Steve Sampson Great Quotations

We're really excited that there's going to be a great environment. When we go down there we're going to use that to our benefit. We look forward to it being a hostile environment. We look forward to the excitement of the event.

We've been in training for 12 days now and we're playing against a team that's very experienced. This is an opportunity to see where we're at. The technical speed of the Koreans will be more than we'll see at any other time of the year. It will be a great test for us and we'll be able to take from this exactly what we need to work on.

One thing that I've truly enjoyed about this team is the great leadership. Every single time this team's back has been against the wall, the leaders managed to come through. Now is no different.

He's a great goal scorer. I think he has deceptive speed. Technically I think he's gifted. He's got the complete package. He just lacks the experience at this level. We don't want to rush the situation.

Playing matches like this is great preparation for us. We know very quickly the things we need to work on. We're much further ahead this year at this time than we were last year, but we had to be, given the early competition. I like most of what I see with my team and I think we're going to be very difficult to beat in league play.

While we're here in training the players have done a great job on concentrating and focusing. It's when we get away from this environment that it's tough to relax or really enjoy themselves. Sometimes we almost feel guilty for wanting to laugh, and that's not the way that Doug would have wanted it.

We know that after this match, both teams will get on with the business of trying to do well in the playoffs and win the MLS Cup, ... So, both teams have an opportunity to win two cups going forward, and I think it's a great opportunity for both teams.

This course is extremely difficult and when you factor in the hot weather all the kids out here from every team, you could just see the pain on their faces, ... You feel bad for them?but it's great watching them work so hard.

The bigger the field the better as far as we're concerned. It's a beautiful pitch, and great atmosphere. This team's mentality now going into away matches is so different than it was a month and a half ago.

It was a great first half with two very good goals. I thought that the way we responded after they scored was exactly what I was looking for. I wish we could have created a few more chances before that. I have to give San Jose credit tonight, they put out a lot of energy and they were very dangerous on dead balls obviously. It was a great strike by Moreno and a brilliant header by Danny Califf. I have to give them credit tonight. It was a great match, I thought both teams had chances, we had a good one with Chris Albright's header off the post, that could have made the difference for us, but I thought defensively San Jose played exceptionally well, putting forth a lot of energy and forcing us to play quickly.

It was a great finish to a wonderful run. During the playoffs, we finally found our form.