U.S. Manager Bruce Arena
“We thought from the beginning, we told our team, that this group would go down to the last day. Our challenge is to try to get four points and see where that takes us. I thought our effort today was fantastic. I’m proud of the way my team kept their composure and got the one point. I thought we were the better team on the night. We had a fantastic first half and certainly to get two red cards within a span of, probably, five minutes was very difficult. Not many teams would hold their composure. I thought we did a great job there and I’m really proud of the team. That’s the kind of team the U.S. should be putting on the field and the kind of effort we should have.”
On whether he was trying to prove something after the game against the Czech Republic:
“I think the only ones we wanted to show were inside our locker room. We wanted all 23 players to be able to look at themselves after the game and know they gave that kind of effort. Against the Czech Republic, we didn’t play well. Our effort wasn’t what we needed but, certainly, in all fairness to our opponent, they played quite well that day. But I’m happy game three means something. We’re going up against a tremendous opponent in Ghana. We watched them a bit today and they’re a tremendous team, so it’ll be a challenging game for all teams in the group in game three, in a group that is the best group in the World Cup. We proved that after two games. We’re going to have a lot of fun on day three.”
U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller
On what it says about the team to battle back from a loss and tie the Italians:
“..and from a goal down. Everything was going against us today. What can you say? This team has the spirit and can come back from a three-nil loss. We showed that today. We were unlucky not to win this game, even with nine guys. I can’t say enough about the guys in front of me. They’re dead (tired) out there, they’ve given everything. It would have been a shame to concede a goal late but we stuck in this thing. We’re in this tournament and we have a good chance now. Of course we wanted three points but the point, in these circumstances, is phenomenal.”
On the U.S. being helped by Ghana’s 2-0 win against the Czech Republic:
“This group is alive. We’ve got a chance now and we’re excited about that. You can bet that come four or five days, we’re going to be spitting nails again.”
On what he told the players when Eddie Pope was sent off:
“I didn’t have to tell anybody anything, they knew their jobs. This is a well-coached team. This is a team that has experience. We learned from our mistakes the other day. We got punished for some mistakes, but not really mistakes, just some great finishes. We learned from that and we gave everything tonight. These guys are dead (tired) and proved that Americans don’t roll over, that’s for damn sure.”
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