Steve Ralston Quotations

(Revolution boss Steve Nicol) came to me a day or two beforehand and said I probably wouldn't start. I was fine with that and just said that I just felt like I could go but would be happy to be on the bench. In the game I hit a shot in the first half and just thought 'here we go, let's see.' It felt fine and that was good for my confidence.

I was in the right place at the right time . . . if I had missed that one, it would have been embarrassing,

Italy is a very defensive team, very well organized, they look to counter-attack. Their defense is rock solid.

It is frustrating. I thought we were the better team tonight. Especially the first half, I thought we dominated the game. Second half, give them credit. I thought they came out and played better.

Our forwards don't get the calls. It could be because Taylor is in there banging hard, but when he gets fouled like that, it should be a penalty. I'm sure Taylor was upset by the non-penalty call, but a minute later he was back in there and almost scored.

Sure, it would be nice to win that, but honestly, it isn't all that important, ... No one cares if you had the best record if you get bounced out of the playoffs in the first round.

That dang Fair Play award I won twice got me ridiculed a bit. So now I don't want to win it anymore. I just don't like to lose. It's been like that my whole life. It's embarrassing to lose.

I was really driving the ball as hard as I could, and I think it fatigued (my quad). Then, in the afternoon practice, I hit a ball and felt something. I thought I could play through it. I didn't want them to think I was begging out of fitness. But then I hit another one, and I really felt it, and that's when I said enough.

Yeah, we always plan things that way. Get a late goal to keep the fans on the edge of their seats,

We've only played three games. We got a great result at Los Angeles, then a tie (at New York) and just didn't play very well in Kansas City. Four points after three games? Yeah, we'd like to be better, but we've been on the road, we're still trying to work in this new formation so we're still positive.

We all know it doesn't matter if you are on the team now, ... You could be playing now and doing well and not even be included next year.

We're part of a team in M.L.S., and if I make the World Cup team, it would be disappointing to miss so much of the season. I wish we could hold our season on the same schedule as the rest of the world. Right now, our schedule from January to November is too long.

There's still a lot of time to go, and a lot of guys will be trying to get our spot on the team. All I can do is keep training hard and do the best I can and hopefully, it will work out for me.

There's not a whole lot of time. I'm hoping to get another chance but there aren't many games left so we'll see. I don't think (Arena) is going to name his roster until the end of April so we'll be about four games into the season by then. I've just got to play well in all of those games.

It was about the easiest goal I've scored. It was a scrappy game and we showed a lot of heart.

They're physical, strong. Koller is 6-7, you can't afford to give up set pieces against them. He's very dangerous.

They're a good team. They're fighting for their lives right now, so it's going to be a battle.

It was a very open game. They capitalized on every opportunity they had. If we cut down on the mental mistakes then we win that game pretty easily. We have got to remember what happened tonight. We have got to remember that if we make mistakes like that, we're going to get punished.

It's an amazing high -- the highest of my soccer career. To be able to help the national team get to the World Cup by scoring a goal against Mexico, I don't know if I would have ever dreamed that.

They've seen what I can do over the last two years, and now the focus is on getting back healthy. I'm hoping I get another chance, maybe in those games in Germany, to prove something. ... I hope I get the chance to go back before he makes his final decision on the (World Cup) team.

It's nice when you're on the road, to at least get a point out of it. We felt like we should have gotten three points tonight. As bad as we played, we still created enough chances to win the game, ... We have to do a better job of passing the ball, we were a little sloppy. At the end of the day, when you're down 1-0 in the 92nd minute, and you can get a point out of it, we'll take it.

I just want to come out (today) and have a good game. I want to make it difficult for him (Arena) to make a decision. I want to put myself in position where I'm in the mix.

If you look at the core group of guys, they've been here four years now, really. There are quite a few guys still from the team that went to the Finals (in 2002), and we went to the (Eastern Conference finals) the last couple years.

I know I have to play well. I think, if I do play well, I have a chance of putting myself in position where it's going to be tough for (Arena) to leave me out. Everybody is in the same boat. You play well, you've got a good chance of going to the World Cup.

I read something Bruce said a while ago that a guy could score the game-winning goal to finish qualifying but he might not be a part of the team. I hope that's not the case this time.

I don't like having games like that. It was run and gun,

It's a risk-reward thing. If I do go out and try and play and get hurt again, then I'm definitely out. I've got no chance to go. If I'm ready, then great. It's getting better. I've been doing a lot more in the last couple of days. I've got a day off (on Wednesday) and then hope to come back in on Thursday and really see where I am at and test it out. Hopefully I'm going to play this weekend but, in reality, we'll see.