MetroFanatic: Sacha, you've been named captain. How does it feel to replace Dax?
Sacha Kljestan: I'm very proud to be captain. I feel like I've been a natural leader on this team for the past two years anyway. Being a leader on this team is easy for me. Having said all of that, I'm just really proud and hopefully I'll do a really good job representing the coaching staff, representing every member who works for this team, represent my teammates in the right way, and, probably, most importantly, represent the fans in the way they are proud of.

MF: Jesse just said that you don't have to be a superstar. How do you explain that?
SK: I DON'T have to be a superstar?

MF: That's a direct quote, yeah.
SK: Ummmm... I dunno, fine by me. I don't need to be a superstar, I just need to win championships. That's the only thing I want to do. If I can go an entire season without scoring a goal, and at the end of it, we lift a championship, I'm gonna be a happy camper.

MF: Last season, in the playoffs, you missed the penalty kick. That felt like it turned the whole series. If you hit the PK, the series is tied, and we go from there. Was that a learnable moment, or...
SK: Yeah, definitely. I was the first one after that game to stand up and say, listen, I had an opportunity for my team to tie the series and I missed it, and it obviously didn't work out for us. I took that very hard, I took the playoff exit very hard personally. I always feel a big sense of blame when our team is not successful, because I know I'm a key part of the team, and I know when things go well, it's usually because I'm having a good game, and when things don't go well, it's because I wasn't able to give a big enough impact. I put a lot on my shoulders and I accept the responsibility when it is my fault. I feel that at the end of last year I was the first one to put my hand up in the locker room. I wanted to apologize to the guys for missing that penalty. Having said that, if there is a penalty on Wednesday, or any penalty the rest of the season, I'm still ready to stand up and take it.

MF: So you would be the one taking penalties?
SK: Yep.

MF: Let's talk about the national team. How is it different between Bruce and Jurgen? Feel free to burn some bridges, Jurgen is not coming back.
SK: No, thanks. The first cap with Bruce went really well. The game against Serbia wasn't the best game for all of us, it wasn't really an exciting game, we didn't create enough chances. Overall, for the first camp, for everybody to be in with Bruce, to get to know what he was like, for him to get to know us, it was a good three weeks. It was a great feeling within the group. I think he brought back that mentality that we are the US national team. We need to know who we are, and I think we know who we are. I think going forward, we're in good hands.