Quotes From USA Qualifier
Livestrong Park, Kansas City.
U.S. Coach JURGEN KLINSMANN
On the Guatemala match:
Klinsmann: “We’d like to thank that amazing crowd here and the people involved in the game here in Kansas City. It was phenomenal. It was quite an experience for all of us, even for the European players who are used to big places. I wish there would’ve been a fourth goal to kill it off, but overall I’m very pleased.”
Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey combo:
Klinsmann: “They have good chemistry and they get along. On the field, you want to see guys that are there for each other. When you have a mistake, the other guy comes and gives you a pat on the shoulder and says, ‘Come on, let’s keep going.’
Eddie was definitely a big plus for us to have. He went through ups and downs in his career, but he understands the moment. I told him when he came in, ‘If you give us everything you have and just kind of adjust to what we’re doing here, don’t worry, you’re going to be fine.'”
On if there is a sense of relief after the match:
Klinsmann: “We expected a very difficult qualifying campaign and that’s what it is. If you give away a game like we did in Jamaica then you have to pay the price for it a little while and you have to correct it. We go through now in first place and we made things clear that we were the #1 team in this group. The next round will be even tougher. Players grow and coaches learn and it’s just normal.”
On what went well that hadn’t gone well in the past:
Klinsmann: “I think they understood the moment and that’s why they responded well after the first goal. They wanted to keep the tempo high, they wanted to come over the wings, they wanted to combine and keep the ball. Sometimes even a little bit longer than we want to see it, but it’s better if we have it than they have it and be patient and wait for these penetrating balls between the full backs and center backs. I think they developed a better chemistry. We are, step-by-step, breaking in new players into that team and I think you see players that grow into that team like a Graham Zusi. At the same time, we have to take care of qualifying and see some new players come in and make a stamp on the game and developing through it.
On partnership of Herculez Gomez/Clint Dempsey and Danny Williams/Michael Bradley:
Klinsmann: “I think that both partnerships are getting smoother and better. You add Eddie Johnson to it know because he also has a good understanding with Clint. Danny Williams is a player we follow closely that is a real #6, he’s a similar player like Kyle Beckerman. They play a similar role. Especially, when you play a team like Guatemala who hits long balls and live off the second balls and whatever drops down – you need to have a #6 cleaning it up. That partnership with Michael is developing, we told Michael to play in front of him so that not only they play next to each other defensively but when we go forward Michael plays the attacking role and that worked well. You have to do that because otherwise you get caught in counterattacks.”
On the biggest thing he learned about the team through this qualifying round:
Klinsmann: “Obviously you learn with every game and every day you work with that group. You know the players better and better, and you make your decisions based on what you see and what you ex…