Q & A with Josh Wolff

[AreliusIV]

After the U.S. was eliminated from the World Cup, Soccer365's Lars Lifrak caught up with Josh Wolff and discussed his impressions of the World Cup performance, the loss to Ghana, returning to club soccer and more...

The World Cup has come and gone for Josh Wolff and the United States. It must have been extra frustrating for the Kansas City Wizards forward because he only got 14 minutes of playing time in three games, and all of that came with the United States down 3-0 to the Czech Republic in the first game. In the mayhem of a World Cup post match mixed zone, with players from both the United States and Ghana being mobbed by media around him, Wolff was gracious enough to stop and talk briefly with me about the World Cup and his impressions of how things went for team USA.

365: How tough was the Ghana loss to take?
Josh Wolff: It’s a disappointed group. Obviously it’s a game that we could have won. You’ve got to give them credit, they scored two goals. We just didn’t do enough to score goals. We had some chances but we didn’t pull off the final play in front of goal. Sometimes we weren’t aggressive enough to make the final pass. Italy did their job (beating the Czech Republic) so it would have been nice. We didn’t do enough in front of goal to give ourselves a chance.

365: Do you feel the United States gave a good showing overall; you were in the toughest group.
JW: This was a difficult group going in and we knew it. We put ourselves behind the eight ball in the first game. The performance was very lackluster and we got punished. And today, I think when you make mistakes at this level you get punished and that’s the biggest key.

365: How about you personally? You got in very briefly in the first game and that was it. How does that all feel now that it’s over?
JW: Look the games are difficult, the games will dictate what decisions the coach will have to make in terms of personnel. The first game we were down two and then three to zero. The coaches put guys on there just to try and get a goal and get the goal differential. Second game we were down a guy so you have to put guys out there that are going to hold that tie. This game I would have thought I might have gotten in but he makes the decisions and at the end of the day we had it in front of us and we just couldn’t capitalize.

365: Is it hard now to go back to the club level? You were just playing in the World Cup and now the atmosphere will be very different in the MLS. I know you are a professional but it has to be a little difficult doesn’t it?
JW: Yeah, it will be difficult. You take a little time away I think, sort yourself out a bit. It’s been a long two months. It’s been a long year and a half. We’ve geared ourselves up for the last year and a half. It’s an accomplishment to get here, but obviously we are disappointed to be going home early. It will be tough going back to the club team, but in the end you get through it. That’s what we are paid to do.

365: Thanks Josh.
JW: You bet.