D.C. United HeadCoach Ben Olsen
On Nick DeLeon'sperformance:
"Early, he wasn't real tuned into the game and about 15minutes before the end of the first half he started to click again. We saw some of that early-Nick DeLeonand that was nice. In the second half, he did a lot of work, but mainly, hemade a great individual play to get us 1-0."
On the defensiveeffort:
"It was very tough down that stretch. They just kept comingand coming and throwing a lot of numbers forward. When they do that, they aregoing to get looks and crosses and two-v-ones and I thought we held up fairlywell. We were committed. I would have liked to dictate the game a little bitmore down the stretch. I think we got a little too tired. We weren't moving foreach other and there weren't as many options. We were looking for that secondmaybe a little too much instead of just getting a hold of the game again."
On Daniel Woolard'sinjury:
"We'll evaluate it. It sounded like he got his bell rung alittle bit. We will evaluate him."
On Emiliano Dudarstepping in to the back four:
"He had some errant passing that didn't help us at times,but he also had some passing and calmness that really does help us. I thoughtoverall he had a pretty good day."
On the beginning ofthe game:
"I thought they [Columbus Crew] were a little chippy andthey had some bad tackles. I didn't like the way the referee protected ourplayers early in that game. I thought they set a tone early that I thought theyshould have been booked a couple times."
On Nick DeLeon'srookie season:
"The college season is so short and to concentrate for thisduration is tough. It's a long time. You see it in the second year guys – theyknow how to concentrate for long periods and each year it gets a little bitbetter."
On Long Tan'sPerformance:
"He was good. His work rate is unbelievable. We didn't findhim as much as we needed to in behind. I have to look at the film, but I thinkhe made some very good runs. If we find him, he can be very dangerous. I washoping he could have got a goal. He did a great job on the goal to get a littleflick on there. He put a good night in for sure."
D.C. United DefenderBrandon McDonald:
On the win:
"I just think it was more fight from us right down till theend. When that final whistle blew it was great. We kind of gritted our teethand stuck our foot in. “
On the team'sdefensive effort:
"I just think that it was unbelievable. We were smart on theball. They [Columbus Crew] were getting their success toward the last 25minutes from us giving the ball away. It was something where we have to besmart on the ball. I was glad to come away with three points but at the sametime, it was a battle."
On Dudar's return tothe lineup:
"It was great. He's a big presence back there. He's a bigguy. He's vocal and his presence is great."
D.C. UnitedMidfielder Chris Pontius
On his goal:
"I saw [DeLeon] get into the corner, he had to beat two guysand he made it happen. Somehow he got the ball across, Long [Tan] did a goodjob of getting it on goal and there's a rebound for me and I just tried toanticipate something happening."
On Nick DeLeon'srookie season:
"It's tough. You go from having a three-month season to allof a sudden – with preseason – ten plus months. Consistency is the hardestthing as a rookie, but I think he's found his groove back. I just told him thething that makes him successful is him going at guys, and you saw that tonight,putting defenders on their heels."
On United's defensiveperformance:
"We had our chances in the first half but couldn't put themaway. Our defense was unbelievable tonight. They had a couple of good looks toobut we had players diving all over the place and laying out for it, so creditit all to them [the defense] for the shutout."
On the importance of tonight'swin:
"It was a huge game for us, especially starting off thismonth were we have a lot of games. We need to make up some ground in theEastern Conference."
D.C. UnitedMidfielder Nick DeLeon
On Chris Pontius' goal:
"[Chris] Korb played a ball down the line and I just heardthe sideline [coaches] saying ‘go at them, go at them.' He gave me a littlespace towards the line and I went at him. Fortunately enough I got [the ball]through and we got the goal."
On the deciding to doa 360 turn in the play:
"That was just a bad touch. The defender was coming, so Ijust improvised. It worked out for the best. We got the goal and we got thewin, so I'm happy about that."
On his rookie season:
"I got off to a good start, then I picked up that injury andI felt like mentally I got into a little slump. Recently I've just beenfocusing on amping my game up to the next level. You can never be satisfiedwith where you are at, so these past few weeks at practice I've been workinghard, pushing it and trying to get to that next level. I guess I kind of showedit in the game that I'm trying to get back there."
On the differencebetween playing on the left and right side:
"It's a little different, takes a little bit getting used toit. But it's not bad. Wherever [Ben Olsen] puts me, I'll play.”
Columbus Crew HeadCoach Robert Warzycha
On whether the resultis a step backwards after two consecutive wins:
"I don't think so. I think we came here to play. I don'tremember D.C. United creating that many chances. They had a couple of turnoversin the first half but most of the time, especially in the second half, wecontrolled the game but just couldn't score."
On Arrieta:
"D.C. United has very good defenders so obviously we had tosit back a bit. I think he was trying to play as good as he could and he had adecent game. You obviously want fifty crosses to you every single game butthat's impossible."
On D.C. United's goal:
"It was a pretty good play but we should have stopped thembefore they reached the box. It was a lucky bounce and Pontius was in the rightplace."
Columbus CrewGoalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum
On the result of thematch:
"There were some calls that I didn't think went our way, andUnited got some calls that went their way that could have gone either way. Youcan't make excuses obviously, but that didn't help us. United also had somebounces that went their way, and that is how they scored their goal."
On whether the resultwas a step backwards after two consecutive wins:
"You can always say that a loss is a setback but we have agame next week plus a busy August schedule which means that we can't dwell onit. Everyone battled hard. Now we have to take care of our bodies and make surethat we're ready for what's coming next. We have a couple of upcoming games athome that we have to win."
On the humidity:
"It's taxing, but it's taxing for both teams. Also, it's notlike it's any less hot than in Columbus so we're dealing and training with thesame elements. It should not be used as an excuse."
Columbus CrewMidfielder Eddie Gaven
On what was missing inthe final third:
"We were close but the last pass and the last shot weren'tthere. We were doing a good job at getting balls into the box but the ball justdidn't seem to bounce our way tonight."
On the physicality ofColumbus' game:
"We didn't want to let United get into too much of a rhythmat home and we wanted to take them out of their comfort zone. We did a good jobwith that in the first half since they didn't create too many good looks atgoal. It was good from that standpoint, but we just got to find our way to getgoals on the other end."
On the temperature andhumidity:
"It was the same as well for them so we can't use that as anexcuse. We just got to work through it and find a way to keep on playing."
