FC Dallas found immediate success on their training trip to Brazil, the New England Revolution enjoyed a nice fiesta in Mexico and the New York Red Bulls stumbled while meeting some friendly rivals in Austria as MLS preseason play took on an international flavor Monday.
FC Dallas 2, J. Malucelli 1
FC Dallas used first-half goals from Kenny Cooper and Bobby Rhine to top Brasileiro Série C side J. Malucelli in Curitiba on Monday as the Hoops enjoyed a successful start to their preseason trip to Brazil.
Playing in a 3-4-3 formation, the Hoops found multiple scoring chances early, breaking through in the 16th minute when Cooper took a cross from Pablo Ricchetti on the left side behind the last Malucelli defender and coolly lifted the ball over the Brazilian 'keeper's head for Dallas' first goal.
The Brazilian side evened things up in the 31st minute when Malucelli forward Oliveira headed home a corner to knot the game at 1-1. The tie did not last long though, as Brazilian native Ricardinho, active throughout the first half on scoring chances, took a feed from Abe Thompson on the left side of the penalty area then threaded the ball across the goalmouth to Rhine, who easily found the back of the net to give the Hoops the lead for good.
FCD head coach Steve Morrow was happy with his squad's activity near the goal in the first half and increased endurance.
"It was a good workout, and good to start off the trip with a good win as well," Morrow said. "It could have been a little more convincing; we had a lot of good opportunities to get some goals today, the finishing will get better as the preseason goes along.
"We're starting to build up now, trying to get the guys through 90 minutes. One or two guys are not quite there yet, but we got six guys through 90 [minutes] today, which was important."
FC Dallas Lineup (3-4-3): Dario Sala (Ray Burse 46), Drew Moor, Duilio Davino (Aaron Pitchkolan 75), Adrian Serioux, Bobby Rhine (Michael Dello-Russo 75), Marcelo Saragosa, Pablo Ricchetti (Anthony Wallace 68), David Wagenfuhr, Kenny Cooper, Abe Thompson, Ricardinho (Dominic Oduro 68).
New England Revolution 4, Pioneros de Cancun 1
Khano Smith put on a show, notching two goals and an assist as he starred in the New England Revolution's 4-1 victory against Mexican Segunda Division side Pioneros de Cancun on Monday in Cancun.
Pioneros struck early, beating Revs 'keeper Brad Knighton on a low shot in the second minute to take a 1-0 lead, but New England quickly struck back, using goals from Smith in 11th and 27th minutes to go ahead 2-1.
The Revs extended the lead to 3-1 just before the half off the foot of Taylor Twellman, who played his first match of the preseason. Smith found Twellman unmarked behind the Pioneros defense off a free kick in the 45th minute with a one-touch effort from the star striker resulting in an easy goal.
The scoring opportunities slowed down after Revs coach Steve Nicol's second-half substitutions, but New England added one more goal in the 84th minute, as Kenny Mansally tallied his fifth score of the preseason with a first-time effort off a feed from Gambia U-20 teammate Sainey Nyassi.
New England Revolution: Brad Knighton (Doug Warren 46), Sebastian Enok, Michael Parkhurst, Jay Heaps (Sam Brill 62), Chris Albright (Gary Flood 46), Khano Smith, Shalrie Joseph (Joe Franchino 46), Jeff Larentowicz (Kyle Helton 46), Wells Thompson (Amaechi Igwe 46), Taylor Twellman (Sainey Nyassi 46), Kenny Mansally
Red Bull Salzburg Juniors 1, New York Red Bulls 0
A second half goal by forward Stanislav Vasilj was the difference in Salzburg as the Red Bull Salzburg Juniors edged the New York Red Bulls 1-0 in the "battle of the Bulls."
New York came out of the gate firing, with Juan Pablo Angel, Claudio Reyna and Jose Mendoza combining on a pair of near-scoring opportunities in the early minutes. Salzburg showed some aggressiveness as well, as New York 'keeper Jon Conway had to come up with a pair of tough saves on midfielder Ernst Obster the 21st and 40th minutes.
Salzburg finally broke through in the 70th minute with the game's only goal, as Vasilj deflected a free kick from 30 yards out past New York 'keeper Zach Thornton for the game-winning goal.
New York still nearly tied the game in the 82nd minute despite being man down, but Jerrod Laventure's header attempt off a feed from Sinisa Ubiparipovic went straight at the Salzburg 'keeper.
New York Red Bulls (first half): Jon Conway; Kevin Goldthwaite, Jeff Parke, Carlos Mendes, Jose Mendoza, Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh, Dane Richards (Luke Sassano 14), Claudio Reyna, Oscar Echeverry, Juan Pablo Angel
(second half): Zach Thornton; Scott Palguta, Eric Brunner, Chris Leitch, Danleigh Borman, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Lider Marmol, Luke Sassano, Mike Magee, Jerrod Laventure, John Wolyniec
Red Bull Salzburg Juniors: Harald Planer (GK),Richard Kitzbichler, Harald Pichler, Christoph Mattes, Stefan Ilsanker, Markus Felfernig, Herve Oussale (Marko Vujic 32), David Witteveen, Ernst Obster, Norman Prenn, Jan Mark Riegler. Substitutes: Wolfgang Schober, Dominik Borozni, Raimund Friedl, Marin Matos, Piero Minoretti, Stanislav, Vasilj, Marko Jujic, Agim Ibraimi
