D.C. United Forward Wayne Rooney
On if he has any concerns about the lack of opportunities
“Yes, of course. I think it just wasn’t good enough. You can’t make excuses say whatever you want to say, at the end of the day it wasn’t good enough. We need to improve. I think individual players need to look at themselves and we need to look at ourselves as a team.”
On his feeling after the game
“Of course it is more concerning when you lose. There are other games this season where we haven’t performed well and we got lucky, got the win or a draw like on Wednesday night in Toronto. Performance wise, it wasn’t great, but today – it is coming to an important part of the season and I want to win. We want to win as a team. If we keep having performances like this then we won’t.”
Dynamo Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera
On the outcome of the game
“It was a tough game. It was a tough game that started with the collision between (DF) (Steven) Birnbaum and (FW) Alberth (Elis) and I think at that point we lost more than them, because we lost one of our best players – but that’s the game. Now we have to just wait for his recovery and we wish him a speedy recovery, but the team was organized. We were organized. We were solid. We didn’t create too many chances in the first half. I think it was a little bit tough, the situation, because I think it could be the first game that we played without Alberth. So, sometimes it’s difficult. We don’t know how to play (without Alberth) and I think meanwhile we were adapting. Also, Romell (Quioto) (FW) was coming back from a big absence, like two months so we were trying to settle him in. In the second half, we started off by losing the ball in the middle trying to penetrate and then they scored in the first minute of the second half, so that was like ‘okay we needed to start from zero’ but it was a very good response by the players and I’m really proud of them because they continued being solid. They continued being disciplined, but also they were pushing. They were trying to fight ways to create chances. They were, of course, they dropped. They were waiting for us but we found the possibilities with (FW) Memo (Rodriguez) and then with (MF) Tommy McNamara who went in fresh and with a lot of energy and spark. We had the chance to score and then we had one or two more opportunities to maybe score another one but it was a good game. I liked the game. It was a tough game. It was a difficult game and after playing three games in eight days you feel like it was a good game between two good teams.”
On a possible update on FW Alberth Elis’ injury
“No, I just got it. So, I don’t have any updates. It’s just those situations you have to wait, how that injury is or situation develops. So, we have to wait and rest and recover for a couple of days and it’s going to take time. Now, we have to wait to see how he is feeling tomorrow and check everything.”
On FW Alberth Elis’ head injury
“Yeah, they collided head-to-head. Alberth (Elis) (FW) had the ball and (DF) (Steven) Birnbaum was late which in my opinion should be more than a foul because of a late tackle, even if it’s a late tackle with your head, it has to be a yellow card or something but we lost him and then we have to wait to see how he recovers.”
On the performance of the defense tonight going against the best team in the East
“I think we are showing that our team is more solid defensively this season. Yes, we’ve been conceding goals most of the games—only one with zero goals. But, it’s been difficult for the opponents to create chances, clear chances which before it was really easy. It was like ‘okay we got a save, the goalkeeper has to save us too many times.’ So that means we are more solid defensively. We are more compact. Our team is more compact and that is helping us to be more solid and difficult to penetrate. Anyway, the goal came because we lost the ball in transition. The keeper was trying to make a pass through the lines and they just cut the ball and they counterattacked and they did a quick transition, but we’re at home and at home you have to take those risk if you want to win and that’s part of the situation when you play at home. You have teams that drop and wait for you behind the half of the field. So, that’s fine. That’s totally fine, but I think it’s positive that we’re really difficult to play against.”
On if this game had any extra significance
“We felt for (DF) Maynor (Figueroa) and we wanted to send him a good message that we are waiting for him. We didn’t have him today. We couldn’t have him today, so we miss him and we want him to feel supported. We wanted to support him and all of his family because they are going through a difficult time right now. But it was important that we play well at home. We knew that we were facing a very good team that rested the top players before—the two important players on the team. They rested those guys on Wednesday and we haven’t rested anyone basically. We wanted to play. We wanted to be sure that we recovered from that tie that we had Wednesday and we did it. We won and we solid and we won against the best team in the Eastern conference right now.”
Dynamo Midfielder Boniek Garcia
On today’s victory
“It was very important that we walked away with three points today. It was difficult against a great team that plays really well. We started the second half going down by a goal, but the team knew how to react in the best way possible. That was good, very positive.”
On the grit displayed by the team to score twice
“It was very important that we reacted quickly. I thought we did that, we reacted quickly and we were able to score the equalizer and then we were able to manage the game until we were able to score the second goal. The second goal gave us confidence to close out the game. At that point, D.C. was very aggressive as they tried to find the equalizer, but we were able to contain them.”
On the team’s message to DF Maynor Figueroa
“Maynor sent me a message prior to the game and he asked me to send his regards to the team. He wished us well and we did our part to reciprocate on the field today with a victory. He was keeping an eye on the team during a very difficult time for him. We will do our part to support him during this challenging time.”
On overcoming the difficulties of the first half
“Yes, that was challenging. That first half was very challenging because we couldn’t ease our way into a rhythm. They did well to sit deep and then hit us on the counterattack. We started the second half by conceding a goal, but outside of that we were able to control the game in that final block. We reacted quickly when we went down a goal to find the equalizer and that was the most important – after that we generated a good amount of chances.”
Dynamo Defender Adam Lundkvist
On initial thoughts on the game
“Very good. We showed great character today. I think we deserved to win this game too and even though it was a really hard game we know they have a lot of quality.We preserved and we played a really good game especially the second half. We didn’t start as well as we wanted but then we showed great morale and great strength with the team to come back. We have improved a lot with closing the game out and took another step today.”
On what it says about the team despite the circumstances
“I think it shows a lot what this team is about. We work very hard for each other. We feel like we are bonding. We are like a family. We know we want to help each other and that’s how we play. That’s how the Houston Dynamo play. We play for each other. We showed that today against a really good team. So, it’s massive for us.”
On being at home and getting all the points they possibly could before a road stretch
“It’s huge. We love playing in front of our fans at our stadium so we have to take as many points as we can get when we play here. It’s going to be a rough stretch coming up but we are ready for it and we want to continue growing as a team.”
On how he felt coming in today after a game on Wednesday
“No, I felt really good. We have a very good squad so the competition within the team is really high and it’s good for everyone. I didn’t play on Wednesday so I knew that I had to come in here on Saturday to show that I want to play and I want to start. So, that’s how we do it and as soon as we go in and we play, we play for each other and it was good to get a win.”
On if the team prepared differently given the quality of this particular team or keep the same strategy
“I mean, of course, you have to approach the game a little bit differently of course because of the players they have—different teams have different types of players so you have to prepare for that but I think that we always want to stick to our way of playing and I think we are always working to improve and working together. Like I said, we take steps every training, every game so I feel like that’s what we do.”
Dynamo Midfielder Tommy McNamara
On scoring his first goal for the club
“Finally it came. I’ve been getting in the right spots and doing the right things, but the goal just didn’t come for me yet, so it’s good. It feels like the monkey off the back. I was just happy to help the team get three points.”
On the importance of getting a win at home, with a number of away games coming up
“We need to make our home field a difficult place for teams to come and play so they don’t feel like they can come take points off of us. So far we’ve been undefeated, and a big credit to that has been the players and the staff, but another big part of it is the supporters. They’ve been great for us. We’ve done well in these games at home to start the season, and we’ve done pretty well away from home as well; we just haven’t gotten the results that we wanted. Now it’s about preparing for a lot of road games and to be solid as a team, to be compact and have a little bit more killer edge in the away games to come away with some points.”
Dynamo Forward Memo Rodríguez
On the outcome of the game
“It was good three points at home. We really fought today, and it was good team effort defensively. We’re closing out huge now. Sometimes we suffer but we still get the three points and that’s important.”
On preparing to enter the game in an unexpected moment early in the game
“Yeah, obviously it was unfortunate what happened to Alberth (Elis). Concussions and head injuries are serious, and you always have to be ready. Even when he went back on the field, he had to keep warming up because you never know what the symptoms were. You have to be ready at all times. I was ready. Obviously, it was a little tough to get into the game, but it all worked out.”
On the team’s effort to bounce back
“Yeah, it was good. We all had a fight and I think everybody saw it today. We didn’t put our heads down even though they scored right after kickoff in the second half. After the goal, everybody was looking at each other and said “Come on, let’s get it going. We’re going to bounce back”. We fought and got the three points today.”
On the team’s performance tonight
“Yeah, it was difficult because this was our third game in eight days. We knew that some of us were tired but it’s part of fútbol. You have to be ready at all times. We knew DC United was in first place in their conference. They're a tough team and they play well but we knew that we had to come out with the intensity and bring the game to them.”
On the difference with this team this season
“It’s been great. Obviously, I’ve been getting to play a little bit more so that gives me more confidence. The coach can put you in, but you have to have that confidence in yourself out there to show case your talent. It’s a team effort and everybody around me makes me feel comfortable. I think that’s the big difference this year. Everybody is fighting for each other. We’re fighting defensively and everything we do to keep the ball now is working. We’re going to keep pushing forward for the next game against Minnesota.”
On the improvement of maintaining the lead until the last whistle
“We know that was a big focal point for us last year. We would tie and then lose games. This year, Wilmer has been telling us when games are tight, they’re going to push forward and we’re going to have to fight and defend as a team. I think we’re doing that this year. It's working and we’re going to continue moving forward to be more comfortable closing out games.”
