French: 'We were ready to go'
- by Soccer America , Jan 10, 2014
MICHELLE FRENCH
On the match:
“I think we were ready to go. We had a good week here and it was time for us to show what we could do it on the field. I was really impressed with the focus, the energy and really the chances we created in the first few minutes of the game. It was a great way to start the tournament for us.”
On the USA’s attack:
“We had a lot of different personalities come out in the game and that’s kind of what we hoped. We saw the ability to combine, to slip balls in behind and we saw the one-v-one presence that players displayed. We had a lot of variety and that helped us be successful today.”
On Lindsey Horan’s four-goal performance:
“To have Lindsey come in and automatically lift our chemistry and be a difference maker, you can’t ask more from her and obviously she had some world-class finishes.”
On what the USA can improve in the next game against Jamaica:
“Our standards are really high. We can get better with our back line. I think that has to do a little bit with not quite being aware of what each other are doing quite yet because they are new to each other. Our midfield can be sharper in our final pass and their speed of play, and our forwards, we have to be able to finish the opportunities that we get. So we’ve got a lot of things to look at on film and try to fix as we move forward in this tournament.”
LINDSEY HORAN
On the match:
“I thought we really came out strong and brought so much energy. After a week of training, I thought we played so well in our first game. I’ve played in two World Cup qualifying tournaments before this, I don’t think we’ve ever came out with that much energy and played that well in our first game so I was really happy.”
On her four goals:
“Those four goals wouldn’t have come if my teammates didn’t play me perfect balls. We were possessing so well and the goals came from good play though the middle and from our backs. I’m happy I scored, but it came from my team’s work.”
On Savannah Jordan and Summer Green getting on the score sheet:
“I was so happy for them. Savannah had so many chances, and I was just waiting for her goal to come. Summer came on and brought so much energy to the game. It’s awesome when you see a sub come onto the field and really bring our team up and provide more options and chances on goal. I was really happy for her.”
SUMMER GREEN
On the match:
“When I was on the bench, I definitely thought we were playing well. It was cool to see how we came together and combined. We did many of the things we wanted to do, knocking the ball around and keeping possession.”
On her goal:
“That goes to Lindsey. Her ball through was amazing. It split their defense completely and gave me a good shot.”
CARI ROCCARO
On the match:
“There were definitely nerves to start out, but I think once we got the first goal under our belts we started to relax and the goals started coming. It was a good team performance.”
On Costa Rica:
“They weren’t a team that sat back. They came at us and they weren’t afraid to press us and play, so we just had to work to break them down.”
On looking forward to the next game:
“I think the feeling is that we had some positive play, but definitely we can lean from some of it. We can improve some things, like speed of play and connecting our passes through and combination play from the backs to midfield to the forward, but I think we are doing great and we’ll be ready for the next game.”
