Conference Call Guests: MLS Deputy Commissioner – Ivan Gazidis San Jose Earthquakes defender – Jeff Agoos Ivan Gazidis’ opening comments: “Jeff has been a huge part of turning around the San Jose Earthquakes. The leadership abilities that he’s brought to that team and his solid play in the back have had an effect all across that team. It’s been remarkable how Jeff has been able to provide guidance to the younger players there. If it’s something he wanted to do after his playing days, I can see him following in Frank Yallop’s footsteps. I would really welcome that progression of players who would then ultimately become coaches, or even involved in the administrative side of our league. “I do have some very good news to announce. After a lot of work, and a lot of pouring over schedules, we are finally able to announce that the MetroStars and the Kansas City Wizards will compete in Copa Merconorte this year. On Tuesday, June 26, those teams will learn their opponents at the draw in Miami. “We’re still talking with the MetroStars about alternatives but I think it’s unrealistic to expect that you could replace a player who has had an impact like Clint has had this year. Our rules on marquee players and their replacements are designed to lend some kind of relief, unlike, for example the NFL, where a team just has to live with an injury. We’re still working on that, but practically it’s difficult because most of the U.S. players performing overseas are under contract, and the MetroStars have all three of their senior international slots occupied. We continue to work on that, but I think it’s unrealistic to think that we’ll come up with another Clint Mathis.” Jeff Agoos’ opening comments: “It has been an interesting turnaround in San Jose. I wish I could take all the credit, but I think there are a lot of things going on over there that have made it possible to do so well. The SVS&E people have been tremendous. Frank Yallop and Dominic Kinnear have brought in a lot of players and have done a great job in turning the organization around. I’m surprised at how well we’ve done, but wherever I’ve gone I’ve always tried to win and the same holds true in San Jose. “Turning my thoughts over to the national team, we are very excited about the upcoming game tomorrow in Boston. We always like playing in Boston and we know Trinidad is going to be a very good opponent for us. They’ve got some individual players who can be very lethal, and we’ve got to do a good job for 90 minutes if we expect to do well in that match. At this point, we know what we have to do, and the goal is to get up there and play the game and get the result.” Agoos on the success of the U.S. defense in qualifying: “I think that we’ve been playing well as a team, not just the four backs and the goalkeeper. As a team we’ve been doing very well and gotten a couple of lucky breaks and good games from people. In qualification or games which are very big you have to play good solid team defense, and we’ve been able to do that for the first phase and now in the second phase of qualification. Hopefully we can keep that up and we’ll get to Japan and Korea.” Agoos on how the defense adapts to playing with different U.S. goalkeepers: “Kasey (Keller) and Brad (Friedel) have slightly different personalities in little things they do. There’s no big change between the two as far as performance goes. I think it’s pretty marginal. “With Brad you get a guy who is a great shot stopper, who is good at crosses and who uses his feet pretty well. With Kasey I would say the same thing. He comes up with big saves and you need your goalkeeper to do that. I’m not sure what Bruce (Arena) is going to do. We haven’t been notified as to what the starting lineup is going to be. I know either one is going to do a great job. “The back four are very comfortable with either one of the goalkeepers. We’ve played with both in several games, so getting to know one or the other isn’t anything new at this point.” Agoos on Trinidad’s desperation and what he expects Wednesday: “I certainly don’t think Trinidad is at a point where they are just packing it in and saying ‘We’re out of the qualifying phase, we’re not going to give any effort in these games’. I think they are in a crucial phase where they have to win games, and I think this could be one of the harder times to play Trinidad. The game Wednesday against Trinidad is probably going to be more difficult than any other opponent we will have to face.” Agoos on Trinidad’s most dangerous players: “Stern John is a player we know fairly well from when he played in MLS. He’s just a pure goal-scorer. Russell Latapy is a playmaker who’s played in Scotland among other places. He’s the engine that makes that team work. Shaka Hislop plays in England and is a class goalkeeper. We know we won’t get any easy goals come Wednesday. We know they’ve got some quality players and that it won’t be a walk in the park for us.” Agoos on the U.S. goal drought in the last two games (including the Ecuador friendly): “We obviously have some changes with Josh and Clint being out, but we feel confident that the guys can step in. There were very difficult conditions in Jamaica, especially for the forwards because of the field and the heat. We know that when the time comes when we have to put balls in the back of the net that those guys will step up and do that. “I think the defense prides itself on the clean sheet, and really wants to get out of the games with no goals against. That’s the focus whether we score goals or not.” Agoos on the quality of Trinidad and Tobago’s team: “This is one of the tougher games we’re going to have to play on the defensive end because of the players they have and the opportunities they can create. We’re going to have to be very aware and very concentrated for the full 90 minutes. With Stern John, Dwight Yorke, Russell Latapy and others, this is going to be one of the tougher games we have to face.” Agoos on his own performance for both the U.S. and San Jose: “I don’t know if I’m playing the best I’ve ever played, but the main difference is that I’ve moved from the left to the middle. There’s a lot more exposure in the middle than out on the left. I’ve tried to limit the mistakes I make and try to get things more consistent. I think when you get older you acquire more experience and you learn from your mistakes and that is really the sign of a good player. I know that in professional sports you have a lot of ups and downs. Right now things are up and I’m trying to enjoy that.” Gazidis on additional sanctions that may be issued to Carlos Valderrama: “There certainly could be. That incident is being reviewed, and as usual, the results of that review will be issued on Thursday. It is the second similar type of incident he’s had. Whether that (the punishment) would be an increased fine or further suspension I couldn’t comment on now, but it could be either one of those.” Agoos on Landon Donovan: “Landon is ready to step in (for the U.S. national team). He contributes greatly in San Jose and I think he’s a very dangerous forward and a very unpredictable type of player. I think he’s going to have a long career with the national team.” Agoos on what a win tomorrow would mean to the overall qualifying picture: “It has been a bit tricky in the past week because teams have won on the road, where people didn’t expect them to win. The Mexico vs. Costa Rica game is a classic example. They (Mexico) hadn’t lost in Mexico in 20 years and then they lose to Costa Rica. We just have to keep going one game at a time, and concentrate on what this next game against Trinidad means. Three points really put us in the driver’s seat.” Agoos on his potential battle with Dwight Yorke: “I don’t know exactly what to expect from him, I think that’s why it is so dangerous to play against a player like that, because he is unpredictable. The best forwards in the world are guys you can’t really pin down. Obviously he has great speed, he’s good in the air and has a solid shot with both feet. We know we need to prevent service into him and get guys around him in order to deny him as much of the goal as possible.” Agoos on his individual battle with Onandi Lowe last Saturday: “Against Jamaica we did not man-mark guys. We made sure that the further away from the goal we were, the more of a zone we played. Within the 18-yard box we had to stay with our players man to man, especially if there was a dangerous cross coming in. With a guy the size of Onandi Lowe, it is difficult to match up with somebody that big, so we knew we needed to get a lot of players around him.” Agoos on his three defensive teammates: “Steve (Cherundolo) is sort of new to the group, but he doesn’t play like that. He plays like he’s been around us for a very long time. He’s got a great positional sense about him and he’s very intelligent with the ball and keeps the ball well for us. “Carlos (Llamosa) is one of the best markers I’ve every played with. At D.C. he played next to me, and now in Miami he’s doing a great job shutting people down and he’s one of the best one-on-one players I’ve every played with. “David (Regis) on my left brings a little bit of the French flair I guess. He’s very smooth and goes forward very well and can attack and help you with the numbers there. Overall I think we have four very good backs, and along with Kasey or Brad I think we do a good job defending our goal.” Agoos’ reactions to Mexico’s loss at home to Costa Rica: “First of all they’ve had a 20-year streak of not losing there (at Azteca Stadium), and obviously at some point the streak has to come to and end. When you go 20 years, and when you consider what Azteca means to them and the atmosphere there, you’d think it would keep going and going. “Azteca is one of the toughest places to play. They get over 100 thousand fans supporting their team and its very loud and intimidating. It is one of the tougher places to play in this region. We know that there are no easy games against Mexico regardless of how well the team is doing and that it will never be an easy game. I don’t want to look past the game against Trinidad, but we know that every game is going to be a difficult game, especially the ones against Mexico.”