The first one was a big one because it was difficult for us to get quality chances. I'm sure this will give him confidence heading into qualifying. |
The foreign coaches have put a lot of pressure on the English way of doing things, and that's going to be for the better in the long run. |
The German team needs a win because the public demands it. |
The goal now is to make our team better for the World Cup. |
The Gold Cup is the biggest headache on the schedule. We want to be respectful of the confederation championship and put our best team out there and try to win it. However, our focus has to be on World Cup qualifying. Those 10 games are the most important. |
The Guatemala game will provide us with another good opponent as we continue to prepare and evaluate players for the 2006 World Cup roster. |
The issue for Tim, like it is for all of our players in Europe, is how much they play and how well they play. |
The match in Cary is our last game before we make our final decisions on the World Cup roster, so it is obviously an important one for us. |
The naming of this 23-man roster is the end of a long and arduous process. Today, a new journey begins as we start final preparations for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. As usual, we will not make any bold statements or predictions. However, I can assure everyone that the team that steps on the field on June 12 against the Czech Republic will be a team that all Americans will be proud of. |
The nuance with the U.S. team in qualifying is always, 'How do we blend our domestic- and foreign-based players? Now it's more complicated because we probably have more players abroad than ever before. |
The number that's going to work for me is the one that tells us we can't finish worse than third. |
The only thing that experience tells me is you can't be 100% sure about any player. |
The previous match played no role in selecting this roster. It was based on fitness and form. We thought this was a good group. We know Bocanegra and Johnson are certainly capable of playing (a full game), but Beasley is still something of a question mark. |
The results in Guatemala (0-0) and Costa Rica (3-0 defeat) were not as critical to me. This one is. We want to end the year on a high note. |
The results in Guatemala and Costa Rica were not that critical to me. This one (against Panama) is. This is the one I want to win so we can end the year on a high note and at the same time, give some promising players some opportunities to play and start formulating some strategies for 2006. |