LA Galaxy Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 1, FC Dallas 2
Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016 – 7:00 p.m. PT
2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – Semifinal
StubHub Center – Carson, Calif.
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH AND GENERAL MANAGER BRUCE ARENA
On how frustrating it is to lose the game late:
“Well it’s certainly frustrating. We did a terrible job obviously in the last five minutes of the game and lost the game after working our asses off for 115 minutes. Really a naïve performance at the end of the game.”
On his frustration at the added minute in extra-time:
“You know, I’ll be honest with you. You play 120 minutes. They stop the game in regulation on a goal kick. Giving extra time after 120 minutes…was there anything that was so obvious? Having said that, we still allowed a goal and all that, but that’s very frustrating. I think that’s one of the things in our sport that has to change. The referee has too much power in those situations. You talk about technology and all that other stuff…you should just have a clock and that’s it. Extra-time can be a time scandal; I’m not saying it was there. But there were no injuries or anything like that. The whole game goes on where there’s balls kicked away, there’s balls out of bounds. They’re not adding extra-time for that and to do it in an overtime where the athletes are pretty well shot is surprising to me. But having said that, we have to take full responsibility for conceding two goals in the last five minutes on corner kicks.”
On what else he credits the loss to:
“We did fine. We should have walked off the field 1-0.”
On what he tells his team after a loss like this:
“You get on them and have them accept that responsibility for failing in that situation. And in the other locker room you obviously applaud them. But there’s no excuse on our end, we shouldn’t lose that game.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD MIKE MAGEE
On the game’s final moments:
“Frustrating is an understatement. We worked our asses off for 115 minutes and then in the only part of the game that mattered, we had some lapses.”
On how the team will refocus after the loss ahead of Saturday’s match against Colorado:
“Tomorrow we have to find a way to forget about it. Work on our defensive set pieces and figure out what went wrong there so we don’t concede on more set pieces. You just have to forget about it. We have a veteran group so I don’t see it being a problem but it definitely stings right now.”
On whether he bears more responsibility after being the captain on the night:
“When you’re on the field, being a veteran player, you of course carry some of the burden. I don’t think a band around my arm changes the way I play or the way I see things. I try to lead with or without it but when you are on the field when there are lapses at the end of the game I think that if you ask every player in the locker room they’d say they let down one way or another. The ball didn’t come to me on those corner kicks. I should have been yelling at guys and we all should have been yelling to make sure that somebody was going to win the ball.”
On FC Dallas:
“They are obviously good, [Mauro] Diaz is a special player. They are fit and young and fast.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER BAGGIO HUSIDIC
On the end of the match:
“They scored two headers off the corners. Not great marking, fatigue set in and we lost our concentration.”
On how frustrating it was:
“Very frustrating. It is probably the lowest point in the season, so it sucks.”
On if there were other points in the game:
“Of course, you can go back and nitpick a lot of things but ultimately, it was the two goals at the end that killed it for us. Overall, I thought we fought well and we had some good chances to score and we didn’t. But it’s the last two goals that killed it for us.”
On bouncing back:
“We come back in tomorrow, recover, and see who is ready to go for the weekend.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER DAVE ROMNEY
On the feeling of losing in the last minute:
“[To be up with five minutes left], and then to get out of there with loss, it’s never a good feeling.”
On seeing replays:
“I just saw the replays, and it is really frustrating, because those goals are so preventable. Everything leading up to the corner kicks, everything with the corner kicks, it’s just not good enough.”
On the defense before the goals:
”We were gritty, we were tough, everyone was covering for each other. There was a lot of space to cover the entire game, it was pretty spread. Everyone put miles on their legs and I thought we worked extremely hard, but we’ve just got to be better in the last five minutes.”
FC DALLAS HEAD COACH OSCAR PAREJA
His thoughts on the match:
“Obviously a great match. For us, I’m happy to have the victory against LA Galaxy here at their home. I thought we did a lot of great things especially in the second half. First half, I thought both teams were conservative. We had a few chances and LA had a few chances also. Being objective, at that moment a tie was pretty fair. In the second half we stepped up and I thought the boys did a pretty great job on getting more intense and getting more volume in attack and transitions were well done also both offensively and defensively. Unfortunately we gave up a play in the prolongation of time, but we came one more time. We have done it so many times, but it was another one to prove that this team was full of spirit and that we are working well and that the boys are doing great stuff and defending this club the way they love it. They deserve to be in the final for sure.”
On how the winning header happened:
“The last goal was difficult from my place. What I can tell you is that I could see that coming. Not just the second goal, but I said that about the first one. The boys were pushing. They worked hard and the game rewarded them in the best way. They deserve it. They deserve to be in the final and that second goal is just a compilation of what we are: full of spirit.”
On Mauro Diaz’s performance:
“Our coaching staff did an excellent job working these guys on set pieces during the week. We had faith in tonight’s game that there could be results in the set plays. We spent a lot of time this week on that. And Mauro is getting strong at that. His delivery is smart and he has that precision to put the ball where we want it. But I have to congratulate all the players. It’s difficult for me to highlight each one.”
FC DALLAS FORWARD KELLYN ACOSTA
On what it means for the team to be competing in the U.S. Open Cup final:
“It’s definitely huge. It’s just a proud moment for all of us. We were working hard. We’ve been putting in the hours. In the first couple of games we played 120 minutes and here we played another 120 minutes and the perseverance of the team…the guys are just ready to hold a trophy. I know Oscar Pareja is really excited and we just need to bring it on home and hopefully get the win at home.
On the team’s week of practice leading up to the match being focused on corner kicks:
“It’s true. It’s just a different aspect of the game that we need to focus on. We can be dangerous. We have the size and we have guys who can serve the ball well. We’ve been working on it and luckily we got on the end of a couple and that’s just part of the game and we put them away.”
On how it feels to come back and win the game in the last five minutes:
“It just shows our level of fitness. We were just that motivated to get the win and push through and the guys were excited. I saw LA, they had a lot of heavy legs and tired guys and the guys…they dug deep and we pulled through and luckily with that little inch, that little detail of the game we were able to get those two goals that we needed.”
FC DALLAS MIDFIELDER VICTOR ULLOA
On scoring so late in the match:
“All the hard work that this team has done throughout the season, I think we deserved it. We went down, we had the character to fight through and come back. Thank God I had that chance and scored that goal.”
On the match:
“The character of this team to fight back. We talked about, even beforehand, about set pieces and how they would be key and we need to take advantage of them. Mauro [Diaz] serve two great balls and Matt [Hedges] and I got on the end of them.”
On Mauro Diaz:
“He’s a great set piece taker and we have to take full advantage of it. Thankfully, we had two.”
On the chance to get a trophy:
“I think we have that mentality that we need to win a championship for this team. And we have a great opportunity now ahead of us at home in front of our fans that deserve it.”
