Ben Olsen
Ben Olsen
Benjamin Robert "Ben" Olsenis an American former professional soccer player and the current head coach of D.C. United. Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Olsen grew up playing for FC Delco, an elite club program near Philadelphia. He later attended the University of Virginia, when he was named 1997 Soccer America Player of the Year...
ProfessionSoccer Player
Date of Birth3 May 1977
CityHarrisburg, PA
belong cup prove
Everybody's here to prove that they belong on the World Cup team.
against atmosphere bit builds character excited games good redeem remembered saw taste type win
It's going to be loud, it's going to be festive, it's going to be fun. When you look back at your career, these type of games are going to be remembered -- the trip, the fans, everyone against you. If you can win in a good atmosphere like that, it builds a lot of character for a team. I'm excited to see how we respond. We saw it in the Pumas game, so we got a taste of it, and we're champing at the bit to redeem ourselves.
beat beautiful maybe passion rivalry side stuff team
It's just D.C.-MetroStars stuff -- that's how they all are and that's how it's going to be. That's the beautiful side of a rivalry -- it's heated, there's passion and maybe you want to beat them more than another team because it's such a heated rivalry.
far freddy learned maybe
It's done as far as I'm concerned. Freddy maybe learned a lesson. He said some stuff, he got punished, and now it's done.
team
You look at their lineup and it's a whole different team. It's a team you know you have to respect.
decisions facing game hard lessons manage overtime sudden wrong
The way we manage the game has to be better. Those were some hard lessons -- hard ones to swallow. When you do something wrong at this level, all of a sudden you're in overtime and facing PKs down a man. Some of the decisions we made were not good; it's that simple.
coach couple finding guys heavy offensive team teams together wants
I think we're benefiting from having this team together for a couple of years now. Having a lot of those guys back, especially early, when other teams are still finding themselves, it's a thrill. We'll see what coach wants to do. We're a heavy offensive team.
besides buried feels fourth gave goal good kept months nine playing question score screwed third though took
It always feels good to score the first one -- even though it took me nine months to get it, ... We just screwed up on the goal we gave up. Besides that, it was good soccer. We kept playing well and today, finally, we buried a team. That's what we have been missing. Once we had the lead, the question was, could we get that third goal, could we get that fourth goal? We did it.
again dealt goal score seeing smile special
He's dealt with a lot. To see him smile again after seeing him score a goal is a special moment.
dealt goal last score seeing special year
He's dealt with a lot in the last year and a half. Just seeing him score a goal was a special moment.
bubble fill gets guy healthy injury knows needs obviously people realistic several spots trouble trying
I'm trying to be realistic about this thing and I'm obviously a bubble player. Where I am on that bubble is up to Bruce. If people don't get healthy and he needs a guy who can play in several positions, he knows I can fill in those spots if he gets into injury trouble with the other guys.
against best chance entire focus gets guy hang league minutes plays sudden
He plays very well against us every time, and he's a handful. He's one of the best forwards this league has ever seen, and he's going to do what he does. We need to not give him chances, and be aware, because he's a guy who can hang out for 30 minutes or 80 minutes, and then all of a sudden he gets that one chance and you're down 1-0. We need to focus on him the entire game.
explosive fit knows local might player type
He's an explosive type of player who might fit in with this team. He's a local boy, so he knows how to get to practice.
biggest deal goals guys kept league remind
I kept having to remind the guys that I had scored goals in this league before, ... They all thought it was the biggest deal in the world for me.