It was clear, based on the number of jerseys sporting the royal blue and burgundy of FC Barcelona, that many of the 79,002 in attendance at a sold-out Giants Stadium on Saturday night were there to see Ronaldinho and his teammates work their magic.
For the first 20 minutes or so of the game, so were the New York Red Bulls, Barcelona's opposition on the night.
After an initial onslaught that resulted in a penalty kick converted by Ronaldinho in the 18th minute, the Red Bulls stopped stargazing and started playing soccer, pulling level with a goal just before halftime through Youri Djorkaeff. While Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Javier Saviola all scored second-half goals for a 4-1 final score, the Red Bulls acquitted themselves well against the reigning European champions in Bruce Arena's first official match as head coach.
Early on, the Blaugrana dominated completely with their class nearly resulting in a goal in only the fourth minute. A Ronaldinho corner was headed past Tony Meola but midfielder Chris Henderson was in proper position on the post to play it away.
In the 15th minute Barça attacked again with Samuel Eto'o streaking down the right side of the field. His shot, however, ended up safely in Meola's hands.
The orange-clad Spanish side finally cracked the scoreboard in the 18th minute when Eto'o broke free behind rookie right back Marvell Wynne. Wynne, despite being a good 10 yards behind the Cameroonian international, tracked Eto'o down and nearly took the ball away but was whistled for the foul as he slid to tackle from behind. Ronaldinho, as flash bulbs popped all over the stadium, fired home the first goal from the spot despite Meola getting a hand on it.
The goal might have snapped the Red Bulls out of their initial fascination as the home side started to take the game to the UEFA Champions League holders.
In the 30th minute Edson Buddle found himself alone just outside of the penalty area and fired hard at Victor Valdes, but the Spanish 'keeper pushed the shot over the crossbar.
The Red Bulls would find the magic combination, though, in the 38th minute. New Red Bulls signing Dema Kovalenko dispossessed Ronaldinho in the midfield and found Buddle alone in the box. Buddle's shot from a tight angle to the right of the goal was deflected slightly by Valdes but the rebound was easily tapped into the open net by Djorkaeff.
After the break, and with the game tied 1-1, Barcelona came out looking to take the action to the Red Bulls and put the game away.
Just two minutes into the second half, Ronaldinho found space down the left side of the field and took the ball into the box, did a complete 360, put his defender on his back and shot to Conway's left. Conway, having only entered the game at halftime, was up to the challenge though, and pushed the shot out to the left.
The Spanish league champions would not be denied just three minutes later when halftime substitute and teenage Argentinean international Messi raced behind fellow substitute Seth Stammler on the right side. He faked to the right to get past a sliding Conway and centered to the middle to find Ronaldinho all alone in front of a wide open net.
Messi put home the next Barça goal when he decided to do all of the work on his own in the 63rd minute. Messi took an Eidur Gudjohnsen pass into a one-on-one situation with Conway, forced Conway to the ground with a left-footed fake and then easily slotted home after rounding Conway to the right.
Saviola finished off the scoring in the 87th minute when he found himself one-on-one against Conway with an assist from Messi, the teenager's second assist of the night, and slotted the ball home to Conway's right.
The fans, though, got what they came to see on Saturday night and when Ronaldinho was substituted off in the 76th minute, the same flashbulbs returned along with a standing ovation.
The 79,002 in attendance was the second-most ever at Giants Stadium to see a soccer match involving club teams. On July 31, 2004, 79,005 people saw Manchester United down Juventus 4-1. The attendance trumped the largest ever to see an MLS-related match at Giants Stadium. The previous high was 78,416 to see the MLS All-Star Game in 1996, the inaugural year of the league.
New York returns to league action on Wednesday when they host Eastern Conference leading D.C. United, Arena's former charges, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Giants Stadium.
Danny Polinsky is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
