FRANCE 98 – USA-Yugoslavia – M. Balboa: “People in the USA have shown a lot of interest in soccer and the World Cup”

USA-Yugoslavia – M. Balboa: “People in the USA have shown a lot of interest in soccer and the World Cup”

26.06.98 01h08 CET

Thomas DOOLEY, captain (5):

“We played a good game and we showed we can play good football. Tonight, we deserved to draw. The USA team leaves the World Cup heads held high. We have shown too much respect for other teams throughout the competitiion. We should have attacked more from the start. As for our inability to score, luck wasn’t on our side – four of our shots hit the posts, on another day they would have gone in.”

Marcelo BALBOA (17):

“Once again, as after the games against GERMANY and IRAN, I’m happy with the game we played; but obviously I’m disappointed with the result. We haven’t played the role we should have played in this championship. But I think people in the USA have shown a lot of interest in soccer and the World Cup. The future of soccer in the USA is looking strong.”

David REGIS (6):

“We played without pressure and it nearly worked. We attacked more than YUGOSLAVIA. Unfortunately, they took advantage of our lack of concentration and scored an early goal. I won’t draw personal conclusions even if I’m happy with the game I played in defence, replacing POPE (3) who was injured. I hadn’t had much time to play with my team-mates. We should play better together in the future as I hope to be in the USA Olympic team.”

Cobi JONES (13):

“Once more, our efforts didn’t pay off in this match. YUGOSLAVIA scored an early goal but we weren’t realistic enough with our goal-scoring opportunities. I personally think I played well in this World Cup and I will certainly do my best to play the 2002 World Cup in JAPAN. I’d like to make a career in Europe. I’ve already played for Coventry (ENGLAND) and I’m currently having discussions with three German clubs.”