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LA Galaxy defeat Chicago Fire, 2-1

Quotes from Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jonathan dos Santos. Photos by Robert Mora, Bailey Holiver, and Stephanie Romero.

By LA Galaxy

March 3^rd, 2019

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GUILLERMO BARROS SCHELOTTO

On the importance of winning the season opener:

“To be honest, it is a great feeling to have won, and slowly begin to build confidence, the fans, the team, the players, I think that is very good.”

On the fans support tonight:

“It was very good. The fans cheered and supported throughout the whole game. It’s a great joy to be able to have these fans every game and I hope that our next home game against [Minnesota] at home we are able to fill the stadium and make it a fortress.”

On his plans with Efrain Alvarez:

“The plan, at times, is not easy because many times the team has its needs, and the growth of a player has it’s own. But we are going to work throughout the week and every day to give Efrain [Alvarez] the possibility to grow, give the team a possibility to have a player like Efrain [Alvarez] and for the team not to drawback from having to help Efrain [Alvarez] grow because he is 16 years old, but for it to be a situation where the team, just like Efrain [Alvarez], can benefit from each other.”

On main takeaways from today’s game:

“Today’s win is very good for our confidence. And also if you review the game we did what I like and what we are working towards – creating the plays, building on the attack, creating chances on goal. In other parts of the game that was not the case. I believe that we were okay and maybe we didn’t have the same level of play and intensity for the full 90 minutes but we did on many occasions and maybe the challenge now as we play more games is that we create those situations more during games and that we play on the opposing times half of the field longer.

LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER JONATHAN DOS SANTOS

“Getting the victory at home on the first game is very important for the team’s confidence. It’s true we have a lot of things we need to improve but I think the team looked solid. They also didn’t have many chances on goal, but I think this is an important step to start the season.”

LA GALAXY FORWARD ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC

On Efrain Alvarez’s influence on the game:

“Efra, he had a good game. He’s full of confidence. But, he’s only 16-years-old, you forget his age. I said yesterday when I was talking to the media, I think he’s the best talent in MLS by far. The club, the team, the coach have to take care of him in the right way. He needs to work hard. He needs to focus and don’t lose the focus because of the hype, just continue to work. The [club] can help him a lot just like the team because he’s young, he’s talented and it’s easy to lose focus. He’s a good kid. He works hard and he listens.”

On the new season:

“I think the three points is what we wanted, but it’s the first game. We get a quick injury from Romain and I had something after 10 years I had to work with the whole game. Other players are not 100 percent. This is the season, the season started now. We have to work. Not everything is 100 percent in the beginning, so slowly we will get to where we want, but we worked hard and the three points today is massive.”

On the goal:

“I was unlucky with the situation before, but I chased it. I think the goalkeeper made a good save or I did a bad finish, you judge that but it came afterwards. I think Chris did a fantastic action. I knew he would hit the post and it would bounce straight to me.”

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