New York Red Bulls right back Jan Gunnar Solli was delighted after his side sealed their place in the 2011 MLS playoffs with a 1-0 win over Philadelphia on Thursday night.
Now Solli is switching his mindset to potential opponents in next week's Wild Card match and there’s one team in particular he does not want to face.
“I would not play Colorado,” Solli said on the latest edition of ExtraTime Radio in an interview conducted minutes after the win over the Union. “I think it’s really tough with the altitude and everything else up there. So I am looking forward to playing all the other teams except Colorado.”
The Red Bulls struggled with Colorado this season. New York drew the Rapids 2-2 at home in May and were thumped 4-1 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in July.
No matter who the Red Bulls get, Solli believes the win over Philadelphia came from a huge team effort when it mattered most.
“Everybody’s happy with the performance,” Solli said. “When we needed it most everybody stepped it up and it was a really good team effort tonight. It was the little things that count, the communication was really good and so was the defending and also parts of the passing game were as there supposed to be. Now it’s almost like a restart and everybody’s happy.”
The Norwegian defender created problems for the Union’s defense all night long, his surging run down the right wing and pinpoint cross led to the winning goal from Dane Richards. Now he hopes for a similar performance in their first playoff match.
“All the teams and all the games we play away from home are extremely tough,” Solli said. “The battle needs to be won, then the courage to go into the attack and keep hold of the ball.”
