Marlon LeBlanc’s View
How do you feel after this first match?
“I thought first half hour, we were outstanding. And I think for the first half hour, they tried to play with us a little bit, and I think it became really clear that it was probably in their best interest to change the game up a little bit. And they did. They became very direct, played a lot of balls into our penalty area and made it hard with the physicality. They were significantly larger in size, let’s say, compared to us, but look, the resilience of our group was outstanding today.”
What did you think about the atmosphere today?
“I want to thank the fans. First and foremost, really great first game for the men’s team here in club history. And what a fantastic turnout. The hopes are that they see already after first game in club history that they got a team that obviously can compete and win. And so we certainly were very pleased to be able to send them home with three points today and continue to build this. This is about Brooklyn. This is about this community. It’s about giving them a team they can be proud of. And I certainly think our guys did that today.”
How do you feel the team embodies Brooklyn so far?
“I don’t think there’s anybody that would ever disparage the team for rolling up their sleeves and fighting when they need to fight, especially in Brooklyn, right? I thought there were some really wonderful moments of football from us in the first half, and then we had to roll up our sleeves and counterpunch a little bit more in the second half. And look, the message to our group has always been about identity, and our identity is Brooklyn, which means that we’ve got a little bit of flair. A little bit of fun. A little bit of fight. But certainly there’s a lot of passion and pride too. And so I thought the guys were a really fantastic reflection of that.”
What does it mean to start the season with a win?
“I think I said to the guys before, it’s just three points, there’s 29 more games, and it’s a landmark for the club. It’s a landmark obviously, for the team. I don’t want to understate what we’ve done here today. We’re, I think we’re picked to finish second to last in the league, and here we are top of the table on day one, right? And so you love to see it, you’re happy with it, but it’s just three points, and there’s 29 more games to go, plus Cup matches, so we’ll keep it in perspective.I want the guys to enjoy it tonight and have off tomorrow and then just come back and we go back to work again in two days.”
Match Reactions
Juan Carlos Obregon Jr, Forward, #29
How are you feeling now after coming off injured?
“Feeling good. It was just, you know, first match. So just had little tired legs at the end. Thought it was best for, you know, for a teammate, a brother, to come on and finish the game.”
How do you hope to inspire the next generation of BKFC players here in Brooklyn?
“Being from Brooklyn, I was once a kid who would go to stadiums and watch soccer matches. Fortunately, now you know they have a Brooklyn team. You know that they can come in every weekend and and look forward to to watch the game so, you know, just putting myself in their shoes, and I just trying to, you know, be a role model and and inspire them, you know that one day, in the future, they can be in the position that we are now.”
Vuk Latinovich, Defender, #6
How did you feel the defense played today?
“I thought we were controlling the game in the first half. And then they did change it up. They started playing longer balls, which is a strength of theirs. And I thought we dealt with it as best as we could, considering the size difference. But everyone stuck together as a group in the back line, goalie, back four, but even just collectively as a team, we’re fighting for the second balls, every 50/50 we were there. And that’s all you can ask. Everyone just giving their all on the defensive side.”
How has the team been gelling so far and building camaraderie?
“Honestly, since we’ve all been together from day one of preseason, we’ve all gotten to know each other really well, and there’s ups and downs every single day, but we’ve all been trending upwards. I think, as a group, collectively, and the goal is to keep that trend upwards. Yes, there will be ups and downs, but overall, we want to trend up and get the results needed to be a contender in this league. And I think we have the guys to do it, the personalities to do it, the work rate to do it.”
