Juan Pablo Angel has heard nothing but good things about Pizza Hut Park and was looking forward to playing on what he is told is arguably the best surface in Major League Soccer.
But the star striker has been ruled out of Saturday's game because of a left hamstring strain and didn't travel with the team to Dallas on Friday.
"I'm still 50-50, trying to get myself right for the game," Angel said on Wednesday. "I had this even before the game against Columbus and I'm desperate to get myself back in the squad. As of now, it's just touch and go."
Angel suffered the injury about two weeks ago, but played the entire 90 minutes and missed a second-half penalty kick in the Red Bulls' season-opening 2-0 victory against the Columbus Crew at Giants Stadium last Saturday.
But the team's leading goal-scorer last season (19 goals in 24 matches), was held out of training this week and will miss his first league game since joining the Red Bulls on a free transfer from Aston Villa last year.
"As far as I know, I'm planning the game without him," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said.
With Angel out, Jozy Altidore, who missed Saturday's opener against Columbus with a bruised knee, would partner with Oscar Echeverry up front. Altidore scored two goals in the opening 45 minutes of a friendly Sunday morning against St. John's University and was second on the club in scoring behind Angel a year ago.
Osorio spent much of the week tweaking his defensive unit trying to find the right combination in the back after center back Jeff Parke was sent off nine minutes from full time after picking up his second bookable offense against the Crew.
When Parke was sent off, Kevin Goldthwaite moved from left back to play centrally, so he's an option. And Carlos Mendes, who didn't feature in the opener at Giants Stadium, could also start in place of Parke.
"That's something I will probably work on extensively ...," Osorio said, "trying to find out what's the best combination going into the Dallas game."
Wherever he plays, Goldthwaite, who was lauded by Osorio as the team's best player against the Crew, is looking forward to getting onto the field at Pizza Hut Park.
"Grass -- that's all you can say is grass is great," Goldthwaite said. "A good surface like at Dallas helps out, seeing as we do like to pass and keep the ball on the ground. Playing in a place like Dallas is nothing but a benefit for us."
Goldthwaite also knows the Red Bulls will have their hands full defensively against a Hoops team that has scored four goals in a pair of draws to open the season.
"I think the best way to defend them is to make sure we're solid in the back and realize they have a big guy up top in Kenny Cooper who is going to battle for 90 minutes and (we need to) really focus for the 90 minutes on keeping a clean sheet," Goldthwaite said.
Cooper isn't the Red Bulls only concern.
"(Arturo) Alvarez is very good in one-v-one situations, Cooper is a good target man, Juan Carlos Toja is a very good midfielder with an eye for distribution," Osorio said. "They have a central midfielder that stays deep and sits in (Pablo) Ricchetti. It will be a tough game I think, but it will be a good game because they like to play football, they are well-coached and it's a big pitch."
And the size of the field should also benefit the Red Bulls, a team that likes to pass the ball around the park.
"A team that likes to play and pass the ball obviously it's going to be a good advantage," Angel said. "They're a good side, especially going forward, and they proved that they score goals. But they've also conceded a few so far. We've got to build up from the game we played already and try to improve on the things we didn't do well last Saturday."
But the Red Bulls will have to do it without Angel for the first time since he's arrived in the United States.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
