RED BULLS KICK OFF HOMESTAND VS. FC DALLAS: After playing two consecutive West Coast games, the New York Red Bulls start a two-game homestand this Saturday, when they take on FC Dallas at the brand-new Red Bull Arena at 7:30 PM ET (TV: MSG; Radio: WADO 1280 AM). For tickets, call the Red Bulls at 1.877.RBSOCCER or log onto www.newyorkredbulls.com.
New York is coming off its first loss of the season after dropping a 2-0 decision at the hands of Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center Saturday afternoon. Despite the defeat, the Red Bulls remain in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1-0 record and six points, tied with the Kansas City Wizards and the New England Revolution.
The Red Bulls look to get back to their winning ways against FC Dallas, which has started the season 0-0-2. It looked as if the Hoops would lose their first game of the season when they were down, 2-1, against the Columbus Crew at Pizza Hut Park last Saturday, but a 93rd minute equalizer by Eric Avila secured a point for the hosts. Jeff Cunningham, the 2009 MLS Golden Boot winner with 17 goals, opened the scoring for FC Dallas in the 29th minute before the Crew’s Adam Moffat and Guillermo Barros Schelotto gave Columbus the lead in the second half. FC Dallas opened the season with a 1-1 tie against the Houston Dynamo on March 27. Saturday’s match will be the Hoops’ first road game of 2010.
New York is 16-16-2 all-time against FC Dallas and went 1-1-0 against its Western Conference rival last season. On July 4 at Pizza Hut Park, FC Dallas got two goals from Cunningham within the space of three minutes in the first half to earn the three points. Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel scored later in the interval for the visitors. Angel and the Red Bulls were able to extract revenge on Aug. 23 at Giants Stadium, defeating FC Dallas, 3-2, behind an Angel brace and Dane Richards strike. Angel, who scored the match-winner in the 88th minute, broke Giovanni Savarese’s club record for regular season goals scored (41). New York is 9-8-1 at home against FC Dallas and won the last three encounters in New Jersey.
RED BULLS DROP ONE TO CHIVAS: The New York Red Bulls lost their first game of the 2010 MLS season, falling to Chivas USA, 2-0, Saturday afternoon at The Home Depot Center. After a scoreless first half, Chivas USA went ahead for good on an own goal by New York goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul. Jesus Padilla also tallied a goal in second half stoppage time to give Chivas the three points.
Chivas earned the first scoring opportunity of the match when Jonathan Bornstein won the ball on the left wing 10 minutes in and whipped in a cross that Chukwudi Chijindu volleyed over the bar. Eight minutes later, Macoumba Kandji got a weak header goal bound off a Joel Lindpere corner, but the Chivas defense was able to clear. Bornstein nearly got a goal for himself, nodding Sacha Kljestan’s free kick delivery high.
Kandji had another good opportunity to put New York - which had a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks during the first half - in front in the 32nd minute, again getting a Lindpere feed and putting it over the bar. Moments before the break, Bornstein rifled a left-footed attempt high, before Chijindu arguably had the best chance of the interval soon after, when he got free on the left side of the penalty box and curled a shot just past the right post.
Chivas took the lead on two minutes into the second half. Padilla had space at the top of the box and hit a shot that bounced off the inside of the right post. Coundoul tried to get his hands on the rebound, but he deflected it into his own net. It was the first goal in three regular season games that the Red Bulls conceded.
The Red Bulls looked to tie the game in the 64th minute, as Jeremy Hall found Juan Pablo Angel in the box and the forward headed high. With 16 minutes left, Kandji crossed it to Salou Ibrahim, who made his MLS debut after signing with the club Friday, but the forward couldn’t get a strong shot off and it went wide. Later, substitute Tony Tchani headed down a Tim Ream free kick. Angel slid in, but Chivas goalkeeper Zach Thornton was first to the ball and punched it out of danger.
Padilla sealed the result for the hosts, latching onto a Thornton long ball and raced towards goal, before blasting a shot past Coundoul and into the net.
RED BULLS FACE PHILLY IN U.S. OPEN CUP: The Red Bulls will host MLS expansion side, Philadelphia Union, on Tuesday, April 27 at 8:00 PM at Red Bull Arena in a preliminary round match of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament. For more information or to purchase tickets, which are priced at $15 each and located in the Arena's 100 Level, please call 1.877.RBSOCCER or log onto www.newyorkredbulls.com.
New York won a coin toss to earn the right to host this match-up. Should the Red Bulls advance, they will host the New England Revolution at Red Bull Arena in the next round on May 12 at 8:00 PM ET. Ticket information will be released for that match at a later date should the Red Bulls advance.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is an annual national competition that is open to all amateur and professional soccer teams that are affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest tournament in the U.S., beginning in 1914 when Brooklyn Field Club took home the very first title. MLS teams were first included in the tournament in the inaugural 1996 season.
The team’s best finish in the competition came in 2003 with New York losing, 1-0, to the Chicago Fire on Oct. 15 at Giants Stadium. New York dispatched three league opponents on its way to the final with a combined score of nine goals after posting a 4-0 shutout over the Mid Michigan Bucks of the PDL.
New York has fared slightly better against non-league opponents, with a record of 7-6 compared to 7-7 against other Major League Soccer teams. In competition openers, New York has gone 1-1 against MLS sides, beating the San Jose Earthquakes last year in the Red Bulls’ 2-1 victory on April 29. The Red Bulls were eliminated from the tournament when they lost to D.C. United, 5-3, on May 20 at RFK Stadium. New York has reached the quarterfinals six of the seven times it has progressed past its opening match.
RED BULLS SIGN IBRAHIM: Red Bull New York announced on April 9 that it signed forward Salou Ibrahim. Per club and League policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ibrahim made his MLS debut on April 10, coming on in the 54th minute for Seth Stammler in the team’s 2-0 loss to Chivas USA.
“Salou is an athletic and physical forward who will immediately improve our team,” said Red Bull New York General Manager and Sporting Director Erik Soler. “He was impressive during his time training with the team and we are excited to bring him on board.”
The Red Bulls also waived Ernst Oesbter.
Soler added, “We spoke with Ernst and we mutually decided that it was in both his and the club’s interest to part ways. We want to thank Ernst for his effort during his time here.”
Ibrahim, who started and played 67 minutes in the Red Bulls’ 3-1 exhibition win over Santos FC at Red Bull Arena on March 20, began his career playing for German club TuS Wandsbek 81 in 1998. In 2000, he signed for FC Turnhout in Belgium, where he stayed for four seasons, making 50 appearances and scoring 29 goals. During the 2003-04 season, Ibrahim scored 16 goals in 26 appearances for FC Turnhout before signing with KV Kortrijk of the Belgian Second Division in 2004.
One season later, Ibrahim moved on to S.V. Zulte-Waregem in the Belgian First Division, scoring nine goals in 29 league appearances (14 goals in all competitions) and helping the club to the 2006 Belgian Cup. He then was signed by fellow Belgian First Division side, Club Brugge in 2006. In two seasons with the club, Ibrahim appeared in 46 Belgian First Division matches, scoring five goals. He also helped the club capture the 2007 Belgian Cup. In 2008, he moved to MSV Duisburg of the German Second Division and later played for Vejle Boldklub of the Danish Superliga, before joining the Red Bulls.
Oebster joined the Red Bulls on July 16, 2009. He played in three games, starting in two.
KILLER D: After starting the first two games without conceding a goal, the Red Bulls finally let one in 227 minutes into the season after goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul’s own goal against Chivas USA on April 10 in a 2-0 loss. It is the best shutout run to start the season since 2007, when the Red Bulls had a MLS-record 421-minute streak.
The Red Bulls, who went 7-0-3 in preseason, conceded just four goals in those 10 matches. The last time New York opened the season with two consecutive clean sheets was in 2007 – a 0-0 tie at Columbus and a 3-0 win over FC Dallas. It was in 2004 when New York last started the year with two-straight wins (the club also accomplished this in 1999).
RED BULLS, CONTINENTAL PARTNER UP: Red Bull New York announced April 9 that Continental Airlines will be an Official Sponsor of Red Bull New York and Red Bull Arena – the team’s new 25,000-seat stadium in Harrison, NJ. Continental Airlines will also be the team’s exclusive airline sponsor.
“We are excited to announce our new partnership with Continental Airlines,” said Red Bull New York Managing Director Erik Stover. “Continental Airlines is one of the world’s elite airlines and we expect that this will be the beginning of a long-lasting relationship between Red Bull New York and Continental."
“We are very pleased to be able to partner with the Red Bulls,” said Mark Bergsrud, Senior Vice President of Marketing Programs for Continental Airlines. “The sponsorship will enable us to build upon our existing platforms within the community. Their impressive new facility offers a great environment to talk more directly to our core customers about our product and extensive service out of the New York area."
In addition to traditional sponsorship elements, the agreement includes joint marketing fan promotions and access to a variety of exclusive Red Bull experiences made available to Continental’s OnePass® members on the OnePass Auction Website.
RED BULL ACADEMY HOLDING TRYOUTS: The New York Red Bulls Academy is now accepting applications for the 2010 tryouts which will be held in May/June.
The Red Bulls Academy will be looking for the top players in the Tri State area in the following birth years:
· 1997
· 1996
· 1995/1994
· 1993/1992
The New York Red Bulls are the only club in the Tri-State area affiliated with an MLS team. Throughout the year select players will also be invited to train with the professional team. Juan Agudelo and Giorgi Chirgadze have recently graduated straight from the Red Bulls Academy and signed professional contracts with the Red Bulls first team.
The Academy is a no cost program. Each player is fully funded by the Red Bulls. This includes:
· All coaching fees
· Practice and game day gear
· Travel (air fares, buses, etc.)
· Accommodations
· Food
· International Trips
· Season Ticket at Red Bull Arena
The Red Bull Academy currently has three players in the prestigious US U-17 MNT Residency Program in Bradenton, FL. Goalkeeper Keith Cardona and Agudelo recently graduated Residency after the 2009 U-17 FIFA World Cup in Nigeria. In addition, 14 other members of the Academy have made up the U.S. U-14, U-15 and U-18 National Teams during 2009/2010.
To register for a tryout or for more information on the Red Bulls Academy visit www.redbullsacademy.com/academy.
SOLO FUTBOL AIRS SUNDAY: Red Bulls WADO 1280 AM and 92.7 FM announcers Ernesto Motta and Robert Sierra host their weekly call-in radio show, Solo Futbol, on Sunday night from 8-11 PM on WADO 1280 AM. Motta, Sierra and their panel of experts and guests analyze the Beautiful Game and the New York Red Bulls, as they start for their upcoming MLS season.
