Conference Call With Gulati and Bradley

Listen to the full audio podcast of today's media teleconference call with U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati and U.S. National Team head coach Bob Bradley. Today was their first exposure to the national media following the second-place finish in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Here are some quotes that we thought might interest you:

On Seattle as a host and the opportunity to play on the Fourth of July:
Bob Bradley: “To answer the second part first, it is always special to hear the National Anthem and I think on the Fourth of July there’s a little bit extra there. We are excited to be opening up the Gold Cup; the fact that it’s in Seattle is great in many ways, but as an organization they have done a tremendous job of getting themselves going on the right foot. Their team is very good, fun to watch, I think anybody who has seen any of their games, whether live at Qwest Field or on TV can see the passion their fans have for the team. You see jerseys all over the city. I mentioned earlier that the training facility is first class. They deserve credit for how they went about bringing their team into the league, and I think it’s great that we’re beginning the Gold Cup here.”

On midfielder José Francisco Torres:
Bob Bradley: “José has had a very, very busy schedule with his club team and in discussions we felt that it was important that he have a little bit of a break before things start up again. When we look at all the different factors, certainly the idea that next summer, players will be coming right from their clubs into training camp that leads into the World Cup. You have to make very difficult decisions about whether a player can go a couple years without a break or there’s a need in some cases for a player to have a little bit of a break now before he begins an important stretch.

On what Torres needs to work on to improve and continue to be part of the team:
Bob Bradley: “I think it’s just that he’s a young player. I think Pachuca has done a very good job of developing his talent. If you were to look at the way they have used him in the last couple of years, they have also brought him along at the right speed, and with all that in mind, we look at how he handles things every time he comes into camp. He did have an opportunity this year to have a number of appearances in his first year with the national team, and a number of starts, so I think that is a sign from us in terms of our feeling for what he can do for the national team. With any young player you try to move him along at the right speed—to make decisions about when it’s time to play more, when you need to maybe give it a little more time to see. So we’re in that process, it’s gone well so far and hopefully it will continue to move forward.”

On German-American Jermaine Jones:
Sunil Gulati: “We’ve had pretty regular communication with Jermaine’s representatives and advisors. He has both publicly and privately indicated that he would like to file for an eligibility switch. I think the paperwork for that has probably now been submitted to FIFA and the earliest he would be eligible to move would be the second of August which would be 60 days after the rule change came into effect. After that it comes down to the normal things, the health of the player and Bob’s selection.”

On German-American Jermaine Jones:
Bob Bradley: “From a coaching standpoint, you wait for things to be final. You never know how things go in terms of paperwork and that kind of thing. Once that’s all taken care of, then he will be a player that we can consider and then you take into account the obvious factors that you would with any other player.”