Bruce Arena Obviously Quotations

Obviously we look forward to the game for a couple of reasons. Mexico is certainly and arguably our biggest rival in CONCACAF and that always makes for a good game. More importantly, any kind of positive result for the U.S. qualifies us for the next World Cup and that's been our objective since June of 2004. We obviously look forward to the game. We love playing in Columbus. We anticipate a great crowd, and one that's very supportive of the U.S. team. I'm confident we're going to field a strong team and play well.

Obviously we look forward to the game on Saturday for a couple of reasons. Mexico is certainly and arguably our biggest rival in CONCACAF and that always makes for a good game. More importantly, any kind of positive result for the U.S. qualifies us for the next World Cup and that's been our objective since June of 2004.

Obviously our main goal has been accomplished. However, the last two games in this round are extremely important, not only from a competitive aspect, but also in evaluating players.

Obviously it was a very poor start to the game from our side.

We're prepared to play each and every game and, hopefully, I think one could look at our record over the last couple of years and realize that our guys are prepared to play every game. Obviously this is a big game and they'll be ready for it.

I think the conditions were difficult for both teams. Obviously the host team is more comfortable on the surface.

I think anyone who follows the U.S. team knows we're just getting better and better. Obviously the World Cup will tell. That will be the stage where the world decides where we are.

I was not surprised. We expected them to play the way they did. They had two obviously outstanding goals in the second half.

This is obviously a great win for the United States and we're pleased to have qualified for Germany. In the second half, getting those two early goals made the difference in the game.

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.