There really is little else left to say about USA/England on Saturday. Here’s my story and the breakdown of the match that ran in today’s print edition.
Below are some of the quotes in longer version.
D.C. United assistant coach Ben Olsen, on the matchup and connection between the U.S. and England: “I think where the hype comes from is we’ve got a lot of guys playing over there. I think that more than anything right now, has been the underlying story. This game means so much. Historically, there’s some stuff going on with us and England that you can get into. I’m not a history major, but there was something going on back in the day. So there’s that, too.
“The American players seems to really fit into the English style when they go over there. The majority of our elite players are going over there so it’s great to see. They see us day in, day out over there, and we see them so it’s going to be a great matchup. It’s very exciting to start out this way, too, because it adds a little bit more hype to this whole group.
Olsen, on the prevalence of English coaches in America: “They always had this North American Soccer Camp, they called it when I was growing up. All these English guys came over and told really bad jokes and taught us how to play soccer. We’ve all had English influence in our lives, certainly in the soccer world.”
United goalkeeper Troy Perkins, on the matchup and connection: “I think the connection is really an East Coast, Northeast type of thing. You go out in the Midwest, and no one really cares. But the big connection, all we saw growing up was Manchester United, and then Chelsea over the past five years has really come up here. But it’s the fact that it’s America vs. England. It goes hundreds of years back, and all of the stuff they’re putting in the papers about we’re not a good team. You know what, for them, we’ll never be a good league, we’ll never be a good national team. I just think that in itself is what really gets the fire going underneath American soccer.”
I asked United head coach Curt Onalfo about English coaches, too — he said his was Portuguese…
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