all that stuff. On the other hand, you have to keep your perspective and get that extra drive to play."
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER BEN OLSEN
On the MetroStars' three goals in 13 minutes:
"Well it speaks for itself. When we're off maybe we're getting too complacent. We're letting down. We're not fighting off the teams that are coming back strong at us. We're also on another note not finishing our chances, and that's been an issue too. We're not burying the teams when we can."
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER EARNIE STEWART
On if he thought that D.C. should have made changes at the half:
"I thought we were good in the first half and so there was no reason to. I didn't see a reason to change things in the second half. They got their early goal and you know they're going to come [at us] in the second half [for the] first 15 minutes that they play. We ended up panicking and it cost us big time"
On scoring the goal and making it 3-2:
"Of course yeah. When you get close you always have that feeling that you can get that equalizer, but in the end we didn't get it and it hurts, especially after playing the first half like that."
