PORTLAND, Ore. – LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena addressed the media after the club’s 1-0 victory over the Portland Timbers in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16.
We played very well. We have a very good team. We just haven’t had it together this year for long periods of time. You can see our young players are good. They wanted to play tonight, and they did a fabulous job. We have an experienced backline. They played in San Jose together on Saturday, so that was beneficial. I thought the young guys, in particular [Raul] Mendiola, who obviously scored the goal, and [Emma] Boateng, [Jack] McBean and [Sebastian] Lletget did a really good job out there. It was a game we thought we could win. I was really pleased that we could come here and walk away with the win.”
On what it means to for the young players to be involved in the goal and get minutes in the U.S. Open Cup…
“These are good experiences for these guys. We’ve had an unusual year with injuries, suspensions, and national team call-ups. We just haven’t been able to get our team together. These guys have gotten enough time that they could get to this point to play this game and be part of a team that could win here on the road. They’ve had enough experiences this year. Some by design and some not, but it’s good, and I think [Clement] Diop in goal played well. If I’m not mistaken, it’s his second game with us in the U.S. Open Cup, and he hasn’t played before. He’s a good young goalkeeper as well. I think it was a great experience.”
On Raul Mendiola scoring the deciding goal in the match…
“He’s a hard-working kid. He was aggressive getting forward. He did a lot of things. He’s a very competitive player. We rate him as our best homegrown player right now because he’s never in fear of the moment. You could see tonight that he wasn’t bothered by the environment and the challenge. He’s been a good, young player for us. I’m pleased we got a goal from him.”
