The guys took the field today on the RFK Training Fields in their first practice session since Bradenton. It also marked the official return of Christian Gomez, who joined the team for the first time since being brought back to United earlier this week. The Argentine took part in the day’s hour and forty-five minute training session. A number of English and Spanish media were on hand to talk to the 2006 League MVP, and we managed to get a few excerpts of what Gomez, Santino Quaranta, and Coach Soehn had to say after training.
Christian Gomez [via translation]
On re-adjusting to D.C.
“I don’t think it will take long for me to get accustomed to this group of guys. As some of you might have seen today at training, D.C. plays the same brand of soccer, an attractive style. I know most of these guys and I don’t think it’ll take long for me to get accustomed to them again.”
On how it felt training again
“It’s obvious when you haven’t trained for a couple of months, and your body is shocked at first. I hadn’t trained with a group of players the way I did today in awhile, so your body feels it afterwards.”
On the expectations of his return
“When you first arrive to a club – or in my case coming back for a second time – I would call it a good pressure, because you want to have a good season, win a championship. It’s something a player cherishes to have that sort of pressure.”
Santino Quaranta
On Gomez
“Personally I am excited to have such a good guy back. He’s been such a good teammate and a good person for this club. It’s really going to help us out a lot to have a guy like Christian who has so much experience and has done so much for this club.
Everybody’s really upbeat -- once you have a relationship like we had together, you just pick right back up, and it’s a good feeling. It feels like it used to be around here, and that’s a good thing.”
On where Gomez fits in
“The way he plays – you surround him with the right players and the right formation and he’ll excel. He’s one of the best players in this League still. There’s so many different ways you can play Christian, and that’s a good thing for our team this year.”
Tom Soehn
On Gomez
He looks happy. I think he’s really happy to be back. He’s got a locker room full of friends, and we’re happy to have him back.
On the team
I think the important thing for this year is we’re looking to have a team that’s got depth that can adjust to so many different styles. We’ve been real happy with some of the young kids we’ve brought in – it’s going to be a real competitive roster. Having as many options as you can is always something that makes you unpredictable.
