D.C. United Defender Bryan Namoff:
On scoring the only goal of the game:
It was a great opportunity for me, it seems like I always score off Christian Gomez. The foul created a free-kick and it was a play we’ve been working on throughout the week. We’ve really worked on making our runs dynamic.
On the shutout:
They threw a lot of numbers forward, especially toward the end of the game so it was great to come away with a shutout. This is really going to be a building point for us, especially leading into the month ahead. I think this could be the spark to turn things around. Hopefully this can be a building block that leads us to the playoffs.
On playing Chicago:
This is a rivalry that’s been building for years, and being a conference match-up we never take it lightly. Playing Chicago is always a tough game – both mentally and physically.
We knew they were going to be good at home, and this is always a difficult place to play. Dealing with the home crowd and players always play with added confidence at home makes this win all the bigger for us. Chicago really came at us all game. There was never a time we felt we could relax, which is good. We had to put in a solid 90 minute performance and we were able to get three points with the victory.
D.C. United Head Coach Tom Soehn:
On team’s overall performance:
I think this victory was a real defensive effort by the whole team. I think everyone put a lot of work in, from the forwards to the midfielders, the backline and Josh. Early in the game we gave them a little too much space, their forwards were able to check into the space. The second half we did a better job of staying with them. I was really pleased with the team effort.
In the end we injected some fresh legs and they did a great job of executing the game plan as well.
On the timing of the win:
There was a sense of urgency. We had a lot of focus going into tonight’s game. We know how Chicago plays, they play us really tight. It’s always a great series anytime we play each other, but we’ve had some success in this building, we came here for three points and we’ve accomplished that.
Chicago Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett
On the Defense:
Same old story… two shots on goal they score one. We defend well in the run of play and get punished on a set piece and the story is getting old. We don’t do well on one play and we get punished.
On the Fire attack:
I thought the first half we tried to walk the ball into the goal I thought they and they had numbers behind the ball and we just tried to walk the ball in. I think we should have had a better balane shoot from outside and et some early balls in – but we didn’t do a good enough job of that in the first half. I thought we started the game well but we couldn’t get that one in tonight. They got their first goal and then sat back and stuck to their game plan.
On the team’s inability to finish:
Throughout our final third we had some good buildups but we didn’t have the right final pass or the right idea. We had free kicks and corner kicks that I felt we did do well with but our decision making and shots just weren’t right today.
Chicago Fire Forward Chris Rolfe
On the game:
I thought we played pretty well – I think D.C. deserves credit – they were good defensively tonight and scored off a really nice free kick play. They were very organized and I think they must have had a good scouting report on us.
On the team only landing two shots on goal:
I thought that tonight we didn’t create many really dangerous chances. A lot of our looks were from outside of the 18 or were difficult chances from inside of the box. For that I give D.C. credit. I thought they did a good job of defender tonight.
Broadcasting and P.A. Request: When speaking of the organization, please refer to the team as either “D.C. United” or “United,” but not “the D.C. United” or “the United.” We appreciate your cooperation.
Doug Hicks,
dhicks@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5448,
Boris Flores,
bflores@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5452,
Kyle Sheldon,
ksheldon@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5450 or
Cristina Cruz,
ccruz@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5440
