The tackling was tough, the tension high. It was clear based on the New York Red Bulls training session Thursday that the season is on the line come Saturday night.
"Training was good today," Red Bulls midfielder Dema Kovalenko said. "It's been very feisty, a lot of arguing."
And that, defender Carlos Mendes said, is a good sign.
"If it's uptight and everyone's competing, that means the weekend will be good," he said.
The scenario couldn't be any simpler for the Red Bulls. A win against Kansas City sends the Red Bulls into the playoffs. A Wizards win or a draw means K.C. clinches the fourth and final spot in the Eastern Conference. D.C. United awaits the winner.
If this sounds familiar to New York fans, it is. Last year, the MetroStars needed a win at Chivas USA on the final day of the regular season to book their ticket into the postseason. They did just that, thanks to a Michael Bradley header and an insurance goal by Amado Guevara.
"We'd like to be sitting back and seeing who we're going to play next," Mendes said. "But it's still in our hands and we have to come out ready to play. Since we're home, if we stay patient, we'll open them up and get chances."
There are a few positives for the Red Bulls. The team has already won a pair of critical games down the stretch -- beating Columbus and Chicago at home. And they own a 7-3-5 record at Giants Stadium this year.
"It's our home field and we just have to come out and take it to them," Kovalenko said. "We have to be smart and take our chances but we don't have to change for them, they have to change for us. We play home and we're going to take the game to them."
The negative? The scenario for Kansas City plays right into their strength. Needing just a tie to go through, the Wizards can sit back and get their opportunities on counters, which is probably how they were going to play anyway.
"I think the key for us is being patient," Mendes said. "We don't have to go out and score in the first 10, 15 minutes. We have to play our game and just stay patient. We're going to open it up and get opportunities."
Anything less than a win ends the storied 22-year professional career of French World Cup champion Youri Djorkaeff. A year removed from being named the team's MVP, the 38-year-old Djorkaeff has struggled with his health and has missed several games because of personal reasons. He missed a month of the season to visit his ill mother in France, becoming the center of worldwide controversy when he was caught watching France take on Brazil in the World Cup in Germany.
Djorkaeff also didn't play in the Red Bulls' last two games, missing the Colorado match with bursitis in his right knee and the Chicago game because he was on an official visit to Armenia with French president Jacques Chirac.
But Djorkaeff will play Saturday and he'll do so with his mother in the stadium, possibly for the first time.
"Maybe my first game," Djorkaeff told NewYorkRedBulls.com. "The family is very special to me and my mom promised me that she would come to the stadium. This would be unique for me because after what happened in July, for her to travel again, to come to America to watch her son play, it will be very great."
In three meetings this year with Kansas City, the Red Bulls have won one game and the other two ended in draws.
"They know they need to win the game, obviously," Red Bulls boss Bruce Arena said of his team. "It's a 90-minute game, they have to be smart, they've got to pick their spots and attack and still do a good, solid job defensively. A fatal error would be to get behind early in the game."
It's been a difficult week for Arena, whose close friend and former U.S. national team assistant coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick die of a heart attack Monday in Colorado.
"I'll be thinking about him," Arena said of Myernick, who he visited in the hospital four times before he died. "This has obviously been a difficult week for everyone who has known Glenn and certainly for his family, first and foremost. They lost a great person and so did soccer in this country."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
