The following are quotes from MLSÆs July 25 conference call that featured MLS executive vice president Ivan Gazidis, MetroStars forward Clint Mathis and Chicago midfielder Chris Armas. Ivan Gazidis’ Opening Comments It’s really great to see two players like Chris and Clint who are contributing with the U.S. national team, they both have great futures. First of all, congratulations to D.C. United on a tremendous 3-1 victory over Newcastle United of the English Premier League on Saturday. The only way we can prove ourselves on an international club level and demonstrate our level of improvement is by playing different international clubs. While friendly games are meaningful to a certain degree, obviously the most meaningful competitions that we can be in are those where there is a significant reward to the winner. At the same time, you can’t write off the results like this one. Our teams are competitive against teams from England and Mexico. Players like Bobby Convey, Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno took that game by the scruff of the neck and showed Newcastle a very high level of talent and ability. If Newcastle didn’t already know that, I’m sure they do now and I’m sure they will experience that against Columbus on Wednesday. At the same time we have to respect the talent that exists in the lower divisions here in the U.S. We will learn some lessons about that tonight I have no doubt. There are a lot of important [U.S. Open Cup] games this evening for MLS. There is one MLS only game, Tampa Bay at the MetroStars. We wish both of those teams well, and we are guaranteed at least one team in the next round. As we enter the All-Star break, I’m more excited about the competition side of this league that I have ever been. Our divisional races are wide open. It is impossible for anybody to predict who will win or even be at MLS Cup 2000. There are a lot of new faces contributing to the league, as well as people that have been around for a while. In addition to incredible young talent like DaMarcus Beasley and Bobby Convey, we have Carlos Valderrama, who is an absolute symbol in this league. He is a an incredible player having an incredible season. I have no idea how many more years that guy has in him and I wouldn’t like to predict it. Chris Armas’ Opening Comments As everyone knows we take on the Chicago Sockers tonight. In the second round, we were the second game of a doubleheader and watched them beat Kansas City on penalties in the opening game. These games are tricky sometimes, if you are not ready and prepared you can lose. They are going to fight and battle for 90 minutes and these underdog teams take these games more seriously sometimes. In our first game against the Texas Rattlers, we played that game with a good mentality and took and early lead and continued. I spoke with Bob Bradley yesterday and today about my status tonight. He was going to leave it up to Ante [Razov] and I if we wanted to play tonight. I’m going to push to play because you are playing for a Cup. It’s important to me, and I’ll play despite being tired. As most people know, I got back yesterday from a two-week road trip with the national team. It was a bit disappointing, because we went on the road looking for more than just one point, especially with the way the games ended. In Costa Rica, I thought we played very well, better than in Guatemala. We had chances to take a 3-1 lead or at least earn a point. I’ve heard the call was bad, the ball actually hit Gregg in the face. Everybody was disappointed, from the players straight up to Bruce Arena. We are looking at three-straight home games and then a road game at Barbados. I don’t think there is any reason that we can’t win four straight. We can win at home and win or tie on the road. We have a great group of 18. The All-Star Game will be a lot of fun. I am honored to be selected. I feel like I haven’t played many games with Chicago. I had a two- or three-game injury and all the national team stuff. It should be fun to be part of the celebration over there, and I’d like to thank the fans. I have a busy schedule, a game with the U-23 team on Sunday and I’ll fly out right from the All-Star Game on Saturday. Clint Mathis’ Opening Comments Coming to the MetroStars has been a great career move for me. The team has done really well. I don’t think that’s solely due to my arrival. The confidence has picked up, and I just got here at the right time. Now that I am playing up top, as opposed to midfield, I feel a lot more confident. I feel more and more like a true forward, concentrating on finishing. The season is always easy when you are winning. Everything has been pretty smooth sailing. I’ve only lost once with the MetroStars. It’s a good reflection on the league itself, having a great time in the biggest market. We have a few guys on our team on the All-Star roster, as many as seven. Thanks to all the fans for voting for us and we’ll represent the team well I hope. I am very honored to be selected. The All-Star Game will be great for the fans. The Open Cup game is important. There’s something at stake here and things get a little more intense. This is our fourth time playing against Tampa Bay. It’s a little bit different in the Open Cup than a regular season game. I can’t wait to see the rest of the guys in Columbus after tonight’s game. Armas on All-Star voting I think it’s a good idea that fans get to vote. Some of the cities with less fans, that might cheat the good players. In Los Angeles or New York, that might influence things a bit. But those teams have been at the top this season anyway. The head coach gets to pick reserves so that makes it fair. It would be nice if all the coaches around the league or players have a hand in the voting. Mathis on All-Star voting Keeping the fans involved is important, they need to be a part of it. Maybe bringing in the media is a good idea, they vote on the team awards anyway. Maybe the coaches should be involved also. The smaller teams with less crowd support are affected. Mathis on the MetroStars MLS Cup 2000 chances There is a good possibility, this year the teams are real close. From what I’ve seen in the past, the Metros are not used to winning. Winning has become a habit now, we have the confidence over the last 13 or 14 games. The attitude’s have been uplifted. With the confidence level and good work rate, we have the ability to beat any team in this league. It’s tough to be consistent and that’s the test of a real champion. Mathis on having a free role at forward I have a lot more freedom. This is the first time that I have had a sole position. I go out there knowing I’m always going to play the same position. The coach has given me more freedom to produce chances for myself and the team. Octavio Zambrano gives players that freedom to create. That’s his best coaching strength, not restricting players but keeping control. Armas on the MetroStars improvement I played against them in New York, but we’ll get them out here in Chicago. They are a good team, they are confident and have some good players. Getting Clint and a couple of Los Angeles guys has helped. Clint is a dangerous player, fast and smart. He hasn’t been missing too much lately. You have guys in the back who can defend. They are all committed to winning. They will definitely make a run in the playoffs. Gazidis on Ariel Graziani’s future I think Ariel has become one of the most important players in the league. He is flamboyant, a goal scorer and a great person. I know him fairly well. He has a lot of the things that we search so hard for in our international signings. There will always be interest in players like Ariel. I can’t envision a scenario where we would want him to leave the team during or after the season. The only thing we might contemplate is an offseason loan with Ariel, like we did last year. We made sure that he didn’t miss any MLS action through that loan. To answer that question, he’s not going anywhere and at the end of the season we’ll see if there any short-term loan possibilities. We’ve been approached recently and some time ago and every second month about Ariel. Gazidis on Crew Stadium and other possible soccer specific stadiums The day that Columbus Crew Stadium hosted its first soccer game, I was there. I’ve seen a lot of things in the history of MLS from the opening game all the way through out first MLS Cup. I’ve seen some incredible moments in the history of this league. The opening game at Crew Stadium was one of the most significant moments, possibly even the most significant, for what it means for the commitment of our investors to the long-term success of MLS. That said a lot of different things, obviously it said that Lamar Hunt is committed to the long-term success of the sport. It was also a statement about his partners’ commitment to the sport. He would not have gone forward alone. He is the first of a number of investors to take this step. The success of the stadium and the tangible and intangible things it brings to us are going to form a blueprint for more stadiums around this league. I am confident that we will see some new stadiums in Los Angeles and some other markets that will enable us to put our best foot forward. These soccer specific facilities will be built for our game and our crowd to experience the sport in the best way. The development of stadiums to me is one of the most important factors in our league’s future. It has been widely speculated that Phil Anschutz is looking at stadiums in all three of his cities, trying to explore possibilities in Los Angeles, Colorado and Chicago. Outside of that, we’ve also had stadium discussion in New York, and there are some positive things that can happen in all of those locations. That doesn’t mean there are any done deals, but the willingness is there. Armas on the U.S.’ struggles at the end of games After the first game in Guatemala, we spoke about it. Everybody agreed that at the end of games if everybody is tired, let’s possess the ball more to run the clock out. At 1-1 on Sunday I thought we had some chances to win the game. We had a free kick at the top of the box, Eddie Lewis had a few good chances. At the same time, you are playing a World Cup qualifier and it’s tough. As they gave us chances, they created a few. I haven’t seen a tape of the game yet and I don’t know if Frankie Hejduk’s no-call was a foul and if the one they did get was legit. Mathis on a chance with the national team I definitely don’t have a problem not playing in those two games. You look at those players on the field, and I’m just happy to be a part of that. Of course, I am getting antsy. I don’t think I could be a professional athlete if I said otherwise. I need to progress as a player to be a forward on the national team. I am going to keep working hard at it, maybe the first step is to be coming off the bench and working towards being a starter eventually. Bruce makes good decisions and my time will come if I keep a positive attitude. Armas on lack of respect for the United States I hate to think that is the case, that it would be about respect. I just think it’s part of the game, there were some close calls in Euro 2000 and everywhere. We had plenty of chances in that game and we don’t need to depend of the refs to get a win. We are gaining more and more respect around the World. Mathis on what German teammate Lothar Matthaeus and other foreigners think of MLS It’s hard for me to talk about Lothar, I maybe had three of four practices with him. The respect for American players was good from Carlos Hermosillo last year in Los Angeles. He was a good team player. He would do anything for us on and off the field. Carlos never game any indication of not being respectful of his American teammates. Gazidis on MLS respect worldwide I think part of it is there is a certain amount of paranoia that we suffer. We are far too down on ourselves, we don’t want to believe that we belong on that world stage. When I speak to people who have played all over the world and have seen our games, I consistently get a similar type of opinion. The talent level here is comparable to the league I just came from. This league is only four years old, in five years time this league is going to be at a different level again. Lothar’s impression of Clint in particular was that this is a very good player that makes a difference. I hear it consistently, that we have the players that have the talent to play anywhere in the world. There still exists some misconceptions about MLS. I feel that some people still don’t know what is going on here. Our world credibility level is rising. It does rise when you see a 16-year-old like Bobby Convey playing extremely well against a Newcastle United. I think eventually that’s going to be more known. We’ve already won the InterAmerican club championship, an unbelievable result for us at the young stage. You see again and again MLS teams performing very credibly in friendlies. Newcastle wanted to win that game but D.C. played very well. It’s clear that we have come a long way. Gazidis on international officiating Intimidation is certainly an issue, there are levels at which it is acceptable and unacceptable. I don’t know if it played a part in what happened in Costa Rica. Clearly, anytime you travel outside the country, you are going to find rabid support. I hope the U.S. has that for their home games. Referees decisions are not always 100 percent, and there are judgment calls and mistakes made. The U.S. was on the wrong end of a bad call and over time I still believe that these mistakes balance out. I still believe the U.S. can take the qualifying in its own hands and advance comfortably.