Bruce Arena Final Quotations

Obviously, the two top teams in CONCACAF are the U.S. and Mexico. We have the one blemish on our record when we lost in the first part of the final round in Mexico City, so it's nice to get that back, and it's very special to qualify at home against our archrival.

Some of the players are on the fence, so to speak, and have their last opportunity to show - basically the European-based players. For our players it's also very good for them to be in a venue where they also get to play Italy and feel somewhat comfortable in this venue before we actually come back for our final preparations.

Despite the final score line, I think it was a dominating performance by our team tonight. I think in the second half the number of substitutions affected the flow of the game.

The naming of this 23-man roster is the end of a long and arduous process. Today, a new journey begins as we start final preparations for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. As usual, we will not make any bold statements or predictions. However, I can assure everyone that the team that steps on the field on June 12 against the Czech Republic will be a team that all Americans will be proud of.

If he's healthy we have two months to see if he can get fit to play in a World Cup. It's not like we need to rush him back into everything. We know the kind of player he is. There's a lot of quality there and if, over the next couple of weeks, we see steady improvement he's obviously going to get pretty strong consideration for the final roster.

The match in Cary is our last game before we make our final decisions on the World Cup roster, so it is obviously an important one for us.