Bruce Arena Group Quotations

With only one international fixture date next year, this is an excellent opportunity to get our group together as we continue to shape our team for the World Cup.

We've been together as a group for a long time, and I think the group that we get on the field on Sunday is going to do fine. I expect that, I see it out of these guys every day in training, so hopefully it carries over on the field on Sunday.

Taylor easily could have been on the roster. He was certainly among the group as we went through the process. He was in and out, in and out over the last couple of months. His form at the moment had a little to do with it. We looked at the overall roster and tried to find the right balance, the right combination to allow us to play a certain style against certain opponents. ... There's not one factor that made the difference in the end.

Any group we're going to be in is going to be a tough group.

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 fact that we played with a new group this game, the result's OK.

These are just opportunities to evaluate players as we move forward, but you don't make decisions based on one game. Generally, as a rule of thumb, if you get a point on the road in qualifying, it's a pretty good result. The fact that we played with a new group this game, the result's OK. Would we have liked three points? Sure. But that's the way it is.

What this group has managed to do is not let anything get in the way of their goals in qualifying and winning games. We miss a player due to an injury or a suspension, they don't blink an eye, they just move forward. If they're in games where the officiating may be a little bit questionable, it doesn't bother them. They just keep their concentration and get after the task at hand.