Head Coach Ben Olsen
On a tough start to the match…
“We certainly respected the opponent and their dynamic attack. They score with transition goals when teams aren’t sharp in the moment. They have physical and extremely athletic guys who had a little more zip in the beginning. Their goal woke us up. I don’t think it was a mentality issue… these guys have played a lot of games. I give them a lot of credit to still be able to get three points tonight. I’m proud of the group for that.”
On bringing Darren Mattocks on…
“The game needed energy and another a threat. I thought Wayne [Rooney] and Luciano [Acosta] played at a high level all night…. but Darren gave us good energy and the spark we needed today. Once we got the lead, it helped to get Frederic [Brillant] in the backline and we got out of the game with a win.”
On the next match against Red Bulls…
“It’s a quick turnaround and another game against an opponent that’s had our number. I think everybody is a tired of that, and hopefully we can fix that situation on Sunday.”
On the fan support…
“It was huge because we needed some motivation there. It’s a Wednesday night game in a tough situation. The fans came alive in the second half, and the players responded in the right way.”
Forward Wayne Rooney
On the match...
“We were sloppy in the first half and lost our concentration. We spoke about it at halftime, but fair play to the players, we hung in there and got the victory. It was an important game, a good win in the end, but there’s a lot to improve on.”
Forward Darren Mattocks
On his goal...
“It was a great ball from [Luciano] and a great run from [Joseph] Mora. As soon as I saw him turn the corner, I was like ‘oh man I gotta get into the box.’ I got the goal and it was important.”
On the energy he brought off the bench…
“It was definitely needed. We looked a bit tired in the first half. Credit to them, we got a hard-fought point on the weekend in the New York. When you have depth like we have it helps, and tonight was definitely a night it helped. It is good to win games when you don’t play well. This is a big one.”
On gaining confidence after a brace with Jamaica in the international break…
My confidence never leaves. I’m always gonna be confident that I can take the goal when it comes. When your number is called upon, you need to be ready to take the chance.
