Conference Call Guests: MLS Deputy Commissioner – Ivan Gazidis Miami Fusion goalkeeper – Nick Rimando D.C. United defender – Eddie Pope Gazidis’ opening comments: “We are very proud to have two players like Eddie Pope and Nick Rimando. These are two young players who have developed their game and made it in Major League Soccer and now have a career in the United States. I think it is great that we are able to offer them this opportunity, but what is even more great is players like this can commit themselves to Major League Soccer. They can be proud of the team badges they are wearing and can make a meaningful contribution to the game here. “Nick has been a very big part of what is happening in Miami. Obviously, it is a team effort. Miami’s defensive record is outstanding. They have conceded one goal in their past five games, and only five in their first nine games this season. That is a testament to how Nick is playing this year and a great testament to how he has developed his game. We are proud to have a young player like that developing in Major League Soccer. “Congratulations to the MetroStars on their 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich this weekend. You can’t read too much into these exhibition games, but at the same time I am not a subscriber to the belief that they are meaningless. I hope that we will be given the opportunity to play meaningful games against that quality of opposition, but that will only happen as the FIFA World Club Championship tournament develops itself. “We’ve moved one Galaxy game, a June 6 game, to August 11. That doesn’t mean to say that we are giving up just yet on the prospect of having one or more games during that period against international club competition, but the prospects are diminishing for that. We continue to make a good faith effort, but I think that it is less likely than probable that we will have to give up on that and just focus on the regular season.” Nick Rimando’s Opening Comments: “All my life I have wanted to play professional soccer, and to make it in this league and to be honored as Player of the Week is something that I feel very great about. Our defense is playing really well right now. Everybody is feeling comfortable on the field. We’re clicking. You can tell that our team is in the right state of mind. We are on a roll right now. I am feeling comfortable back there with one year under my belt. From Diego (Serna) up top to Carlos (Llamosa) in the back and Pablo (Mastroeni), we are all on the same page. “Being so young I didn’t expect to play in my first year. To get thrown into the mix with the starting lineup in my second year and part of my first year, it was a surprise for me. “I think the whole team needs to be rewarded. I think this Wednesday is going to be a good game. D.C. United is a different team from last year. They’re young and they have a lot of great players from Marco Etcheverry to Jaime Moreno up top. They’re very dangerous and skilful and we’re going to have to watch out for them. But we’re ready. We’re on a roll and the team is feeling relaxed right now. We want to give our fans a good show. “We’re giving the fans what they want to see. They want to see a winning team. They’ve been behind us the whole way. Also, media-wise, from television to the papers, they’ve been good to us.” Eddie Pope’s Opening Comments: “Firstly congratulations to Nick for becoming Player of the Week. He deserves it. It’s going to be a big matchup for us on Wednesday against the Fusion. They are on a roll and they’re playing very well, especially their defense. They’re all on the same page and playing really good soccer. “As far as D.C. United is concerned, we’re looking for our first win on the road. It’s going to be exciting to see Carlos (Llamosa) again. Obviously he was a huge loss to us and to me on a personal level as well. That will be exciting to face him. Miami is very hot right now and it’s going to be a huge challenge for us.” Pope on D.C. United switching from the 4-4-2 to the 3-5-2: “We needed to simplify things defensively with the back three or four and even the midfield as well. That’s why we switched to a 3-5-2, so that it’s easier for a lot of younger guys to get on the same page with everyone else. I think it’s going to prove successful for us in the future.” Gazidis on the status of Stephen Armstrong: “He’s college protected for D.C. United. The way our college protected rules work is that once you’re drafted, if you don’t sign an MLS contract, you’re protected through the rest of that year and through the next year as well. So Stephen Armstrong remains college protected with D.C. United. We’re not yet in a position to be able to formally announce any signing but I can tell you that we’ve been speaking with Stephen and I hope we can make a formal announcement as soon as possible. “Stephen would count as a senior international. But only at the time that he becomes under contract to MLS and his contract begins with MLS would D.C. United have to be in compliance. There are several things in the works, one of which is Raul Diaz Arce’s green card application which is ongoing. I’m not sure exactly where they are with that. Obviously when Stephen Armstrong becomes part of D.C. United’s roster and counts as a full international, they’re going to have to be in three, not in four. At this point we’re not there yet.” Pope on his feelings about the trading of United’s veterans in the offseason: “It was definitely difficult. I lost friends more than anything else. These were people I was with since 1996 and 1997. I formed a friendship with guys like Richie (Williams), Carlos (Llamosa) and ‘Goos (Jeff Agoos) and it’s difficult to have such a huge change. And playing-wise you get used to people after a certain time period and you know what they’re going to do and how they’re going to react to things. You become comfortable and dependent on those guys. So from a playing standpoint it becomes difficult as well. But for us now it’s all about trying to get comfortable with the guys we have now. I think we have a bunch of young, great players. There’s going to be a bit of a learning curve for us to get comfortable with each other.” Pope on his role change with the new young players with D.C. United: “It’s certainly been a bit of a change for me. I’m usually not a very vocal person and I certainly have to put that in my game and try to lead. It’s a huge move for me as well. I’m learning to do that from game to game. The youthfulness has been great. They bring a lot of energy to training and games. It’s very exciting. There’s a whole lot of talent in these young guys and it’s great to see.” Rimando on Ray Hudson’s role in turning the Fusion around: “He’s just a great guy. He’s played the game before and he knows what the players are going through on and off the field. He has a lot of fight in him and a lot of the guys feed off of that. He’s a good guy and knows what’s going on. We have seven wins and have been playing well. We’re taking everything personal right now and that’s one of the big things he’s been telling us to do.” Rimando on whether Ray Hudson is a quote machine off the field as well: “Not really. I think he saves that for the media. He’s really good with us. He makes his point. If we give him what he wants then he’s happy. If we don’t then he’ll rip into us. That’s good for us. We needed someone like that to lay down what’s right and what’s wrong.” Gazidis on progress of talks with other clubs to organize an international tournament: “I wouldn’t say anything is impossible. But realistically, I think putting together a tournament in the time available is going to be a real uphill challenge and probably will not be feasible. The reasons for that are partly scheduling issues, partly logistical and partly money. That covers the gamut. There are obviously a lot of issues in trying to put together a tournament and FIFA was unable to do it over a period of months and it’s not really surprising that we haven’t been able to pull that together in the short time available to us. I think what’s more likely may be a one-off or a two-game series. In particular we’ve had some discussions over a period of time with Boca Juniors about the possibility of playing an InterAmerican Cup. There are economic issues we have to get through with Boca in order to reach an agreement so that kind of tournament could make economic sense for everybody. That probably is the most realistic prospect that remains out there. “I wouldn’t put the chances of that happening above 50 percent. I would probably put them somewhere below 50 percent. At some point, we have to reschedule other games into that period so that Los Angeles is not dead and so that we can maximize weekend dates. We’re working toward it and at some point we may have to say that it will not be possible. But we certainly want to give it a good faith effort. Anschutz Entertainment Group are the ones who have had direct contact with Boca Juniors through Bill Peterson. I haven’t spoken to him today but we’ve been speaking together about it and getting updates as to how things are moving along.” Pope on what D.C. United has to do differently to defeat Chicago on Saturday: “Chicago is really good at home. Saturday is going to be a difficult game for us even if it is at RFK Stadium. We have to come out with a lot more energy and a lot more intent on winning the game compared to the game in Soldier Field. Defensively we also need to play better. We gave up a couple of soft goals in the first match against them. We need to come out a little more aggressively.” Gazidis on news of compensation from FIFA for cancellation of Club World Championship: “I’m still reading the same stuff that everyone else is. We’ve had no formal contact from FIFA and no formal proposal. Through our federation we’ve made it clear to FIFA that we’ve suffered substantial costs. Part of it is through scheduling. There are many other elements of cost that we have established. We certainly expect and anticipate that FIFA will compensate us for at least our losses in pulling that tournament. But we still haven’t received formal notification that the tournament is not going to take place. So we’re reading the same things everyone else is and it’s very frustrating.” Gazidis on the total financial losses MLS has suffered: “Generally it’s very, very difficult to put a specific tag on it. Just look at the scheduling side and what would have happened had we not had to create that space in our schedule. It’s not just the games that Los Angeles is involved with that had to be rescheduled but there are other games as well and the knock-on effects go on and on. Clearly, in terms of lost attendance, the losses are very significant over a number of games. It’s a significant cost to us and beyond that you have costs of not maximizing our attendance in the middle of our season. It’s not ideal for us in ways that are not quantifiable by just money. We want to have our attendance move forward this year and show growth and we had made a calculated decision that because of the importance of having Los Angeles in this Club World Championship, we knew we were going to take some kind of hit to our domestic attendance. But it was worth doing that. I find it almost impossible to quantify what exactly that hit will be.” Rimando on the factors in signing with Nike Project-40 last year: “I left my junior year in UCLA. While playing with the national team, I got looks from a couple of foreign teams. But I didn’t pursue that as much as I did MLS. I always wanted to play in this country and I wasn’t looking to play elsewhere. It worked out good for me because now I’m the starting goalkeeper.” Rimando on what he would recommend to young players deciding on a professional career: “Landon Donovan has been to Germany and knows what it’s like to live there. I was there with the national team and saw how it is over there and that’s just not me. It’s not something I would want to pursue for now. If there are some kids looking to go overseas, they have to be good enough to make it over there. I would say they should stay here if they are young. They can get the professionalism underneath their belts and learn what it’s like to play professionally day in and day out.” Rimando on what he would be doing if he was not playing soccer: “I would still be at school at UCLA. I always wanted to be a history teacher so I’d probably be pursuing that if I wasn’t playing soccer.” Pope on the competition for spots on the U.S. national team: “Everybody wants to play and wants to be on the team. Training is really competitive and because there is so much depth it is as competitive as it has ever been. Everyone is really excited about qualifying and making the World Cup. There is a little bit more of an edge with everyone around the same age. There is also a little bit more closeness on this team than on past teams. MLS has become so strong now that it has given Bruce Arena (U.S. national team head coach) a bigger pool to choose from. That says a lot about our league and a lot of guys are proud of that.”