The New York Red Bulls' Tim Parker will face off against his former club for the first time since being dealt in February.
"I’m excited, you know it’s a place where I started my career, giving me the opportunity to play professional soccer, so it’s going to be nice to go back and see some old friends and teammates," Parker said.
Parker was swapped for Felipe, who spent three seasons with the Red Bulls. Felipe's former teammates know that the midfielder will bring a certain attitude to the match on Saturday night.
Head Coach Chris Armas said he expects Felipe to help out Vancouver leading up to -- and try to identify how the Red Bulls are playing during -- the match.
"He’s obviously going to be up for the game," Armas said. "He’s a pro. He’s going to know and help them out figure what we’re good at, our guys and how we can maybe be exposed.
Armas said he will lean on Parker to do the same on the other side of the ball, to help understand what Vancouver brings and how to match up against them.
"He knows the tendencies, he knows the movements, he knows where these guys like to operate in terms of the attackers," Armas said. "We’ll have Tim speak to the defenders, and when we present some tendencies of the attacking group of Vancouver, Tim will touch on some of those tendencies."
The Red Bulls are already preparing for facing off against Felipe in the middle of the field.
"A lot of fight for sure," Daniel Royer said of his former teammate. "I think, of course they want to win as well, but I think nobody wants to win as bad as he does, and so he will put in everything that he has -- a lot of fight, a lot of mentality, a lot of savviness into trying to win and will do whatever it takes."
The head coach knows, too.
"He’s a competitor," Armas said. "I expect a mature, calculative performance from him because he has shown that in bigger games he’s one of the guys that performs best. He gets control of his emotions, uses it the right way, so I’m sure he’ll do a few fouls and he’ll dish out on them, but I expect him to play great."
