Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy vs. CS Cartagines
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
StubHub Center
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On his team’s overall performance:
“[Cartagines] defended well, they defended with numbers tonight. That second goal is going to be big in this competition. I’m real pleased with my team, they played a complete game for 90 minutes tonight.
On the play of Cartagines:
“I think it’s a fair result, Cartagines is a good team who played very well. They’re going to be a difficult team to get through in this competition.”
On the Keane and Donovan partnership:
“Keane and Landon are fabulous, the combination is working together and like I said, the last goal was huge. Landon gave us an outstanding 30 minutes. So I think those two are in great rhythm together and continue to be very dangerous.”
On the play of Kofi Opare:
“Had a very good game, not an easy game for a young player. This is his debut and he did an excellent job. He’s looked good the last couple of months in training and in reserve games and he’s a player that we feel has a lot of potential and I thought he had an outstanding game.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD ROBBIE KEANE
On tonight’s performance:
“It was a good performance, it wasn’t a convincing performance but we played well enough to certainly win the game. It’s always nice to get a couple of goals because goal difference is very important in this [competition.]”
On his partnership with Landon Donovan:
“I think we saw the difference once Landon came on, we’re in tune with each other. We know each other’s runs and where we’re going to be so that was the case for the two goals. Looking up for us, we got the two goals and as I said, overall it was a decent performance. Wasn’t brilliant but it was decent.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN
On tonight’s performance:
“I think we wore them down. I think we did a good job keeping relatively good pressure on them. We were a little unlucky not to score and once we got the breakthrough it helped and I think the second goal was big too so all in all, I think it was a good performance.”
On clicking with Robbie Keane:
“He’s a good player. He makes it easy for me so I know if I put the ball in the right spot more often than not he’s going to score and I know if I make the right runs more often than not he’s going to get me the ball so it makes it real easy.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER OMAR GONZALEZ
On opening the Champions League with a win:
“It’s a great way to start the competition. We wanted to score goals and not let in any goals and that’s exactly what happened. We end the night 2-0 which would be great going to their place.”
On Kofi Opare’s performance:
“That’s good to see from him since he hasn’t played many games and the first game he does play for the first team he has a lot of confidence and you want to see that from your young guys. It’s definitely good to see him step on the field and play a good game.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD GYASI ZARDES
On adapting to playing on the wing:
“I’m starting to get the hang of it and to be honest, I like it out there. You have a lot of freedom, no defender up your back so it’s kind of like a different point of view out there.”
On tonight’s performance:
“Our play has worked out and the result was a good win. We weren’t impatient, we kept playing the ball and getting touches on it and just passing and creating a rhythm. So on our behalf; I think we did pretty good tonight.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER ROBBIE ROGERS
On the severity of his injury:
“I hurt my hamstring, I felt a pinch. So I’ll see [the doctor] and get an MRI tomorrow or Thursday and just go from there. It didn’t feel like an extreme pain, I just felt it tear a little bit.”
On assessing his performance:
“Some things I thought were good. My running felt good but I’m just frustrated about the hamstring thing so it’s hard for me to think about anything else. I’m just really happy we won, 2-0 is a great result but I’m torn.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER SEAN FRANKLIN
On the Galaxy defense pushing forward and getting involved in the attack:
“Yeah but credit to their defense for being in good spots and clearing our balls. We weren’t sharp on some crosses and maybe some through balls but at the end of the day we were the ones with the 2-0 win.”
On how the Galaxy veterans helped guide Kofi Opare during the victory:
“That’s our job to help the young players and he did well tonight. He listened, he stepped, he talked, he didn’t look like a rookie out there and that’s nice to have from our young guys.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER KOFI OPARE
On how he felt making his first official start for the club:
“It felt great to be out on the field playing with the guys, I’m just glad we got the result today.”
On getting comfortable playing with the club’s first team:
“Just playing with those guys out there, Omar and Todd, Jaime behind me; the game is just so much easier and they instill confidence in me so I just went out there, did my part with their help and I’m just glad we won.”
