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Q & A: U.S. coach Bruce Arena Posted: Wednesday June 05, 2002 9:14 PM
U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena talked with Soccer America after the 3-2 win over Portugal. He didn’t appear to be surprised at most of what went right for the U.S. Nor was he fazed when circumstances started to go against the Americans in the second half. Soccer America: It seemed like you were checking your watch a lot in the second half. Bruce Arena: I look at my watch a lot. SA: Was this the longest second half of your life? BA: I was very impressed with the way the team played over the last 10 minutes. Portugal finally ran out of gas, but our guys did a great job of killing the game. Our fitness helped out. SA: It was very humid. How much weight did your players lose? BA: This was one of the fastest matches in the World Cup. We pushed the pace. We felt that was something we could do. SA: When did you realize DaMarcus Beasley could beat the Portuguese defense at will down the left side? BA: We realized that about a month ago. [laughs] SA: Had you planned on taking Eddie Pope out? It looked like you were upset when Pope cramped up and had to take him out. BA: Carlos Llamosa had been playing so well in practice I felt comfortable bringing him in. SA: Were you concerned that Jeff Agoos seemed to be tiring in the second half? The own goal seemed to be tiredness more than anything else. BA: It was tiredness and his right foot. SA: Why did you pick Landon Donovan over the other forwards you could have chosen? BA: This was a game that required fitness and versatility. Landon is one of our fittest player and is versatile in a bunch of positions. At times, we played a 4-4-2 and that other times we showed a 4-5-1. SA: Was that versatility even more important with Claudio Reyna? BA: I think so. Interview by Soccer America Managing Editor Paul Kennedy. |
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