Growing up in Kearny, N.J., New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Tony Meola found himself in the middle of a melting pot, living in a town with rich veins of culture.
Building on the traditions of various immigrant groups -- Portuguese and Italian to name two -- North Jersey was a soccer hotbed. Meola, along with Red Bulls assistant coach John Harkes and Tab Ramos, all used the area as a springboard to outstanding professional soccer careers, including a total of 22 World Cup appearances.
Now, soccer is returning to the nook of New Jersey those legends call home, as Red Bull and AEG broke ground Tuesday on Red Bull Park.
"My parents are still in Kearny, so I'm happy that my father -- whether I'm playing or not playing, whether I live here or don't live here -- he can come just a couple of minutes and do what he loves to do more than just about anything, other than play with his grandkids," Meola said. "I'm happy for guys like him. He's one example that I know, but I know there's thousands of others like him.
"There's a lot of soccer people in this area and a lot of people that will be proud to call this home and will make the most of the opportunity."
Red Bulls sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena is well aware of the soccer tradition that exists along the banks of the Passaic River in Harrison, Kearny and Newark. As the coach of the men's soccer team at the University of Virginia, Arena came to North Jersey to recruit players, including Meola and Harkes.
"I know (this area) well," Arena said. "(AEG founder Phil) Anschutz talked to me about this years ago, and I told him this is the place to build a stadium. I'm very happy it will become a reality."
Red Bull Park will be located in the heart of Harrison and just steps away from mass transit and Newark's Ironbound section and will be surrounded by shops and restaurants. Arena said with the new stadium, the club is on target to reach out to a massive soccer-loving audience.
"I think we need stadiums in urban areas," Arena said. "We're a little bit vanilla in our sport, and now we're going to get into communities that have a passion for the game. It's our charge to deliver the right environment to the fans and it's our charge to deliver the right product.
"Very few details about the game will be missed in the construction and design of this stadium. It's fantastic. If you can envision this setting, it's going to be like going to a stadium in Europe."
The construction of a permanent home is a huge step forward for a team that has failed to live up to expectations in the country's largest market and that has seemingly been in a state of constant flux for the last two years.
The club has never won an MLS Cup or U.S. Open Cup and has only been in one cup final. In recent years, the lack of success on the field has led to annual upheaval of the team's roster and resulted in the firings of two head coaches, Bob Bradley last season and Mo Johnston in June. Along the way, Hall of Famer Alexi Lalas came and went as the club's president and general manager.
Whatever unease that had filtered through the locker room amidst the unrest has apparently vanished, at least according to Meola.
"When you see something like this you get excited," he said. "I feel, today, one step closer. Having had a lot of discussions with the people at Red Bull, you're proud to play for them. You're proud to be part of their organization because they want to do things right.
"They have experience in the game and I know they don't do anything half-speed. Everything they do is straightforward and it's 100 miles an hour. Just from a standpoint of having been around for 11 years, you feel a sense of accomplishment with something like this. You know your work's not going to waste."
And if the 37-year-old Meola has his way, he'll be on the field when the doors at Red Bull Park open.
"My plan is to play here," he said. "God works in mysterious ways, and it's really up to God to let me know if I'm going to be playing on this field.
"I know it's coming towards the end of my career, but I still think I've got some time."
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
