E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Saying he was "scared," Amado Guevara justified walking off the field after he was substituted in the 55th minute of the New York Red Bulls 1-1 draw with the Chicago Fire at Giants Stadium on Saturday night, watching the remainder of the match sitting in the stands next to his wife.
"I wasn't upset, I was surprised, I was afraid," Guevara said through a translator. "We were winning, we weren't playing the best game but we were winning. I was scared. I'm not expecting to be taken off the field, that's what I was scared about. That was my surprise reaction."
Red Bulls coach Mo Johnston brought on Marvell Wynne for Guevara and switched from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 formation. Guevara walked along the sideline, shook his head and stretched out his arms before heading to the Red Bulls locker room. He emerged about 10 minutes later in street clothes, sitting next to his wife in the first row of stands, signing autographs for fans.
"I can't take a shower and sit with my wife on the bench," Guevara said. "What am I going to do on the bench? I'm not going to come in again. I'm just watching comfortably next to my wife in the seats."
He added: "They have to understand when they take me out of the game, respect my decision just to take a shower and watch from the stands. I can't support them watching from different side."
It's a reaction that didn't go over too well with Johnston.
"That's not what we want," he said. "We want people supporting the team."
As for Guevara's future with the team, or any possible sanctions, Johnston said that will be discussed privately with the Honduran midfielder on Tuesday when the Red Bulls return to training.
"On Tuesday I'm going to address it and I'm going to address it strong," he said. "Read into it what you want but I won't be mincing my words."
Johnston hasn't been pleased with Guevara's play since he arrived late for preseason after having a war of words with former president and general manager Alexi Lalas in the offseason.
For Johnston, it finally came to a head 10 minutes after halftime Saturday with the Red Bulls leading 1-0.
"Since the first six games, Amado Guevara's been a totally different player," Johnston said. "He's better than what we've seen. He's not produced, the fans were disappointed when he walked off, very disappointed. And I was disappointed. When you have team leaders in that locker room, you have to support your team. There's better players who have been taken off than Amado Guevara."
Jon Conway made the surprise start in goal, replacing Tony Meola, who suffered a strained left calf during pregame warmups.
"I was warming up and just said to Mike [Behonick], the third goalkeeper, how good I felt and I came down, twisted and felt a pop in my left calf," Meola said. "It was the last play I was going to make. I was going to kick a couple more balls and stretch but I was at least 90 percent done with warmup."
Conway was tested right away, coming off his line to stop Chad Barrett in the fourth minute. In his first MLS action since Oct. 9, 2004, when he earned a clean sheet for the San Jose Earthquakes, Conway made five saves in a strong outing.
"I played well," Conway said. "Obviously a draw again is sort of disappointing. I thought I played well and we were unfortunate not to get a win tonight."
Said Meola: "Jon was great. For sure he was MVP of the game for us. I just think we depend a little too much sometimes on making saves. It's a tough spot to be in but if you know him, if you've been around him, he's a professional, he keeps himself prepared and he did what he had to do."
The Red Bulls went up in the 27th minute, when recently acquired Jean Philippe Peguero leapt over C.J. Brown and headed in Seth Stammler's cross. The play started with Youri Djorkaeff playing the ball to Mark Lisi in midfield and Lisi, making his first start of 2006, found Stammler on the right flank.
Second-half substitute Nate Jaqua helped the Fire get level in the 68th minute when he was taken down by Danny O'Rourke at the penalty spot. Diego Gutierrez stepped to the spot and beat Conway, who guessed wrong, to the keeper's left. It was Gutierrez's first goal of the year.
The Red Bulls, now winless in six games, set an MLS record with their fifth draw in the opening six games.
"The second half I felt we defended collectively as a unit better," Johnston said. "I felt when Marvell went in, he played very well. We could have stolen it in the end, but we came up short again with another tie."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
