MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2004 - KANSAS CITY WIZARDS 1, SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES 0
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH BOB GANSLER
On getting three points:
"Three points are three points. There are no small three points and there are no big three points. These were three points. The way it was achieved and the opponent we had to beat to get them should help our confidence level and confidence is absolutely necessary going into the playoffs. Confidence that we will score and find a way, and the confidence level that we can shutout an awfully good team, one that has scored quite often against us. It is three points, plus the confidence."
On the tactical changes made at halftime:
"I think our central combinations brought us a couple opportunities, but at halftime we said let's get a little more variety and a little more wide stuff and that is why we flip-flopped Jack (Jewsbury) and Alex (Zotinca). San Jose is a very good team and one thing we weren't able to do is get that third and fourth guys up there with Josh (Wolff) and Davy (Arnaud) on a consistent basis. But, obviously that did bring the goal."
On Diego Gutierrez's goal:
"Diego made a great run and Davy found him. While we had put some bullets on Onstad before, when you take a little off it, it doesn't have to be a howitzer it just has to be well placed. It was reminiscent of in Los Angeles when Diego scored in the 86th minute coming from deep."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS MIDFIELDER KERRY ZAVAGNIN
On his two consecutive goalmouth blocks:
"That is my job on the near post there and I was in the right place at the right time. On the first ball, it was headed down and I managed to redirect it out of goal. Obviously I didn't clear it like I would have liked to and they got another opportunity. Fortunately again for us, I was able to get my foot on the second one as well."
On the win:
"The team feels good about themselves. There is no question we are excited to play in the Open Cup final at home on Wednesday. But more importantly we are putting ourselves in a position where if we win our two remaining home games and get points on the road, whether its one or three points, we are going to win our conference and perhaps the league. We are in a good position right now and we should feel confident going into these last four regular season games."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS MIDFIELDER DIEGO GUTIERREZ
On his goal:
"I just tried to put it on frame. I got enough on it, the ball kind of skipped on me, but my main thought was to just keep it on frame, and if it doesn't go in just give other guys a chance for the rebound. I was blessed enough to see the ball go in. You just never know what is going to happen once it bounces off the post."
On the combination of the win and Colorado and Los Angeles losing:
"We can only help ourselves when you are out on the field. It's things that you think about before and after the game, but when you get out there the main thing is to take care of your own business and hope for the best. We were blessed tonight and it was a big win. What better way to follow this up now that with the Open Cup final on Wednesday."
SAN JOSE DEFENDER JEFF AGOOS
On Quakes remaining games: "Now we are going to see what this team is made of. Are we just going to pack it in and have an early vacation or are we going to keep our heads up and get after teams and take the points that we need to make the playoffs. I know we can do it, we will see what we are made of now."
On the game: "This was a disappointing game. We gave up that late goal, and then we really started to play, we started attacking, but it was too late. That has happened to us too much this year."
SAN JOSE MIDFIELDER BRIAN MULLAN
On the game:
"I thought we came out playing well, we worked the ball around and had some chances, but then they caught us in transition and we lost that momentum, and we just couldn't get back into the game."
On Quakes remaining four games:
"We are definitely not out of it. We have some big games left and we have to play well, but I think we have proven that we can beat all of the teams we have left on our schedule."
SAN JOSE FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN
On the game:
"Tonight we played OK, and we had some half-chances that we needed to do better with. We never really threatened though, and then do give up that late goal is a killer. Now it is going to be difficult for us to make up ground, we only play Dallas once, but if we can win at least three of these games and stay close, then it could come down to that final game."
