Quote Sheet
Chicago Fire 0 – 4 LA Galaxy
The Home Depot Center – Sunday, March 3, 2013
CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH FRANK KLOPAS
On the result:
“It’s just one game, but we have to look at the game. The one thing I looked at was that the tem looked fatigued little bit. When you are tired, mentally you make mistakes. I think we gave up soft goals based on that. It’s good to be going home; we’ve been on the road for a long time. It’s one game, it’s behind us and now we have to look forward to the next match.”
On his team’s play:
“We’ve always played well here. I don’t think that was the case here. The first half, we had those two chances and maybe that changes. I think as the game went on – I just thought the tem looked fatigued and made a lot of mistakes. I think that comes when you are fatigued. I don’t know if that’s because we’ve been on the road too long. I know this is not an easy place to play, they are a good team, but I just thought our legs weren’t there. A lot of mental errors and mistakes. It’s one game and it’s behind us. We have to go home and regroup. It will be good for the guys to be back home, sleep in their own beds and we have to get ready for a big game on Saturday.”
On his lineup selection:
“You have depth in a team and you are always looking through trainings, through preseason, and I felt that the guys we had on the field leading up to this game seemed to have a better combination when we had the ball and giving a little better rhythm, but it’s just one game. We do have depth in the team we have options.”
CHICAGO FIRE FORWARD CHRIS ROLFE
On the result:
“Obviously, it was a game that kind of exposed us a little bit. When we get a chance to review the game, we will have a number of things to look at and get better from.”
On the play of Mike Magee:
“You have to give a lot of credit to Mike Magee. He scored three fantastic goals, all with his left foot, which is his off foot so you have to give a lot of credit to Mike. What a great game for him. He took advantage of his opportunities. The second one was a decent chance; the other ones were half chances and he took them very well. Clinical finishes. He’s obviously still in form like he was last year, so it’s good for [the Galaxy].”
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the team’s performance:
“We beat a good team tonight. Their goalkeeper, I thought, played well. They were tough to break down. Obviously, as we got into the second half, they lost a little energy. They lost their shape and the game opened up a little bit. We were able to produce some goals. I thought defensively our backline played real well today. Good game. I think all our lines played extremely well, from our defenders to our midfield to our front line. It was a good day. Certainly far from perfect, but for the opening game I was pleased with our performance.”
On Mike Magee’s hat trick:
“What can I say? Three goals. I think he finished well. I don’t think his first 30 minutes were as good as I’d like to see, but I don’t want to get on the wrong side of Magee. He could get me fired, I guess, at this point. His second half was real good. He and Robbie [Keane] did real good job, got a number of chances.”
On Juninho and Marcelo Sarvas playing together in central midfield:
“They played very well against two good players in [Joel] Lindpere and [Jeff] Larentowicz and [Chris] Rolfe joining in. They won their fair share of balls. Their passing, getting the ball of their feet, their movement was quite good. It was really good performance.”
On Omar Gonzalez and Leonardo in central defense:
“Good. I’m very happy to see Leonardo coming back. In a game where they needed to ply against two strong forwards they were pretty solid. They held up very well. Just a very good performance by those two, as it was for a number of our players.”
On Leonardo’s return from injury:
“I think even as late as last November, we weren’t sure how he was going to show up in January. He’s put in a lot of time into getting himself back. He got a lot of great attention by our physical therapist and trainers and medical staff here. He’s been very determined and has worked very hard to get to this moment. What more can you say? It was a difficult injury that he had, and it’s been on and off two years since he’s been back.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD ROBBIE KEANE
On the play of Mike Magee:
“You see the quality that he has. The three goals he scored were exceptional goals. He’s really important to this team, and he showed that today. It was a good start to the season, exactly what we wanted, so we can kick on from there.”
On the quality of the field:
“The pitch was a lot wetter in the second half. They soaked it before the game and it had dried up. It was quite difficult to get the ball moving because it was so dry. In the second half the pitch was perfect, very wet. You can see the difference in the passing and the speed of play—that’s where we got our goals from.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD MIKE MAGEE
On the day:
“It was cool. Getting the hat trick was cool, getting the win was cool. And, the best part of the day was getting the ring. So, it was an ok day.”
On his three goals:
“Todd Dunivant played me a brilliant ball that I took out of the air and volleyed it home. The second one Robbie did well to slip me and I remember cutting it and from my view it went in the top corner. And on the third one, Robbie did his normal thing, creating a chance. The goalie saved it and it came to me, and I chested it down. My left foot wasn’t missing today.”
On Robbie Keane:
“He’s a different class. All three of my goals somehow, somewhere started with him. Not that Robbie needed any more goals, but I was happy to see him get one.”
LA GALAXY GOALKEEPER CARLO CUDICINI
On the result:
“Very good result. It’s very important to start off on the right foot. Great three points. I think the team was quite compact. We didn’t concede any chances to Chicago, which is important. And, a great performance for Mike Magee. That’s it. Basically we have to concentrate on the next game, which is important.”
On keeping a clean sheet in his debut:
“It gives a boost for confidence. At the end of the day, I didn’t have to do much, which is always good. So, hopefully we can have another good performance next game.”
