Bruce Arena Win Quotations

Our challenge is a pretty great one. This time around, I like our team on paper better than 2002, but you don't win games on paper. On the field is how the teams will be judged. ... With a good training camp, good preparation games and the right mental approach, this will be a team that will challenge anybody in the World Cup.

I think you can't overreact from one game, the Norway game, and ignore the Canada game. You judge players over time, not over a game. As he continues to move forward we'll have a better feel for the direction he's headed. Obviously, he's getting better. From my perspective, I need to see if he's developing into a guy who should be a player on the World Cup roster and can help us win a game.

I think it's critical. If we want this sport to grow, if we want to truly position ourselves to one day win a World Cup, we need support from the people that follow soccer in the United States.

We have no excuses. We're playing at home. We're playing in a stadium we like. We need to step on the field and win the game.

You don't win too many games on the road in World Cup qualifying. We finished this round without losing a game on the road, so I think that's a big plus for our team.

Brian didn't necessarily win us over in the last six weeks. It's a culmination of knowing what he brings to us on the field.

The results in Guatemala and Costa Rica were not that critical to me. This one (against Panama) is. This is the one I want to win so we can end the year on a high note and at the same time, give some promising players some opportunities to play and start formulating some strategies for 2006.

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.

It was a good win and good experience for a lot of players. I've been told that we finished first in the group, which is nice, but wasn't critical. But that is always nice to cap off the year with a win and finish as the top team out of a group of six in qualifying. That's a great accomplishment for our group. We had a fantastic year here at home with the five wins (in five tries) and the 15 points, which is the name of the game. Great year.

The German team needs a win because the public demands it.

The Gold Cup is the biggest headache on the schedule. We want to be respectful of the confederation championship and put our best team out there and try to win it. However, our focus has to be on World Cup qualifying. Those 10 games are the most important.

It's nice. It wasn't critical. But to cap off the year with a win and end up the top team is a great accomplishment for our group.

That makes the European countries big players. Unfortunately we have to play two of them, the Czech Republic and Italy, which is one of the favorites to win the World Cup. In my opinion Brazil is the team to beat.