COLUMBUS - Claudio Reyna figured he'd left frigid conditions behind him when he made the decision to leave Europe and finally play in Major League Soccer. But never in his professional career - not in Manchester, not in Glasgow, not in Leverkusen - did he ever play in conditions like he faced in his MLS debut Saturday night at Crew Stadium.
"I thought I came home for good weather and I didn't get it. It was crazy," Reyna said. "It was as cold as any conditions I've played in a long, long time. In England it's very rare that it gets that cold."
Indeed, the weather conditions were not for the faint of heart. The temperature at kickoff was 30 degrees and that was the high for the night. And the final half-hour saw swirling snow, as well.
But the New York Red Bulls weren't blaming Mother Nature for a season-opening scoreless draw, especially since they had numerous chances to put the ball past second-year goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum in the first half.
"When you get the chances like you do away from home in the first half, its so key to get a goal because then you put the home team immediately under pressure and we just didn't do that," Reyna said.
Reyna, the first Designated Player in the league to step on the field this season, showed the class that made him a regular starter in Europe for the past decade and the U.S. captain in the last two World Cups. He played a great ball to Dema Kovalenko in the opening 90 seconds of the game that Kovalenko smashed well over the crossbar.
Reyna was hampered by a severe charley horse suffered when he collided with teammate Dane Richards in the 23rd minute. As the Red Bulls organization held its collective breath, Reyna laid prone on the ground, grasping his left leg. But moments later both he and Richards rose and the rookie out of Clemson gave Reyna an apologetic hug.
"To be honest it was really sore and its completely swollen up now. It wasn't ideal," Reyna said. "I felt pretty good getting into the game, especially in the first half. As soon as that happened it threw me off and I had to sit back a little more and just help the team defensively. It's disappointing, but I think in four or five days it should be OK. It definitely did affect a little bit running around and passing, because it was my planting foot."
The Crew also made things more difficult on Reyna after the half.
"I thought in the first half we gave Claudio a lot of space and time and when you give a good player time and space, he'll show you exactly how good he is," Columbus coach Sigi Schmid said. "In the second half I thought we did a much better job, we talked about the nearest guy getting to him sooner, making him play it to somebody else. In the second half he had far less of an impact on the game."
It was also the first MLS experience for Ronald Waterreus and the veteran Dutch goalkeeper did well, making five saves to earn the clean sheet. His best stops came in the second half, when Columbus controlled the game. He first stopped former MetroStars wunderkind Eddie Gaven, who made a darting run through the Red Bulls defense, in the 58th minute and then came off his line to stop a charging Andy Herron four minutes later.
"For me, its one big experience. It felt kind of exciting to be over here after thinking about it all that time," Waterreus said. "It was fun. I really enjoyed it. I'm going to be in new places every week, so that's fun, even after all these years playing somewhere. It's always fun to be somewhere you have never been before."
He said the biggest difference playing club soccer here as opposed to Europe is the playing of the national anthem before the game.
"It only happens in Holland if you play an international game," he said. "I think that's fun. Obviously it's a minor thing and for all of you, it's the most normal thing in life, but for me it's different. And I thought she sung it very well, but I'm not the one to judge that."
Waterreus probably should have left Crew Stadium with his first MLS victory, too, had the Red Bulls finished their chances in the first half. In the 34th minute, Kovalenko's volley from 22 yards out was pushed over the bar by Gruenebaum for a corner kick. Six minutes later, Jozy Altidore spun on Rusty Pierce, but Gruenebaum made a kick save. One minute before the half, Altidore headed Dave van den Bergh's corner over the bar.
"At the end of the day, we don't have anything to show for it and it's been too much of a pattern throughout the preseason," Red Bulls boss Bruce Arena said. "We need to do a better job in finishing our chances, of being a little cleaner in the last third of the field to produce plays where the ball ends up in the back of the net."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
