Steve Sampson Good Quotations

We've very close to being very good but that small measure comes in the way of scoring goals. It is inexcusable to lose the way we did.

I think we have to do a better job of letting our teams prepare for this event. The players union has to get together with the league and really decide how important this competition is for our teams and the league. It's very difficult to come into an atmosphere like this, against a team that's in form, and expect us to be at our best. Our league wants to win CONCACAF championships, and we're good enough. We have to give ourselves a better chance.

It is not good enough any longer just to win championships. We want to put out a product on that field where every single day our fans feel like we're giving the very best possible. It has not escaped me, the importance of us playing well and how it relates to making money for this club. I'm not a happy man when we're not consistent.

Overall, I was very disappointed with the end, but not disappointed with everything we saw tonight. I thought we put on a good enough performance to win if we just finish our chances.

It's not as if we're friends that play poker every Sunday night, ... We're colleagues, and there's mutual respect there. Certainly, he understood the challenges of the '98 team; I understand the challenges that he's had and what a good job he's done with the team. The growth that soccer has seen over the last 10 years - he's been a big part of that. We don't have any problems.

It was a great first half with two very good goals. I thought that the way we responded after they scored was exactly what I was looking for. I wish we could have created a few more chances before that. I have to give San Jose credit tonight, they put out a lot of energy and they were very dangerous on dead balls obviously. It was a great strike by Moreno and a brilliant header by Danny Califf. I have to give them credit tonight. It was a great match, I thought both teams had chances, we had a good one with Chris Albright's header off the post, that could have made the difference for us, but I thought defensively San Jose played exceptionally well, putting forth a lot of energy and forcing us to play quickly.