CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUOTESHEET
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2009 – D.C. UNITED 3, CD MARATHON 0
D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH TOM SOEHN
On how he liked the team’s prospects
[I liked them] a lot better. We had a little while to prepare, it almost felt like a month compared to what we’ve been going through. You could feel there was a little more energy for our guys. It still wasn’t perfect but it was more of a complete performance than we’ve had in a while. We have created a lot of opportunities, it’s good to see Luci [Emilio] get on the board and do it again. I think it’s always important for a striker to get the confidence to score. When things didn’t go well in the first half, I give him a lot of credit for fighting through that and being the difference maker in the second half.
On playing in both MLS and CONCACAF
We are still one game at a time. This one is over, and we are going to look at San Jose [on Sunday], that’s the most important game right now.
On using the whole width of the field
Over this course of so many games, we’ve created some bad habits, where we haven’t been using the width. And not being able to work on it in training, or not having the time to do it, makes it difficult. We had a week to really focus on the strength to stretch the field to change the point of attack, and today I saw a real difference in that.
On the defense
Lawson [Vaughn] coming in, I though he did a very good job. A guy like Lawson, we haven’t had a lot of time to look at him in a full field environment, but this week we did, and I thought he did a real admirable job. Obviously his fitness is still an issue. The other guys Julius [James] and Clyde [Simms] and Avery [John] now have had some time together. It shows the depth we have, you know? We were down our three starting backs for the most part and I don’t think you could really tell. We did a good job at defending today.
On Jaime Moreno’s red card
You know I didn’t see it well. I hoped the referee would’ve called the first, the second or the third fault before he got carried away. I was a little disappointed the way he handled it. But Jaime [Moreno]’s reaction wasn’t great. I didn’t see it very clear, but still disappointing because it shouldn’t have gotten that far.
D.C. UNITED FORWARD LUCIANO EMILIO
On missing chances in the first half
I think every forward has pressure to score goals. It was very difficult for me because I missed two or three opportunities in the first half. But I’d like to say thank you to [Head Coach] Tommy [Soehn] for the confidence. He could have took me out after the first 45 minutes. The guys gave me a lot of confidence too and everybody pushed me up and I think it was a good reaction on my part and I thank my teammates for the support.
On feeling pressure to keep scoring
[It’s] a lot of pressure. As a forward I have a lot of pressure every game. But I think after today I recovered a bit my confidence. And I have all the motivation to play on Sunday [against San Jose]. This is very positive and I think that Sunday I have a lot of confidence that is going to be very good for the rest of the season.
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER BEN OLSEN
On Marathon
They had a long couple of days getting here and unfortunately for them, they weren’t 100 percent. But we’ve played teams that weren’t 100 percent in the past and we haven’t taken advantage of them. It’s important when you do get these chances, when you play a team that’s down on their luck a little bit, you have to punish them and we did that tonight.
On Luciano Emilio
Frankly he’s been playing pretty good for the last month and a half as far as holding the ball up and his work rate’s been good. Unfortunately in the striker’s world there’s a lot of pressure if you don’t hit that one chance, you know, you get a lot of heat. But it’s great for him to hit the net and for that to continue because we’re in for some hard work.
On the first half
It was frustrating but the style of play was right and the way we were getting in was right. It was just a matter of finishing and the final ball. We knew they’d be a little tired in the second half. The goal right out of the gate in the second half was big, it kind of set the tone for the second half. Jaime [Moreno] does a good job coming in, giving us what he does. Overall a good day, we’ll see if we can continue this in CONCACAF now.
D.C. UNITED FORWARD JAIME MORENO
On his red card
I didn’t get him [with the elbow]. I thought the referee should have done better in the first place. The guy kicked me three times, that’s why I retaliated a little bit but I didn’t really get him with the elbow.
On getting sent off
You know, it’s the heat of the moment. We are at home and you have to respect us.
On the first half
In the first half we created enough chances to score a couple of goals but unfortunately we couldn’t do it and, you know, Luci [Emilio] was in the right spot and scored a great goal in the first one. And after that I thought we moved the ball pretty well and we opened the space and it was 3-0. It could have been more.
On the defensive performance
One of our goals was to keep the clean sheet and finally we did it.
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
