BRUCE ARENA, U.S. head coach On the match: “I thought it was a good game. But again it is just a friendly. This is a game to help develop our teams and both teams were able to do that. We were able to get one of our good young players in Landon on the field and he did a good job. This is the kind of game to see if these players can come in and become good international players. It was a good performance and we were pleased with the victory.” On Clint Mathis’ performance and how the game developed: “Clint played behind our two front runners the entire game. We asked our team to drop off a little bit and pressure the Mexicans in the middle third of the field. And when the ball turned over, we wanted our team to counterattack. In the first half we really struggled. ôWe didn’t do a good job passing the ball. The Mexican team did a great job breaking up plays … the first half wasn’t the best for us going forward, yet we still created some counter-attack opportunities. In the second half the game settled down, and both teams were a little bit tired. We were obviously a lot more productive going forward.” On who impressed him for the U.S. in the game: “I was very impressed with Chris Klein. He is a workhorse out on the flank. Obviously we thought our back three would be good along with Meola. I thought Kerry Zavagnin and Richie Williams did a very good job. It was a good night for our team. At the same time, we realize that this is just a friendly and we don’t make more of it than it really is. It’s a good effort by our team, and hopefully these are guys we can look at in the future.” On what’s next for the U.S. and player selection for Barbados: “Next for the team is obviously the game against Barbados on Nov. 15. It is a more important game than the one we played tonight. We will make some changes, but that is the game that is important for us. We need to win it to advance to the next round. ôMy thinking right now is that I will lean more toward MLS players rather than bring in a bunch of players from Europe on an 11-hour ride to Barbados and ask them to play on a Wednesday. So we have to find the right blend of players for that game, and we think that is obviously a very important game. We have to have the right group ready to play.” “I’ve been to Barbados, I was there during the summer. We know the field isn’t a great field, but that will be the same for both teams, so we’ll be prepared to play on it. We will be motivated, believe me. It’s a very important game, there is a lot at stake, so we’ll be ready to play.” On the pro-Mexican crowd: “I wasn’t here in 1998, of course, but we have no complaints about the crowd. They were obviously very supportive of their team to start the game, and we expected this kind of setting.” LANDON DONOVAN, U.S. forward On getting in the game early: “I wasn’t really expecting to go in the game at that point. To get in early was good and helpful. It was an incredible experience, something I’ll never forget. I really enjoyed it.” On the goal: “Clint picked up the ball and I made my run toward the middle of the box. Clint pushed the ball a little too far ahead, and I didn’t think he was going to get to it, but I kept running anyway. He did a great job to get there before the defender and put it through his legs. It was easy for a forward to finish.” On playing in front of the pro-Mexican crowd: “It will help me tremendously in the long run. It was the first taste, or really second taste for me, of playing in front of a nasty crowd so to speak. They weren’t too bad though really, they are just good, passionate fans. I think that it is fun to play in front of them no matter if they are for you or against you.” TONY MEOLA, U.S. goalkeeper On playing in front of young team: “It didn’t feel like it. I talked to Goose after the game and we both agreed it was the midfield that shut everything down before we had do anything. We closed down a pretty good team and give them many opportunities.” On shutting down Jared Borguetti: “We frustrated him for sure in the first half and that was probably the reason he came out. He’s a good player and a strong guy, but he didn’t have a chance at goal.” On the U.S. squad and its progress: “No question, I’ve said for a year or two now that the most impressive thing about the national team are the number of players in the pool. Ten years ago we would never have thought about putting out such a young team, but we didn’t think anything about it … going out there in front of 61,000. We did well. It bodes well for the future. It shows how important Major League Soccer is to the development of our National Team.”