MLS Conference Call Guests: D.C. United midfielder – Bobby Convey Chicago midfielder – DaMarcus Beasley U.S. Under-20 Head Coach – Wolfgang Suhnholz MLS Deputy Commissioner – Ivan Gazidis Ivan Gazidis’ Opening Comments “I congratulate both DaMarcus and Bobby on making this team. I think they are going to make significant contributions. I really believe that this U-20 team could be very successful in Argentina. It’s the most professional under-20 national team we’ve ever had. I hope, and I know, that everybody hopes that it will be reflected in the on-field performance.” “The biggest news of the week on the MLS front is the Los Angeles Galaxy, who are looking to break ground on their new stadium in July. This is a huge development for them, for MLS and for soccer in this country. They expect to break ground in late July. The 112 million dollar sports complex is going to be built on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The centerpiece of that facility is the 20,000-seat soccer stadium, which will be expandable to 27,000 seats. It’s really an unbelievable complex, it will have six soccer fields, an 8,000 seat tennis stadium, 18 tennis courts, a 6,000 seat track and field venue, a velodrome and a support building with about 135,000 square feet of space for offices and training facilities. It will be an unbelievable complex, and it is really a testament to what Phil Anschutz, and the Anschutz Entertainment Group brings to soccer in this country and we’re very pleased to see that moving ahead.” Wolfgang Suhnholz’s Opening Comments “I am very excited about this team. In some cases it was not very easy to make the decisions, but the more I look at the roster, the more excited I am for Argentina. We have the opportunity to bring back in Bobby, the ‘Beas’ (DaMarcus), Landon and Edson Buddle and I’m very happy about that.” Bobby Convey’s Opening Comments “Like Wolfgang said, we are really excited to go to Argentina. We know we have something special and that we can do well there. I’m just excited to be on the final roster and it’s a good chance to show the progress the U.S. has made in soccer. Before I go to the World Cup, I still have this game against Dallas (on Saturday). It is hard to go from national team to club team, but I just have to know which team I’m with and what uniform to put on and then everything else comes naturally.” DaMarcus Beasley’s Opening Comments “We’re all excited and very happy to get this under way. We’re ready to show our game again on the world level. We haven’t been together a lot, but at the same time, we’ve gelled well as a team and we saw that in Trinidad. With some of the MLS players coming back and combining with the college players I think we’re going to do well. Like Bobby said it’s going to be tough with us having one more game this week, but as soon as we get on that flight to Argentina we have to be focused on our job with the national team. I’m excited and I’m ready to go.” Gazidis on sanctions that may be forthcoming to the MetroStars head coach Octavio Zambrano “We’re definitely reviewing the comments made by Octavio. I think that Octavio was expecting that he would be fined or suspended for those comments. I can’t really speak to it until the disciplinary committee makes a decision. That decision will be made and issued on Thursday.” Suhnholz on why he opted to take more collegiate players rather than some MLS-based players “A lot of players currently playing in MLS are playing the same position as Bobby (Convey) and Beasley and Landon (Donovan), and you can’t bring in 18 attacking players.” Convey on how he compares to his counterparts who opted to play college soccer rather than MLS “For me it was the right decision to go pro. That is what I wanted to do. For the guys who went to college, that was their decision. With MLS and the national team, I’ve gotten better partially because I play all year round. We just play more than the guys on the college teams.” Beasley on how he compares to his counterparts who opted to play college soccer rather than MLS “We decided to sign early. It was the best thing for us. We wanted to develop ourselves with the hope of being future national team players. For me to do that, I thought that MLS would speed up that process. Chicago is one of the best teams in the league and my decision is definitely helping me get where I wanted to go. “Chris Armas, Hristo Stoitchkov, Peter Nowak, and C.J. Brown are guys who have been through it all. These guys know what it takes to be a professional. You take all that in, not just on the field, but off the field, how to eat and when to rest. You just take all that in. Those guys are great role models.” Suhnholz on whether the World Youth Championship is a predictor of future national team success “When you see a team like Portugal, who won the tournament 10 or 11 years ago, and the majority of those players on that team like Figo, and Couto and all those guys have their full national team playing on the highest level for quite a while now. I think right now we have great talent coming up with this U-20 team and our future U-20 team with players like Santino (Quaranta), and Edward Johnson. It is going to help us produce a great national team in the future.” Suhnholz on how he prepares his players for the pressure that comes with the tournament ôIn Toulon, every game we played, of the 6,000 people who were watching, about 4,000 of them were scouts and agents. It’s always a danger, of course, but we try very hard to shield the kids from that. ôFor any youth player, I think that MLS is probably the best league for a young player to develop, especially when you look at the improvement of players like Beasley, Convey, Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra, Nick Rimando and Tim Howard. Most of these guys will be able to find a place to play and hopefully it will be in MLS.ö Beasley on the risk he took by becoming a professional “I don’t think I took much of a gamble. I knew that turning professional would only help me, not hurt me. If I wasn’t playing for Chicago, or actually Los Angeles at the time because they drafted me, I could still have played for the Project-40 team on the weekend, and trained with the main club during the week. At the same time, I knew I wanted to finish high school so for a while I had to do a little of both. “John Ellinger (current U.S. U-17 coach) was the main person I talked to, along with my brother (Jamar) who went through the same process. John really helped me, he gave me a lot of good advice, and helped me weigh all the positives and negatives of both sides. I just had to think about it, and after I discussed it with my parents and my brother, I just took all their advice and just went after it. Right now I think I’m doing pretty well.” Convey on the risk he took by becoming a professional “It wasn’t a gamble for me, it was really just the next step after the U-17 World Championship. I knew I wanted to turn pro and get to that next level. At the U-17 World Championship, there were scouts trying to talk to me, but I was really stuck on MLS because I wanted to stay in the U.S. and finish school. Right now I’m in D.C., it’s only two hours away from my parents, so I can see them every weekend. It was an all-around good situation for me to stay here. You always have to look at all your options, and at the time it was the right decision for me to stay and play in MLS. Like DaMarcus, I spoke to Ellinger a lot, and he also spoke to my parents. It was discussed by my parents and John Ellinger and then I just decided to do it.” Beasley on whether he finds any motivation in the results of previous U.S. teams that competed in the U-20 World Championship “I’m just concentrating on what we want to accomplish as a team. I feel that with our team and the talent we have, that we can do better than the team that finished last, or the team that finished in fourth. I just think we are very focused on what we want to accomplish, and that is winning the tournament. At the same time, we have to take it one game at a time, and that starts with China.” Convey on whether he finds any motivation in the results of previous U.S. teams that competed in the U-20 World Championship “I don’t really worry about anything before us. We’re just really focused on our team and hopefully we can succeed and do better than the other teams.” Suhnholz on how he attempts to blend the MLS players in with the rest of the squad “Honestly I’ve been trying not to think about that too much because when we all get together, it’s going to be the first time I’ll have these 18 players together anyway. It is going to be difficult for us but I have the utmost confidence in these players coming in. They gave us a boost in Trinidad, and they have shown that they can fit in quickly.” Gazidis on Marco Etcheverry’s reactions to the officiating after Saturday’s loss to Chicago “I think that comments on refereeing decisions made immediately after the game are often made in the heat of an emotional moment and that is the same everywhere around the world. Do I think our refereeing can get better? Of course I do. Refereeing everywhere can get better. Refereeing in soccer is always going to be the subject of controversy, no matter which calls are made or how good the referees might be. Look at the European Champions Cup Final and the refereeing decisions that were made there. Presumably that’s the best referee in Europe who is given that game. It’s part and parcel of the game, and Marco’s passion is part and parcel of his game. I think that it is the natural consequence of having the type of game that we do. Referee decisions will always have one or two critical decisions in close games and there will always be people that care passionately about the outcome of those games. Suhnholz on the Americans’ three first round opponents in Argentina “China is a very good team. Technically they are very good, they have great team speed, and they are very disciplined. They are definitely a team to watch in our group. “Chile can be dangerous for us because Mendoza is right on the Chilean border. I assume they are going to have that stadium packed with their countrymen. It’s going to be an away game for us and a home game for them. “Ukraine came in second in Europe, but I have not seen them play. They are supposed to be a very physical team, and are probably the second best team in Europe. Despite what some other people have said, I think we have a very tough group.”