Bruce Arena Games Quotations

What this group has managed to do is not let anything get in the way of their goals in qualifying and winning games. We miss a player due to an injury or a suspension, they don't blink an eye, they just move forward. If they're in games where the officiating may be a little bit questionable, it doesn't bother them. They just keep their concentration and get after the task at hand.

Obviously our main goal has been accomplished. However, the last two games in this round are extremely important, not only from a competitive aspect, but also in evaluating players.

On paper, I like this team better than the 2002 team. But as they say, you don't play games on paper. The challenges are great ... and this team will be judged by how they perform on the field.

I am happy that these next two games we're going to give them a chance to get on the field and show us what they can do. Our next game is vitally important for our opponent. If our guys can respond well on that game that speaks volumes for them.

He scores goals in big games and that's what a real goal scorer is about. Obviously, he's one player that we have to focus on.

He's a talented kid who is very inexperienced and young so you can't expect too much at this point in time. He's 16 years old any way you look at it. You talk about patience, he clearly needs that. He needs to get a couple of good years under his belt with his club team where he fits in as a regular and sees a bunch of 90-minute games and plays well and deals with all of that. Right now, he has a long way to go.

I think the field conditions made it difficult for both teams. These games tend to be games of mistakes, because there's going to be a lot of technical errors on the field and the sloppy surface. I think both teams did well in that regard.

I think we need to be patient with Eddie. He's just starting to come back. He's only played a couple of games since his injury in late May, so he's not completely in form at the moment.

Our challenge is a pretty great one. This time around, I like our team on paper better than 2002, but you don't win games on paper. On the field is how the teams will be judged. ... With a good training camp, good preparation games and the right mental approach, this will be a team that will challenge anybody in the World Cup.

I was there, I sat in the stands in Italy and shook my head, and I don't mean that as disrespect. It was clear we had a long way to go. We get to replay those games now, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of progress we've made.

We eagerly look forward to seeing our domestic players. We want to do the best job we can of making the roster as competitive as possible over the next six months so we can position our team to be successful in the World Cup. We view this camp and the games in January and February as critical towards our preparation for Germany.

We had great success in 2002 staging our operations in one location (Seoul) and traveling into our venues for games and we feel that strategy will work for us again in 2006.

We're not going to ignore anybody at this point in time. The league will be operating in early April and we'll have a chance to look at those games to see if any of those players are a possibility for our April game or are still considerations for our roster.

With a good training camp, good preparation games and the right mental approach, our team will be a team that's going to challenge anybody on the field in this World Cup.

We view this camp and the games in January and February as critical towards our preparation for Germany.

When you play on a regular basis in top European competition, you improve at a greater rate than you do in our domestic league -- there's no secret about it. The games are more meaningful, more purposeful.

You don't win too many games on the road in World Cup qualifying. We finished this round without losing a game on the road, so I think that's a big plus for our team.

The thing we wanted to accomplish with these games on Sunday and Monday (was) to give a number of players 90 minutes for the first time in a long time. Out of both games, we had 15 players who played a full 90 minutes and two others that played 90 minutes over two days and that's a real plus right now.

Our domestic players, who are still out of season, are very unfit for games at this level. You could see the fatigue set in for a number of our domestic players kick at about the 65 to 70-minute mark.

It's an opportunity now for a number of players who haven't received a whole lot of minutes in the first three games to show us what they're about.

In games like this, you have to jump on any opportunity that you get.

The Gold Cup is the biggest headache on the schedule. We want to be respectful of the confederation championship and put our best team out there and try to win it. However, our focus has to be on World Cup qualifying. Those 10 games are the most important.