Defender Carlos Mendes has quietly emerged as one of Major League Soccer's most solid defenders in his second season in the league.
With midfielder Amado Guevara out due to a suspension, Mendes, who is the only Red Bull to have appeared and started in each of the team's 27 games this season, was handed the captain's armband for the first time in his career. Mendes and the Red Bulls shut out the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Saturday night.
"[Head coach] Bruce [Arena] just came up to me and said, 'How do you feel about [being the captain]?' I was excited about it obviously, a bit surprised, but it's a huge compliment," Mendes said.
Mendes has been praised by coaches and players for his vocal leadership in the back, as well as his steady improvement as the season has progressed. The Mineola, N.Y., native, who also leads the team in minutes played (2391), said that he was most pleased with the team earning three points, putting them a point behind Kansas City with a game in hand over the Wizards.
"I think he's been solid back there," said forward Edson Buddle. "I think we've all gotten better each game and he's doing a good job all year."
The bad news for Mendes is that he will miss the Red Bulls' next game against New England, as he is facing a one-game suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the game's 36th minute.
Red Bulls goalkeeper Tony Meola, midfielder Youri Djorkaeff and Guevara are the other players who have served as captain in 2006.
Red Bulls shrug off game's physical nature
It's not every day when you see three red cards given out. In fact, in New York's history, there has been only one time in which there were more than two ejections (the other time being on September 5, 2000, when there were four red cards).
However, with both teams fighting to get into the playoffs with only a few games remaining, the 35 combined fouls and the match's physicality was not unexpected.
"It's what it's going to be on the way out because we have so many games in our conference that we need to be physical and we have to get wins, so everybody is going to be a little bit chippy and you're going to have those sorts of games," said goalkeeper Jon Conway.
Four of the Red Bulls' last five games are against Eastern Conference opponents, with their next match being against the New England Revolution on Wednesday. With New York just one point behind Kansas City for the final playoff spot, the Red Bulls expect more of the same for the rest of the year.
"It was ugly and an ugly way we won, but tomorrow you open the paper, and it's three points," said midfielder Dema Kovalenko. "We're one point away from [fourth-placed] Kansas City and that's the most important thing. It shows our team is coming together and we have good, tight group and we pulled together because we went through adversity. We still fought to the end and we got that goal and it's still feels great."
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