SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the importance of scoring an early goal amidst starting lineup changes:
“For me it doesn’t matter what’s going on, if you can get a goal early like that, it’s great. We played pretty good after that, like the next 15 minutes I thought we were looking pretty sharp. And then they were playing pretty direct and pretty physical and we couldn’t really keep hold of the ball. We were trying a little bit too much. But I thought we held together pretty good. Obviously their goal comes off of us falling asleep on a set piece and a good strike by Ricardo Clark. But I thought the second half we came out with a good response and played some good stuff.”
On what he told the team at halftime after conceding a late first-half goal:
“We had a good conversation. I asked for them to be concentrating at all times, not fall asleep – to be ready for a real hard game, especially in the middle of the field with so many second balls kind of falling inside there. And just to be a little more simple with our passing. We pass and move, I think it makes it a little bit easier for us. The second goal was definitely indicative of that. I mean, we can’t play like that all the time, but it sure was a pretty goal. But one thing we said at halftime was, let’s pass and move and play the simple one, because sometimes it really helps us out.”
On the goals by Alberto Quintero and Anibal Godoy and the assists by Chris Wondolowski:
“It was nice to see Alberto [Quintero] get rewarded. He puts in such a large amount of work out there. I think Anibal [Godoy] is such a good player. His goal was real nice. It’s nice to see Chris [Wondolowski] kind of turn provider. Two good assists by him, really good awareness. But the Panamanian guys seemed to hook up pretty good. I know it was Mexican Heritage Night, but obviously the Panamanians kind of shone bright for us, which was nice to see.”
On the play of Simon Dawkins:
“He’s getting more comfortable, I think he’s getting fitter and stronger. You see him on the ball, he has a real nice first touch and his movement in tight spaces is really good. I thought, like I said earlier, that we were finding his feet a lot in that first 10, 15, 20 minutes and that was really good for us. Then we started playing a little bit too direct and we were kind of missing out on him. But I think the more he got the ball, obviously he calmed things down for us and he made a lot of good decisions for us.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER ANIBAL GODOY
On the win:
“It was a tough match. We had to get points at home. We made an effort to control the ball and we did that. It was a great performance from our midfield. Simon [Dawkins], [Alberto] Quintero, Matias [Perez Garcia] and Fatai [Alashe] helped set the tone of this match by their play and helped the team get the three points.”
On Alberto Quintero’s brace:
“He deserved it. He is a hard-working man and I am so happy for him. I’m happy to see his importance to this team. With his play, goals will come and tonight he earned those two goals. I’m proud of him.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER ALBERTO QUINTERO
On his brace:
“I think the team played well. We knew we had to coming off a loss. At home, we have to believe that we will get points every game. I’m extremely fortunate to have had the performance I had today, but I’m also especially proud of Anibal. To have us both score in the same match made tonight special. We have that connection from playing on the Panamanian National Team, but this was a team effort.”
On midfield lineup:
“We know Simon (Dawkins) is a special talent at center midfield. Matias [Perez Garcia] plays so well on the ball and having him from the start of the match helped us out. We will only get better off of this performance.”
