Bruce Arena Team Quotations

We are a little more experienced, we have a little more depth, and possibly a better team than in 2002. The challenge will be very difficult again. The World Cup will only tell us what type of team we have.

Obviously we look forward to the game for a couple of reasons. Mexico is certainly and arguably our biggest rival in CONCACAF and that always makes for a good game. More importantly, any kind of positive result for the U.S. qualifies us for the next World Cup and that's been our objective since June of 2004. We obviously look forward to the game. We love playing in Columbus. We anticipate a great crowd, and one that's very supportive of the U.S. team. I'm confident we're going to field a strong team and play well.

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.

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.

We look forward to the support of the American fans and some fantastic atmospheres in these venues as we undertake the challenge of getting our team ready to compete in the World Cup.

I think the conditions were difficult for both teams. Obviously the host team is more comfortable on the surface.

I think anyone who follows the U.S. team knows we're just getting better and better. Obviously the World Cup will tell. That will be the stage where the world decides where we are.

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.

That was a dominant performance by our team tonight; I'm very pleased. A number of players tonight made statements; hopefully they'll continue to make statements.

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 beat a great team in Portugal, I am very proud of our outstanding performance.

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've worked real hard to build our team to where it is today, and to not prepare properly to play a game of that magnitude is a mistake, and I accept the full responsibility for that. If I felt that it wasn't the right time for us to play that game, I should have been a little bit strong in saying this is not the right time to play.

We basically choreographed this game. The team that's the fitter team is our team. Over 90 minutes it was going to be obvious. After 35 minutes you could see they were basically done.

With only one international fixture date next year, this is an excellent opportunity to get our group together as we continue to shape our team for the World Cup.

We have 12 guys who have been to a World Cup. On June 12, we play a team with no one who has played in a World Cup. I'd like to believe that hopefully gives us an edge in this game.

We've got a bunch of guys in Europe as well as in MLS who want these opportunities to show that they belong on our next World Cup team. So we're going to put a pretty good team on the field for the next three games.

The naming of this 23-man roster is the end of a long and arduous process. Today, a new journey begins as we start final preparations for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. As usual, we will not make any bold statements or predictions. However, I can assure everyone that the team that steps on the field on June 12 against the Czech Republic will be a team that all Americans will be proud of.

Despite the final score line, I think it was a dominating performance by our team tonight. I think in the second half the number of substitutions affected the flow of the game.

As usual, we will not make any bold statements or predictions. However, I can assure everyone that the team that steps on the field on June 12 against the Czech Republic will be a team all Americans will be proud of.

The nuance with the U.S. team in qualifying is always, 'How do we blend our domestic- and foreign-based players? Now it's more complicated because we probably have more players abroad than ever before.

That makes the European countries big players. Unfortunately we have to play two of them, the Czech Republic and Italy, which is one of the favorites to win the World Cup. In my opinion Brazil is the team to beat.

It's nice. It wasn't critical. But to cap off the year with a win and end up the top team is a great accomplishment for our group.

It was a good win and good experience for a lot of players. I've been told that we finished first in the group, which is nice, but wasn't critical. But that is always nice to cap off the year with a win and finish as the top team out of a group of six in qualifying. That's a great accomplishment for our group. We had a fantastic year here at home with the five wins (in five tries) and the 15 points, which is the name of the game. Great year.

The Costa Rica team will play very strong, very fast in the beginning of the game, try to get an early goal and write their ticket to Germany.

I'm optimistic that we can qualify out of the group, regardless of what anyone else thinks. I think we're capable of playing with any team in the world.

The goal now is to make our team better for the World Cup.

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.

The German team needs a win because the public demands it.

The first goal changed the game and once they got the second goal they played very well. Give them credit. They played well. They played with a confidence and, without a doubt, they were the better team tonight.