The following are quotes from the Aug. 17 MLS media teleconference, which featured MLS Executive Vice President Ivan Gazidis and MetroStars GM Charlie Stillitano. Ivan Gazidis Opening Comments “Today we have what might be the least unexpected but perhaps one of the most important announcements in MLS history, at least on the player side … German Lothar Matthaeus, the 1991 FIFA World Player of the Year, the only field player to have participated in five World Cups, and the man who served as captain of West Germany’s 1990 World Cup championship team, has signed an MLS contract with the MetroStars for the 2000 season … He will be released by his current club, Bayern Munich, on January 1, 2000, and will be available to MLS for the year, including the MetroStars opener.” “Most impressive is that Matthaeus was recently named 1998-99 German Footballer of the Year … That prestigious award demonstrates the level of play which he currently maintains and the status he enjoys on the field.” Charlie Stillitano Opening Comments “We’re equally delighted … Obviously he is a marquee player, a great presence and a leader that this team would really benefit from … The hard work has finally paid off.” Gazidis on the league’s Project-40 signing/allocation “We also would like to announce the signing of Seth Trembly, the 35th player to enroll in the Project-40 program … Behind U.S. Under-17 teammate DaMarcus Beasley, he is the second-youngest player ever to join the program… This represents part of the movement to make Project-40 accessible to young players looking for an alternative to the college system … Trembly will be assigned to the Colorado Rapids.” Stillitano on MetroStars’ revolving door of foreign players “Matthaeus is a very special player, the most astonishing accomplishment is his being named German Footballer of the Year [at age 38] … The criticism is fair that we’ve had a revolving door, but we hope that Matthaeus will steady that with his excellence on the field and in the locker room … The only way to know what effect that he will have is to see what happens after he arrives … He is a very, very special player and person … We shouldn’t lump Matthaeus with the other foreign allocations that have come here … The only one we’ve had in his class is Roberto Donadoni.” Gazidis on Hurtado playing in South Africa this week “Eduardo has the good fortune to play in a game honoring Nelson Mandela … This is not something routinely dealt with at the league level, so I’ll turn it over to Charlie … ” Stillitano on Hurtado playing in South Africa this week “He was invited to a game in Australia earlier in the year, but turned it down because he wanted to help our team … But this time he really wanted to go to the game, as Mandela is one of his heroes … He chose to go, and although it put the team in a tough situation, especially with Sasa Curcic being out this week, we reluctantly let him go.” Stillitano on relying on a 38-year-old sweeper to rebuild the team “I don’t think any one player can turn a team around … We’ve had a number of players who haven’t played the way we expected … We’re going to have to make a number of changes, we need more than Matthaeus to turn the team around … A number of our younger players have shown that they can contribute … We have a solid core of young players to build on … There are some playing this year who we thought wouldn’t be called on for 90 minutes a game, but they have gained that experience … If we can put some strong players around them, then we will be much better off.” Stillitano on Head Coach Bora Milutinovic’s job security “We all need to take responsibility for how the team has done … There isn’t anyone who is happy with the team’s performance, including Bora … We all need to take responsibility, and I am sure Bora will take his share … Hopefully, we can learn the lessons from this very long year so far.” Stillitano on Matthaeus wanting to play for Bora “I will say that Bora knows Matthaeus pretty well, I’ve gotten to know him over the last few months, and he wants to play in MLS and for the MetroStars … He’s looking for the experience of coming to America, that’s why he’s following his idol, Franz Beckenbauer … Beckenbauer thinks that his time with the Cosmos helped his professional development, for his time after the game on the field passed him by … Matthaeus hasn’t made any statements about wanting to play for just one guy … He trusts the organization and trusts the people around him … I’ve spoken to him at length and he’s laughing at the quotes that have been taken out of the newpapers … He told me, ‘Bad news is better for readers than good news.’ … He will have an impact on the players around him, and help us bring other marquee players to the United States by heightening the league’s credibility.” Gazidis on details of Matthaeus’ contract “Matthaeus is initially signed for one year … However, if Matthaeus feels at the end of the season that he has positive things to contribute, and we feel the same way as well, then I’m sure we will extend it another year … In common with other leagues, we do not disclose salaries, with respect to the player.” “It’s certainly a positive development for the league to secure the services of such a high-profile player … Given the budgets and the world we live in, that’s not always the easiest thing to do … This signing will raise the awareness of MLS outside the United States … The long-term development of this league relies on the development of our own players, and that contribution can be judged by the performance of the U.S. national team … Players like Lothar Matthaeus will always have a place in MLS and will always assist in our players’ experience and development.” Gazidis on the league moving to five foreigners and where does Matthaeus fit “Currently, there is no proposal to move from four to five foreigners next year … However, we are looking at ways to expand our net to get players who are young and developmental, and do not hold an American passport … We have our new initiative with the Tahuichi Academy in Bolivia … We expect the introduction of ways to deal with these issues in the coming months.” Stillitano on Matthaeus forcing out an existing MetroStars player “We have a core of good young players, but certainly adjustments will be made to accommodate Matthaeus … I don’t think it’s healthy to say what adjustments will be made … In talking to Bora, Lothar will play central defense, either as a sweeper or as a defensive midfielder … We certainly are going to focus on the players that want to be here, those who will give us their best efforts.” Gazidis on the player development process/expansion of rosters “The two things go together … Bringing more young players into the league would necessitate larger rosters … However, the rules that would govern that relationship are yet to be delineated …Project-40 assignments involve subjective judgements on who deserves and who wants Project-40 assignments … We hope to move to a more transparent system, and I hope that this is the last allocation under the current system … I don’t see geography playing a part in the assignments.” Stillitano on Matthaeus playing in the Euro 2000 Championships “In my discussions with Matthaeus, he has told us that he will not go to the European Championships this summer … We did not want to lose him for a big block of time … We think certainly that he will be with us for more than one year … Matthaeus is a man who is true to his word and he has said that he is not planning on playing in that tournament … I think that anyone named German Footballer of the Year has more than one good season left in him.” Gazidis on Matthaeus playing in the Euro 2000 Championships “There are no contractual provisions that deal with it … He is not committed to the German team … It’s too early to say with 100% certainty that he will or won’t be selected, or that Germany will qualify … He has told us that he has not committed to that tournament.” Stillitano on Matthaeus playing a year here to improve his stock in Europe “Matthaeus is a player who doesn’t have to go back to Europe to do anything … This will be his last challenge, much like when Beckenbauer came here … The German coach can call him in, but there are no contractual obligations … We hope that Matthaeus will attract other marquee players here … He brings tremendous credibility to the league and to our team … His role will be to direct traffic and now we’ll see if the players we have can score goals.” Gazidis on Matthaeus’ level of commitment to MLS “I asked him ‘How I could know that he wasn’t coming to play here for his girlfriend, or just to be in New York, etc.?’ … He was under no misapprehension that this would be a major challenge for him … He genuinely believes that he will have to play at his very best to succeed in MLS … There are various climatic challenges, and dealing with the long flights, etc., that are unique to the playing in the United States … He’s giving up a tremendous amount of money to come here … It’s a new challenge for him, and when you’ve lifted the World Cup trophy and accomplished everything he has, you look forward to new challenges … He’s relishing and looking forward to the challenge, one he doesn’t think will be easy.” Gazidis on Matthaeus’ wish to break the FIFA appearance record “There are FIFA regulations which govern what we can and cannot do with players called up their team … It is important that we have Matthaeus for the whole season, and for that we owe a debt of gratitude to Franz Beckenbauer … A verbal promise was made between Beckenbauer and Matthaeus that he will receive his release during the Bundesliga’s winter break … We are the beneficiaries of that promise, which is possibly not in the best interests of Bayern Munich.” Stillitano on Matthaeus’ wish to break the FIFA appearance record “In my conversations with Matthaeus, he has expressed that his dream of being the all-time FIFA capped player has come down on his wish list … A lot of this was discussed at length … It’s a very important signing for the league and the MetroStars … We couldn’t’ have a player come at the end of the German season … I respect the man and his word … He has put the goal of helping the New York-area team and helping soccer in America ahead of the appearance record.” Gazidis on signing Seth Trembly/thoughts on college soccer “I don’t think it means that we are bypassing the college system … There are many college products doing extremely well in MLS, and that’s a good way for some … However, there are players who want to pursue their careers directly out of high school, and they sign Project-40 … One system is better for some, and the other is better for others … The number of young players signed by the developmental programs will go up, because it has been so low in the past … There will also be players who wish to pursue their careers through college.” Stillitano on Matthaeus’ effect on attendance “A marquee player will have that impact … That’s not enough, though, as we need to develop the players we now have and we need to win some games … We need to win and that’s the only way to get the fans back.” Gazidis on the MetroStars’ perceived lack of Project-40 assignments “Every time we get a good player, there are 12 teams calling and wanting him to be assigned to their team … I understand the imperfections of the system … The MetroStars have received three Project-40 players in their history … The first was Carlos Parra, who was later traded for Ramiro Corrales, who is now starting for the team, so I think you would consider him a success … The second player, Barry Swift, unfortunately didn’t work out … The third player is Tim Howard, who has excelled both with the U.S. youth national teams for which he has appeared and for the MetroStars in his brief appearances … You can compare that with other teams and come up with varying opinions on the level of success … We have to make judgment calls and how teams have received players … Anytime we do any kind of player allocation, whether it involves Lothar Matthaeus or Seth Trembly, we are making several subjective judgments, from salary implication to the team and the player and to who should receive a player … There are also other teams who would have liked Matthaeus … There are not easy judgments, and often they are not readily understandable to our fans and the media … We are trying to improve on the current system.” Gazidis on his reaction for Graziani/Alvarez trade “I was surprised, but I understand the trade from both team’s points of view … New England wanted defensive help, and Leonel Alvarez is a special player who can impact the game on that side of the ball … Dallas made a difficult decision but in Ariel Graziani they have a player that will excite their fans and score plenty of goals.” Gazidis on Leonel Alvarez’ contract “Alvarez has a couple of option years and we hope that he will be around MLS until the end of his career … After the trade, he went through a range of normal reactions but is ready to help New England make a run at a playoff berth.”