By AVI CREDITOR
After a light training session ahead of Wednesday's friendly with D.C. United, Clarence Seedorf was among the few AC Milan players that met with the media before departing RFK Stadium for the day.
Brazilian snubs Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato were not made available to the media, which was instructed to not bring up the World Cup if speaking to the Selecao stars.
Seedorf, however, did not hold back on a few topics, including how the team can get motivated for a friendly in the United States after a long, trophy-less season.
"We're not motivated," the 34-year-old Dutch international said. "We are professionals, and we're going to try to entertain the people, and that's the most important thing. Motivation is low because it's the end of the season, and we don't have anything else to play for except the people.
"You won't see the best of the best in this game. To do that you need to be in Europe during the season when everybody's top fit and highly motivated. This is an exhibition game to give the people a chance to see AC Milan up close. The people know exactly what type of players we are and the level of AC Milan normally, but expectations shouldn't be too high."
He also touched on topics like AC Milan teammate Oguchi Onyewu and his thoughts about potentially joining Major League Soccer:
About Onyewu as a player:
"We haven't trained together that much unfortunately, but enough. Oguchi has a future. He has the right mentality."
About Onyewu agreeing to play a season for AC Milan without pay:
"This says a lot about the person, and I think he's a great person and a great athlete with great potential. He just needs time to adapt himself well and grow, but somebody who wants to learn like him will grow fast."
About if he would join MLS:
"I generally consider all options in life, but at this point, it's not an option. But you have to keep doors open always."
About kicking off AC Milan's American tour:
"It's good to be here. It's always good to be back in the States. It's a nice stadium, good pitch, I'm happy."
About AC Milan's potentially tumultuous offseason:
"We've got a lot of things going on, but its not our headache for the moment. The club is running those issues."
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D.C. United officials said that 22,000 tickets are already sold for Wednesday night's contest, with more walk-up sales anticipated.
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Aside from Seedorf, Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato, other players on AC Milan's roster for its tour include Mathieu Flamini, Filippo Inzaghi, Alessandro Nesta, Massimo Ambrosini and Dida, The team's summer tour also includes matches with the Chicago Fire and Montreal Impact.
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What do you make of Seedorf's comments? Will you be attending any of AC Milan's matches in North America?
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