Head Coach John Hackworth
On how the team is handling the loss:
“It’s hard to put into words. Everybody at this point in the tournament has put in so much hard work and made so many sacrifices in their lives. You want to go farther and we feel like we should be going on but eventually it’s going to come to an end, and this is very hard to swallow. You’re with these guys for two years, so it’s hard to take right now.”
On how Germany played tonight:
“Full credit goes to Germany. They are an outstanding team and we wish them all the best going forward. We knew this game was going to be a bit of a chess match, and there were be times when they were coming at us. We didn’t play as well as we thought we could.”
On the tone of the game:
“They put us under a lot of pressure coming out of halftime but it looked like it started to change. We said all along that transition would be the key to this game, and in the end, we were right. We pushed forward so hard at the end, trying to find a goal any way we could and then to give up the second (goal) was hard. But we still fought.”
On whether Germany will go far:
“I think Germany is a very good team and they deserved the win tonight and I wish them the best.”
On what the team has learned from this World Cup:
“They’ll probably have learned that they came here and we didn’t play the way we’re capable of and that put us in a big hole. We did show a lot of character and came back and played some very good soccer, despite having our backs against the wall and having to take on one of the best teams in the world in Germany, and fight them until the final whistle. Hopefully that will live on in these players minds for a long time, and they’ll have some of that hurt of not going on to drive them as they develop.”
Goalkeeper Josh Lambo
On tonight’s game:
“It was a tough battle. I thought we played well and defended very well. Unfortunately the bounces didn’t go our way tonight. It wasn’t meant to be. I’m disappointed, but hopefully in the long run, an experience like this will help me in the future.”
On what he and his teammates can take away from this experience:
“I think we can all take away that sometimes it’s not a pretty game. It’s not always going to be the beautiful game that we all love. Sometimes it’s going to come down to who wants it more, and who’s going to fight for it. I think that’s what we’ve lacked in this tournament.”
On whether Germany will go far in this tournament:
“I think Germany is probably one of the favorites here. They are a difficult team to play against, and I think that if they keep playing the way they did tonight, that they’ll go far.”
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