The New York Red Bulls open their second season in Red Bull Arena with their opening match, playing host to a Seattle Sounders FC side that fell to the LA Galaxy to kick off the 2011 MLS season on Tuesday night.
REFEREE: Jair Marrufo. SAR (bench): C.J. Morgante; JAR (opposite): Corey Rockwell; 4th: Alejandro Mariscal
MLS Career: 106 games; FC/gm: 25.2; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 27; pens: 37
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (4 meetings): Sounders FC 2 wins, 5 goals ... Red Bulls 1 win, 2 goals ... Ties 1
AT NEW YORK (2 meetings): Sounders FC 1 win, 2 goals ... Red Bulls 0 wins, 1 goals ... Ties 1
RETURN MATCH: 6/23: Seattle Sounders FC vs. New York Red Bulls, 7 p.m. PT
LAST YEAR (MLS)
4/3: SEA 0, NY 1 (Kandji 21)
5/15: NY 0, SEA 1 (Montero 85)
- Since Sounders FC joined the league as an expansion club, the Red Bulls have not been able to defeat them at home (1-1 draw in 2009; 1-0 loss in 2010).
- The teams have split their two meetings lifetime at Qwest Field, Sounders FC claiming a 3-0 victory in the club’s inaugural game to kick off the 2009 season.
Coaches record: Hans Backe v SEA: P2 W1 L1 D0 ... Sigi Schmid vs. NY: P28 W10 L13 D5
NEW YORK RED BULLS
- The New York Red Bulls begin the second season under coach Hans Backe looking to build off their 2010 campaign that saw them reach the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Red Bulls finished atop the East in the regular season with 51 points and a 15-9-6 record from 30 games, the third-best record in MLS.
- The Red Bulls completed their preseason schedule with a 1-1 draw against Mexican side CF Atlas at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on March 8. Atlas scored on an own goal in the 78th minute before Rafael Marquez converted a 90th-minute penalty for the leveler.
- Here’s the New York side: Bouna Coundoul, Roy Miller, Tim Ream, Rafa Marquez, Carlos Mendes, Joel Lindpere, Mehdi Ballouchy, Teemu Tainio (Corey Hertzog 85), Dane Richards, Thierry Henry, Salou Ibrahim (Tony Tchani 64)
- The Red Bulls completed a worst-to-first turnaround in the 2010 regular season, but were then stunned on their home ground in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in a loss to the San Jose Earthquakes.
- "We definitely learned our lesson," said midfielder Dane Richards to the New York Post. "We beat them 1-0 and thought we had this in our pocket. They got the goal and we were shocked. It left a bitter taste, but we have to move on, turn a new page."
- The Red Bulls will also have a full season with Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez, both of whom arrived at midseason after completing a hard campaign with Spanish giant FC Barcelona.
- "MLS reminds me of a young version of the English premiership," Henry said. "Guys are athletic here. They get into you, there's a fast pace. But I was more than happy, too, to see a lot of teams want to play real football here. Dallas, Salt Lake, Galaxy, they pass the ball on the ground."
- Marquez is expected to move to the back four for the 2011 season, alongside Tim Ream in central defense, after coming into his first MLS season in a deep-lying central midfield position.
- The Red Bulls expect to have a lively front four with Henry, teenage sensation Juan Agudelo, offseason signing Luke Rodgers and pacy Dane Richards.
- “I never set myself any personal targets before the season,” Henry said. “You reach a time in your career where you want to make the guys around you play better. ... We have Juan Agudelo and Dane Richards. Dane Richards is our go-to player. He always makes things happen on the field. We have guys with pace, so I don’t mind playing a bit more in the middle and trying to fit people in.”
- The Red Bulls must replace the 13 goals that departed when Juan Pablo Angel moved to the LA Galaxy.
- Richards was next with 5 goals; Henry had 2 goals and 3 assists in 11 appearances.
- “Luke has been training a week now and was unbelievably lively in the session (following an injury),” Backe said. “Dane has been showing a different class as a striker. I hope we get some double-figures from the midfield. Some of (those) players should be in for five to eight goals.”
- There is still a question between the posts. Bouna Coundoul has been slowed by a knee injury, and Greg Sutton could be ready to don the gloves as first-choice.
- “Going to a friendly with Senegal when we went to Mexico (in February) – that’s not good for him,” Backe said of Coundoul. “It was our most important camp.”
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Seattle Sounders FC opened an MLS season with a loss for the first time, falling 1-0 to the LA Galaxy on Tuesday night at Qwest Field.
LAST MATCH
- The game’s lone goal came after 58 minutes. Taking a pass from Todd Dunivant, Juninho strode forward and unleashed a searing blast from the left from all of 25 yards that beat Kasey Keller inside the near post.
- Erik Friberg was given his MLS debut in the center of the park. O’Brian White started alongside Fredy Montero in attack in his Sounders FC debut, while Jhon Kennedy Hurtado returned to the lineup for the first time since last May.
- Here’s Schmid’s team (4-1-3-2): Kasey Keller – James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leo Gonzalez –Osvaldo Alonso – Alvaro Fernandez (Roger Levesque 63), Erik Friberg, Steve Zakuani (Miguel Montano 84) – Fredy Montero, O'Brian White (Lamar Neagle 79)
- "Our guys are disappointed, especially since it's the opening game of the season and we hadn't lost an opener before," said Schmid. "At the end of the day, as I said before this game, there's going to be 33 games left after this one and there's still a lot of points out there."
TEAM NEWS
- For the first time in three tries, Sounders FC opened the season with a loss. They defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-0 in the club’s inaugural game in 2009, then defeated Philadelphia Union 2-0 a season ago.
- “You get that first goal and then you keep going - and that's all of us though, I need to score, Fredy (Montero) needs to score, OB (O'Brian White) needs to score...whoever,” said Steve Zakuani. “It's not just going to fall on him, but on all of us as a team, as a collective. Tonight we drew a blank, but New York is obviously a good pickup game to bounce back on.”
- Just before the match, the club announced it was parting ways with Swiss international striker Blaise Nkufo, who represented his country in last summer’s World Cup. O’Brian White, an offseason acquisition from Toronto FC, started in his spot in attack.
- "I thought O'Brian did well. I think his play with his back to the goal is something that we're working with him on. It can still get better but I thought he was active, he was busy. He stayed high with their back line and as a result of that I think he had two or three good chances,” Schmid said.
- It was the third consecutive league defeat of Sounders FC by the Galaxy – and their fifth in all MLS competitions. The Galaxy took both games in their Western Conference Semifinal Series, winning 3-1 on aggregate.
- “You seem to have teams that just have your number, where it just didn't matter. You huff and puff and you just can't seem to get it against them. One of those clubs that just have your number,” said Kasey Keller. “Then there's other teams where you beat them every time you play, and why do you have their number? Who knows? It just seems like at the moment L.A. has ours a little bit, regardless of how poorly we play or how well we play."
- Sounders FC were without midfielders Brad Evans and Pat Noonan for the match, but Schmid their availability for the New York match was still in question.
