Steve Sampson Time Quotations

We've been in training for 12 days now and we're playing against a team that's very experienced. This is an opportunity to see where we're at. The technical speed of the Koreans will be more than we'll see at any other time of the year. It will be a great test for us and we'll be able to take from this exactly what we need to work on.

One thing that I've truly enjoyed about this team is the great leadership. Every single time this team's back has been against the wall, the leaders managed to come through. Now is no different.

I think we're further along this time of year than we were last year at the same time. We also know that New England and Chicago, our first two matches, are going to be tough.

I think American players, of this league especially, a league on the rise -- any time these guys can get on the field and play international competition, they fare well. I think our all stars are going to do very well. Unfortunately it is not the most ideal preparation, but once they get on the field and see the environment I think they will step up and play respectfully.

Playing matches like this is great preparation for us. We know very quickly the things we need to work on. We're much further ahead this year at this time than we were last year, but we had to be, given the early competition. I like most of what I see with my team and I think we're going to be very difficult to beat in league play.

We're alive in both cups. We're alive in the U.S. Open Cup, which is very important to our organization. We're still very much alive in league play. So we're very happy that we won Wednesday night. We know that we will meet this team again in league play at our place, and probably in the playoffs at some point. We just hope to be playing our very best soccer when that time comes.

(Cronin) got invaluable playing time tonight and I thought he played very well for his debut.

Not give Mark Chung the time and space to send that ball in.