April 24, 2009 MLS Toronto FC story on Marco Velez (from Toronto FC.ca)
Velez pleased to get chance
Defender hopes to stay in team
04/24/2009 02:06 PM
By Toronto FC / TorontoFC.ca
Toronto FC defender Marco Velez hopes his performance against Chivas USA will help him earn another start when the Reds face Kansas City Wizards at BMO Field on Sunday (kick off 5:00 p.m. live on GOLTV)
Velez returned to the side for the win over Chivas on Wednesday and made his second start of the season. "It felt good," he said. "I've been working hard in training so that I would be ready when I got the chance and it was great to be out there competing in front of the fans. I knew what I needed to do and was ready for the challenge so I just tried to go out and do the simple things right." The Puerto Rico international started 23 games in his rookie season in MLS last year, but before Wednesday had only started in the 1-1 tie at Columbus Crew.
After four games without a win, Velez admits the victory over Chivas was much needed. "We knew as a team that we had to come out and perform well. We knocked the ball around well and played good football. It made it hard for them to pressure us because we were moving the ball around quickly. We went out there with three strikers and really went for a win from the start."
The defender knows the team must produce another strong performance to get a positive result against a Kansas City side sitting top of the Eastern Standings after a win against New York Red Bulls last night. "We know what they've got and we beat them earlier this season when we played them in the opening game so we've just got to go out there and play in the same way we did on Wednesday," explained Velez.
.
.