MLS New York Red Bulls

Red Bulls Weekly Update

Published on July 20, 2009 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New York Red Bulls News Release


RED BULLS HIT THE ROAD TO FACE COLORADO: The New York Red Bulls look to earn their first road win of the season on Saturday when they take on the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park at 9:30 PM ET (TV: MSG; Radio: WQBU 92.7 FM).

New York is coming off a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy at Giants Stadium last Thursday - the Red Bulls' first home match in almost a month. The Galaxy were able to tally three first-half goals before Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel scored the hosts' lone goal on a penalty kick in the second half.

The Red Bulls travel to Commerce City, CO, to face a Rapids squad that is currently in fifth place in the Western Conference at 24 points - three points behind third-place Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy. Colorado traveled to RFK Stadium last Saturday and fell 3-1 to D.C. United. A Bryan Namoff own goal put the visitors in front in the 14th minute, but Namoff made up for it by scoring his first goal of the season after the intermission. Jaime Moreno and Luciano Emilio also tallied for United. The Rapids have won one game in their last five with a 1-3-1 record and return home for a three-game homestand.

New York is 13-14-3 all-time against Colorado and dropped last year's season series against their Western Conference foe. Four different players scored for Colorado in a 4-0 win over the Red Bulls on July 4, 2008 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and a Conor Casey hat trick propelled the Rapids to a 5-4 victory on Sept. 27 at the Meadowlands. On May 30, the Rapids defeated the Red Bulls, 3-2, in the first meeting between the two teams at Giants Stadium. Casey, MLS' third-leading goal scorer with eight, put the Rapids ahead in the 25th minute. Angel tied the game before halftime with a penalty kick conversation, but Casey again gave the Rapids the lead three minutes into the second half. Mehdi Ballouchy scored the eventual game-winner in the 60th minute on a penalty kick, while Red Bulls midfielder Danleigh Borman pulled one back for New York in the 73rd minute.

ANGEL ONE AWAY: Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel, a finalist for the 2007 Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player Award, scored his team-high seventh goal in New York's 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday. Angel is now in sole possession of second place for goals scored in regular season matches - just one goal shy of tying Giovanni Savarese's record. He has a 0.61 goals per game average, which is tops in club history.

GOALS (Regular Season) PLAYER GP GOALS 1. Giovanni Savarese 85 41 T-2. Juan Pablo Angel 66 40 3. Clint Mathis 93 39 4. Amado Guevara 103 32 5. John Wolyniec 132 25

GOALS (All Competitions) PLAYER GOALS 1. Clint Mathis 45 2. Giovanni Savarese 44 3. Juan Pablo Angel 43 4. Amado Guevara 38 5. John Wolyniec 30

LAST WEEK: Red Bulls 1, Los Angeles Galaxy 3 on July 16 at Giants Stadium

THIS WEEK: Red Bulls at Colorado Rapids on July 25 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park at 9:30 PM ET (TV: MSG; Radio: WQBU 92.7 FM)

NEXT WEEK: (CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round First Leg) Red Bulls at W Connection on July 30 at Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, Trinidad & Tobago at 8:00 PM ET (TV: Fox Soccer Channel)

NEW YORK RED BULLS SCHEDULE (July 20-26) Please contact a member of the Red Bulls Communications Staff if you have any requests or questions.

This Week's Schedule (subject to change): Monday, July 20: Training at Montclair State University facility at 10:00 AM ET. Tuesday, July 21: Training at Montclair State University facility at 10:00 AM ET. Wednesday, July 22: Training at Montclair State University facility at 10:00 AM ET. Thursday, July 23: Training at Montclair State University facility at 10:00 AM ET. Friday, July 24: Training at Montclair State University facility at 10:00 AM ET. Travel to Denver, Colorado. Saturday, July 25: Red Bulls at Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park at 9:30 PM ET (TV: MSG; Radio: WQBU 92.7 FM) Sunday, July 26: Return to NY/NJ area.

GALAXY FIRST HALF RUSH DOWNS NY: Three first half goals helped give the Los Angeles Galaxy a 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls Thursday, July 16 at Giants Stadium. The defeat dropped New York to 2-14-4 (10 pts.) while the Galaxy improved to 6-3-9 (27 pts.) in the second and final meeting between the sides this season. Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel scored the lone goal for New York.

The Galaxy, which welcomed back Designated Player David Beckham to the Starting XI after his loan stint with AC Milan, took the lead just three minutes in. Forward Alecko Eskandarian was outside of the box and flicked it over a Red Bulls defender before firing a looping 20-yard shot past goalkeeper Danny Cepero.

New York immediately tried to get back into the game with Angel beating Gregg Berhalter to the endline and he fired a short angle shot that goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts had to knock away. In the 20th minute, Jorge Rojas' deflected 30-yard free kick off the Galaxy wall wrong-footed Ricketts and bounced just past the left post.

Ten minutes later, Stefani Miglioranzi played the ball over the top to an onside Landon Donovan on the right wing. Donovan took a few touches and cut it to Eddie Lewis, who blasted a shot that was deflected away.

While Lewis and Donovan nearly doubled Los Angeles' lead on that chance, the duo combined for Los Angeles' second goal moments later. After a Beckham corner kick was cleared away, the ball eventually fell to Lewis and he tapped it over to Donovan. Donovan hit it one-time from distance into the top right corner of the net for his seventh goal of the season.

With four minutes left in the first half, the Red Bulls had their best chance up to that point. Midfielder Seth Stammler gained possession in Los Angeles' half and hit a left-footed shot that Ricketts could only parry away. The ball fell to an open Rojas, whose attempt on net was again blocked by a sprawling Ricketts.

The Red Bulls' missed chance came back to haunt them in the 45th minute, when the visitors went ahead, 3-0. Donovan took the ball on the right wing off a flicked on goal kick and took it towards to penalty box. He hit a high cross over to Lewis, who volleyed it towards goal. Cepero was able to get a piece of the shot, but the ball rolled in.

New York threatened Ricketts' goal five minutes into the second half. Albert Celades flicked it over to an open Rojas on the left side of the penalty box and his subsequent shot was tipped away by Ricketts. Ten minutes later, Alfredo Pacheco served it to Celades in the box and the midfielder headed it right at Ricketts.

In the 69th minute, Galaxy forward Edson Buddle nearly made it 4-0 when he got free from a Lewis pass, but Cepero was there to punch it away. A minute later, Beckham left the game for midfielder Chris Birchall.

The Red Bulls put their name on the scoreboard in the 87th minute. Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez was adjudged to have handled the ball in the penalty box and referee Shane Moody pointed to the penalty spot. Angel stepped up and struck it to the left into the net past Ricketts, who dove the other way.

Three minutes later, the Red Bulls nearly pulled within one when a Galaxy player was again ruled to have committed a handball in the penalty box. Angel stepped up again, but this time, Ricketts guessed correctly and dove to his left, blocking the shot before gathering the rebound.

BULLS PEN ÖBSTER: Red Bull New York announced on July 16 that it signed midfielder Ernst Öbster. Öbster will join the Red Bulls' roster after he has passed a physical and the club has received his P-1 visa approval.

"We were interested in bringing Ernst to New York since our preseason trip to Austria last year," said Sporting Director Jeff Agoos. "Ernst can play a variety of positions on the field and we think that he has a bright future ahead of him."

The 25-year old joins New York from sister club Red Bull Salzburg. Öbster began his career with Salzburg in 2001 and has played for the first team as well as the Red Bull Junior with the exception of the 2003-04 season, when he played on loan for LASK Linz. The left-footed player helped Red Bull Salzburg to two Austrian Bundesliga titles (2007 and 2009) and has made 55 appearances for the club, scoring five goals. In the 2008-09 season, Öbster appeared in five league matches and four UEFA Cup qualification matches in which he scored two goals. He also appeared in three Austrian Cup matches scoring one goal.

MENDES UNDERGOES SEASON-ENDING SURGERY: Red Bull New York announced that defender Carlos Mendes underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn hip labrum on July 14. The surgery was performed by Dr. Bryan T. Kelly at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Mendes, who has carried the injury since Aug. 2008, will miss six months and will be placed on the team's Season-Ending Injury List.

Mendes played in 12 games this season, starting in 11. The Mineola, NY, native has been with the team since 2005 and has made 107 appearances for the New York - ninth-most all-time in club history.

TICKET DETAILS FOR W CONNECTION MATCH: Red Bull New York announced ticket details for the Red Bulls' 2009 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round home leg against W Connection of Trinidad & Tobago on Aug. 5 at 8:00 PM ET at Giants Stadium.

Tickets for the home leg are included in 2009 Red Bulls Members' full-season ticket packages. Red Bulls Members can use the "Game A" ticket in their season ticket book for the match. Full Season Plan Holders and Partial Plan Holders will have an exclusive window to purchase add-on tickets from Friday, July 10 at 10:00 AM to Monday, July 13 at 3:00 PM at the discounted rate of $15.

Non-planholders may purchase a Family Pack, which includes four tickets and four Red Bulls t-shirts, for $64.95. The Family Pack goes on sale through the Red Bulls' office and website, www.newyorkredbulls.com, on Monday, July 13 at 3:00 PM. Individual tickets for the Red Bulls-W Connection game will go on sale through Ticketmaster on Tuesday, July 14 at 11:00 AM and will be priced at $20 each. Groups of 15 or more will be able to buy tickets through the Red Bulls' office for $15 each. For more information, call the Red Bulls at 1.877.RBSOCCER.

RED BULLS LOOK TOWARDS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Next week, the Red Bulls travel to Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, Trinidad and Tobago for the first leg in the Preliminary Round of the CONCACAF Champions League on Thursday, July 30 at 8:00 PM ET. The Red Bulls, who are playing in their first Champions League, were one of 16 teams that were entered into the Preliminary Round in an official draw held in New York City on June 11. The winner of the two-game aggregate goals series will qualify for Group D in the Group Stage, where they face Pumas UNAM (Mexico), Comunicaciones of Guatemala and the winner of the Liberia (Costa Rica) and Real Espana (Honduras) series. New York earned the right to compete in the tournament after making the 2008 MLS Cup Final last year.

WOLYNIEC TIED FOR SECOND: Red Bulls forward John Wolyniec is moving up the games played chart for New York. Wolyniec came on as a substitute against the Los Angeles Galaxy on July 16 and made his 132nd appearance, tying Jeff Parke for second all-time. Teammate Mike Petke is the club's all-time leader in games played (145) and starts (139).

GAMES PLAYED PLAYER GP 1. Mike Petke 145 T-2. Jeff Parke 132 T-2. John Wolyniec 132 4. Mike Magee 130 5. Tony Meola 125 6. Steve Jolley 120 7. Tab Ramos 112 8. Seth Stammler 110 9. Carlos Mendes 107 10. Amado Guevara 103

NOT GUN SHY: Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel has been moving up the club's annals in shots and shots on goal. Angel is currently third in shots with 234 shots and second in 124 shots on goal. He is trailing Clint Mathis (276) and Amado Guevara (260) in shots and only Mathis (125) in shots on goal .Angel is in first in MLS in shots with 61 and shots on goal (30).

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Major League Soccer Stories from July 20, 2009


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