Jozy Altidore sat at his locker Saturday night, trying his best to get his mother, Gisele, off the phone.
"Just give me 10 minutes," he exclaimed, his head down, not realizing the growing media throng that now surrounded his small corner of the Red Bulls locker room.
At that moment, he was like any other 16-year-old who looking to get a ride home from Giants Stadium.
Except this teenager saved the Red Bulls season -- again. His 60th-minute goal lifted the Red Bulls against the Chicago Fire 1-0 and into a tie with Kansas City for the fourth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
But he took all of it in stride; his first MLS start, his third MLS goal and second game-winner at Giants Stadium, a few miles from Newark, N.J., where he was born to Haitian parents.
"This feeling is unbelievable, I'll never get sick of it or used to it," Altidore said. "It's a great feeling to score a game-winning goal for your team and when you're in the need of a win, it's just great."
Altidore's first professional goal came at Giants Stadium, against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 16, an 83rd-minute strike that earned him Sierra Mist Goal of the Week honors. His strike against the Fire wasn't nearly as pretty, but it was vitally important for the Red Bulls.
Danny O'Rourke started the play, slotting the ball to Marvell Wynne on the right. Wynne, the rookie fullback who is "getting better every game," according to Red Bulls head coach Bruce Arena, crossed the ball into the box where Altidore knocked it past goalkeeper Matt Pickens with his left foot for what proved to be the decisive goal.
"He's mature for his age," Wynne said of Altidore. "He's come out here and made a great contribution to the team. I think he's proof when you get on the soccer field, it all goes away and you're just playing the game that you love."
It was a composed performance by the youngest player on the field, something that stuns Arena. But then again, Altidore doesn't know pressure; there wasn't even the usual butterflies associated with his first start. He credits Red Bulls assistant coach John Harkes with putting him in the right mindset before his first start.
"John Harkes told me to go out there, have fun, relax and play," Altidore said. "That's what I just tried to do. It is a big game, we all know that, but we just have to relax and play our game and that's what we did tonight."
Altidore had an idea he'd be in the starting lineup when he trained with the first team Wednesday. The decision was an easy one for Arena, who left an injured Edson Buddle off the team sheet and another option up front, Youri Djorkaeff, was in Armenia on an official visit with French president Jacques Chirac.
Arena expects Djorkaeff to be back at training this week.
"He's certainly a promising prospect," Arena said of Altidore. "I think he's proven to be one of our better attacking players."
But it wasn't all Altidore for Arena, who also lauded Wynne and O'Rourke in a game he called his team's "most consistent" of the season -- although Wynne will miss the Red Bulls next game in a week's time in Colorado after being sent off in the 81st minute for his second bookable offense.
"His speed is certainly his strength and now he's becoming a better soccer player tactically and improving technically," Arena said of Wynne. "He put in a very good cross that created the goal. To me, this was Marvell's best game. He gets better every game."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
