LA Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena
On the game:
“I think it was a good afternoon, constructive for both of us. I know that Man. City wanted to move along some of their players and got them some extended minutes in this game. We had the opportunity to play 22 players, some of which are young players who haven’t had a whole lot of playing time this year. I think that was a real positive. I like the second half—we weren’t any good in the first half. The penalty kicks were fabulous. Joe Hart, I’ve seen from a distance before, but I didn’t realize how physically big he is. He was certainly outstanding in the penalty kick shootout. I’d like to thank Man City for coming out to The Home Depot Center today. I think was a good afternoon for our group. The number of players that got an opportunity to get out on the field and show us what they can do and hopeful that it was productive for Man. City as well.”
On the Galaxy’s defense:
“Our backline, obviously in the first half, we wanted to play some young players who haven’t gotten on the field before, namely Kyle Davies and [Bryan Jordan] in a left back position, just to have a little bit of cover there. Getting Frankie [Hejduk] back was huge for us. In the second half, we played quite well. It was good to get Omar [Gonzalez] back on the field. I think Omar looked good. That was a real positive there.”
WATCH: Galaxy vs Manchester City Recap
On the young players:
“I thought that Dan Keat has a very impressive showing. He missed three or four months of the season with an injury and we haven’t a chance to get him on the field. That was very encouraging. I was pleased for the 30 minutes Frankie Hejduk played. That’s probably the first time he played this year. That was good. Perk continues to move along in his role in the goal. And Jack McBean, for his first time, I thought he was okay. Juninho’s second half helped us have a little bit more control of the ball in midfield. Kyle Davies, I thought for the first time he played it was ok. Obviously, he has a way to go and it was tough pushing him for 45 minutes. We just need to get some of these players on the field. We’ve gone a long part of this season with injuries in the backline, obviously with our first goalkeeper out to see the way the second and third goalkeepers respond the way they have has been a positive. We are starting to get our backline healthy, so that’s good. We’re just trying to move our team along.”
LA Galaxy Midfielder David Beckham
On the Galaxy’s play in the first half:
“Obviously, it was hot out there. I think them getting the PK… I think it was a fair PK. I think we played the ball around well. I think we had two good chances, so we could have evened it up, but it was ok.”
On the pace and quality of the match:
“It’s always going to be that they are trying to get their team fit and their players fit. The heat out there affects both teams, but it wasn’t bad. We passed it around well, and we could have kept it a little bit more and a little bit better. They have a lot of quality in their team, so it’s always going to be hard to beat a team like that.”
LA Galaxy Forward Mike Magee
On the game:
“It was a fun game. I think that the heat maybe got to them a little bit. We had a lot of fun we played well. We went to PKs, probably not what the fans wanted, but we had a blast.”
On scoring the lone Galaxy goal:
“It was pretty cool. It was surreal for a minute because I couldn’t tell if it went in because it was kind of bright, but it was awesome. After I finally realized that it went in, I capped with a late celebration. It will be one I remember for a while.”
“I’m usually more of a poacher-type goal scorer, so to score a goal like that against [Joe] Hart and Manchester City, I’ll for sure remember that one up there with a few.”
On the Mario Balotelli substitution:
“I think that their coach said it all and we were all really impressed with how he handled it. It seemed like he was having a bit of fun and maybe messing around a little too much. I don’t know if he thought that he was offside, you would hope that he thought he was offside. Even though it’s a friendly, you don’t want to take that big of a risk. The coach did the right thing and nobody is mad at him over it.”
LA Galaxy Goalkeeper Brian Perk
On going to penalty kicks:
“I didn’t know we were going to PKs, so it was awesome. That’s exactly the way you want to play any friendly game, pleasing the crowd like that. Joe Hart came up huge. It was great. It was fun for us. It was fun for everybody.”
On Joe Hart scoring the last PK:
“Those are one of those things that you’re thinking if he scores—he’s either going to blast it or chip it. Either way, he took it well as it turned out. He did shank it if you ask me, but it went in and he wound up being the hero.”
LA Galaxy Goalkeeper Josh Saunders
On playing in the World Football Challenge:
“I think it’s great. We learn a lot playing these games. It’s great for them as a preseason game because it’s a good run up for their season and pits us against what the rest of the world is like.”
LA Galaxy Midfielder Dan Keat
On what the team learns playing these games:
“I think you learn a lot. I think we showed today that we put out a lot of players on the field and a lot of players stepped up and did well. So it is good for Bruce [Arena] to see that everyone is performing at their level and showing him that we could contribute to the second half of the MLS season.”
On not playing this season:
“It’s always frustrating not being on the field but to a certain extent you just have to do what you can and keep working hard and take your chance when you get it. It’s the nature of the game and it’s the nature of being in a club like this but we all have to keep pushing each other hard and taking our chance when we get and keeping moving forward and keep winning games.”
Manchester City Head Coach Roberto Mancini
On the game:
“I thought that this afternoon was a more difficult game than we played in this tournament, but in the first half we played really well. We had more chances to score and we didn’t concede many chances for the first half. The second half so/so because we were so tired.”
On Mario Balotelli:
“I think that we need to always be professional, always serious and for me in that case, Mario [Balotelli] wasn’t and for this I changed him. To take him off the pitch after 30 minutes is punishment enough for him. In football, you should be serious always. If you have a chance to score—you score. For me, it’s finished now. I hope that he learns an important lesson. I don’t think its easy to leave the pitch after 30 minutes, but if one player has good behavior, plays for the team, plays strong, plays serious—they can stay on the pitch for 90 minutes, if not they can come with me on the bench.”
Manchester City Goalkeeper Joe Hart
On his Galaxy counterpart Brian Perk:
“He is a good keeper, did really well and blocked some penalties. It's a shame it had to finish that way.”
On taking the deciding penalty:
“It was fun, I enjoyed it. I just wanted to put it away, I was trying to take it earlier but they wouldn’t let me.”
Manchester City Midfielder James Milner
On the heat:
“It was obviously a hot one, but it was good to get something out of it. Dealing with the heat we had to push our bodies to the limit so that’s exactly what you want to play yourself into the season.”
On goalkeeper Joe Hart taking the deciding penalty:
“He takes them now and again in training and he’s pretty good at saving them as well obviously. He likes to put his foot through the ball a bit as you could see.”
Manchester City Midfielder Nigel De Jong
On their trip to North America:
“It’s been a good trip. A very good trip. We’ve played three or four games and we’ve won them all, so it’s been a good trip.”
On the Mario Balotelli substitution:
“Everybody’s seen it, it wasn’t a great action and the coach took a decision to take him off. That’s a decision that’s been made and that’s a statement that the group is behind him. If you get in front of the goal you have to score. He knows that as well. I hope he learns from this moment and that we continue to be stronger as a group.”
Related
WFC Recap: Man. City edge Galaxy in PK shootout, 7-6
WATCH: Full Match Highlights
PHOTOS: LA Galaxy vs Manchester City FC
