MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2005 - D.C. UNITED 3, CHIVAS USA 0
D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH PETER NOWAK
On the game:
"It was a tough week for us. The toughest part is always to keep focus and concentrate. In a game like that, Chivas, they come in here and play the same system to get forward and score goals. As I told my guys, my players, you have to be careful going forward, but in this weather condition if you have a chance you have to put it in, so we did a pretty good job. Two minutes we scored two goals and the game was over."
On whether he was concerned about the heat and the pace of the game:
"I don't think so - we have enough power. As I've told you guys many times, I don't accept such [excuses]. You're either out of shape or you're not fit. For me it was very good and we still had enough power to score the goals and win the game."
On the play of Dema Kovalenko:
"Absolutely fabulous. Dema was coming very slowly after that injury he had and he was a big part in Chicago. He played very good against L.A. and he scored against Chicago, he scored in the last game against New York and today he finished his performance in the last couple of months with another goal. Dema can play everywhere. He can move forward from the left position, from the middle. This was his role today and I think that everyone saw today he is a very helpful player."
On the play of Jamil Walker:
"Jamil is trying hard to be in this [starting] team and sometimes it's too hard - he's trying to impress everyone and sometimes he wants to have the shots - he wants to finish the shot very fast, without thinking, without seeing things and without seeing the goalie while he's moving, so we work very hard and he works very hard to improve this thing and I think he was rewarded last game against New York and today he scored a very nice goal."
On Santino Quaranta's performance:
"I wasn't happy in the first half, because we were supposed to do a better job with moving Santino around and he was just too passive in a couple of things, but as far as when he started moving around, he created more space for Dema, he created more space for Jamil, so a very good performance again for Santino. But, as I said, in these weather conditions we need to be smart and play our way and make sure that everything in our back is going to be good. But Bryan Namoff, Bobby Boswell, Brandon Prideaux and of course Brian Carroll (were) very good in the last couple of months. And so we're going to keep it this way."
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER JOSH GROS
On Christian Gomez being subbed out early in the second half:
"It's been a long week and he's put in a lot of hard work for us, so he deserves a break."
On similarities to last year:
"Yeah, it's all coming together, offensively and defensively and it's definitely looking a lot similar to last year - I wouldn't mind the same result happening in winning a championship, but we've still got a long way to go and a lot of work to do."
On upcoming games vs. the first place Revolution:
"Yeah, we're trying to get home field advantage and last year we came in second and we had home field advantage against them to get to the final and I think that was huge for us. We need home field advantage - that's going to be a huge game, but we also - say they drop points next week, we got to get some, so we can't look too far ahead."
On facing Landon Donovan and the Galaxy next week:
"I really don't care who's on the other team. We're playing L.A. and they're a great team and we need three points."
D.C. UNITED DEFENDER BOBBY BOSWELL
On the team's recent winning streak:
"I just think it's a testament to our hard work throughout the year. I think early in the season we weren't getting the results that we deserved and now it's starting to pay off - it's starting to go the other way. We're starting to win games and get the results that our work is a result of."
On his assist on the first gal:
"I saw that [Isaac] Romo was going into it a little lax and I just stepped in front and played it to Christian [Gomez] and I saw a huge gap. Normally, I probably wouldn't have made that run, but I wanted to give him another option and he found me. I saw 'Tino' [Quaranta] breaking through and I just put it out there for him to finish."
On connecting with Quaranta for the goal:
"I would have preferred [the ball] to be on my right foot, but you know, it works the same. The ball went in - that's all that matters. I saw him make his run. All you have to do is put it in front of him and he'll put it away - I think he ended up in the goal, he was really moving and that's a testament to the run he made."
D.C. UNITED FORWARD JAMIL WALKER
On the influence of the heat on the game:
"I think we would have played the same, I don't think the weather made it easy for us to get behind them. We were all tired, but our passing was a lot better and we were just a better side."
On the team's thoughts as the game stayed scoreless deep into the first half:
"We were a little bit frustrated because we weren't finishing our chances, but as long as they weren't scoring and we kept on creating, we're all fine with it. We were getting tired, so we wanted to finish our chances before we got too tired, but it ended up they got tired before we did."
On the pace of the game:
"The heat definitely did that - it slowed the game down, but I think both sides were affected the same way."
CHIVAS USA HEAD COACH HANS WESTERHOFF
On the result:
"I think in the first 40 minutes we at least played the same level as our opponent. The difference was we made more mistakes than they did. You can see that they have been playing together for a long time. They moved better than we did. When you play against D.C. United at this level and you're down 2-0, it's almost impossible to come back."
CHIVAS USA MIDFIELDER ANTONIO MARTINEZ
On the result:
"I thought we we're playing well in the first half - not too many chances for both teams. Maybe we had some more dangerous chances in the first half and with two minutes left they scored two goals toward the end of the first half and now is an uphill battle, so it's was really hard. In the second half, they were more relaxed. We had to take it to them. They we're just knocking the ball, making us run."
On the mentality of the team after another loss:
"You can't let it bother you. You have to keep battling. We're getting a couple of new players and hopefully they'll make the difference for us."
On weather conditions:
"It was very tough. It affected both teams. Obviously, they scored the two goals at the end of the first half, so they we're the team that was going to keep possession and we we're the team that was going to start running and chasing them. The heat affected both teams and it was just a bad game for us."
CHIVAS USA FORWARD RODRIGO LOPEZ
On the result:
"It was a tough loss. I thought we did good in the first half. In the second half the team was tired, we we're down 2-0 and the third goal came and everyone just put their heads down."
On his MLS debut:
"I felt good. I wish it would have been more (the playing time). I wish we would have won, it would have made it better."
On what the coach told him before entering the game:
"Do your thing and make it a good debut."
