CARSON, Calif. - One day after receiving his work visa, Juan Pablo Angel donned his New York Red Bulls uniform in a match for the first time.
The former Aston Villa striker made his debut a memorable one as he scored on a free kick in New York's U.S. Open Cup play-in match against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Tuesday.
Even though the goal ultimately had no impact on the final result - the Galaxy led 2-0 at the time and ended up with a 3-1 victory - it left teammates savoring for more.
"He's dangerous. He's active and gets on the end of things," Red Bulls defender Todd Dunivant said. "He got his feet wet and I think you'll see a lot of goals from him."
Angel made a hasty departure from Home Depot Center after the match. Although the team was scheduled to depart from Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, Angel had a separate plane to catch late Tuesday night. Because the match went into extra time and lasted some 40 minutes longer than expected, he was hurriedly whisked away to the airport minutes after the game finished.
"I felt good, and the most important thing now is having more regularity," Angel said. "We have an important game coming up against Colorado at home. It will be my debut at home, and I hope to be better than I was tonight."
But aside from that, Angel has transitioned seamlessly into the squad.
"He's settled into the team really well," captain Claudio Reyna said. "He's been great for the guys and was desperate to play tonight. He had a bit of tight hamstring but he wanted to play."
Angel, 31, has been a top goal scorer in his previous stops. With Aston Villa, Angel had 44 goals since joining the English Premiership side in January 2001. He collected another 55 for Argentinean power River Plate in four years prior to leaving for England.
With his exploits well known among the Red Bull players, it was little surprise then that he would make an immediate impact.
"He comes in and he's a great presence. If anything he takes a bit of pressure off all the players around him," Red Bulls forward Clint Mathis said. "He's got great touch. He holds the ball well. He's always looking to getting in the box. He's great in the air. I'm looking forward to play a bit more with J.P."
Of all the Red Bulls players, though, Reyna has a unique perspective on Angel. Having spent time with English side Manchester City, Reyna has played against Angel in league matches before.
From the start, Angel's pedigree was evident.
"You see his qualities and he's only going to get better," Reyna said. "He hasn't played in a couple of months and he's still settling in as far as his family and all that. It's not easy moving countries and all that. His attitude has been first class and he's going to be a huge asset for us. The whole team is so excited about him finally getting his visa and starting to get minutes with us."
Angel finished the match with seven total shots and six on goal. Aside from his successful free kick, Angel was turned away by Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin the other five times he fired a shot on goal.
"It is hard for me to judge, because I didn't play a full game," Angel said. "I will have a better understanding of the league as I play some full games."
Still, he showed well in his 60 minutes of action.
"For his first game with us, I like what I saw. He got a goal, got a number of goal-scoring opportunities," Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena said. "It was pretty good. He had some other chances. I think he'd love to have a couple of those headers back."
When asked whether Angel would take the majority of set pieces now or if he would start against Colorado on Sunday at Giants Stadium, Arena brushed away the questions.
"We're not ready to sort all that stuff out yet," Arena said.
Angel, though, is now officially a member of the Red Bulls after playing his first official match with the team. The prospect of training with him and playing in matches with Angel on the field is an enticing one for his teammates.
"It's going to be even better when he gets to train with us more and more and learn what the guys like and to learn his tendencies," Mathis said. "I think he's definitely going to be a great asset to our team."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
