SoccerAmerica - Red Bulls romp in stadium opener 03/21/2010

[MLS] These weren't the hapless Red Bulls of years past. New York celebrated the opening of Red Bull Arena with a thoroughly deserved 3-1 win over Santos of Brazil Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 25,000 fans and finished undefeated in preseason with a 7-0-3 record.

One new Red Bull Joel Lindpere and two returning Red Bulls, Mike Petke and Dane Richards, scored in the first half.

Lindpere scored the first goal just 11 minutes into the match. Ghanaian Ibrahim Salou, a trialist who has spent most of his career in the Netherlands and Denmark, earned a free kick when he was taken down at the top of the box after a mazy run through the Santos defense.

Lindpere’s free kick was blocked by the wall, but he got to his own rebound and volleyed a left-footed blast past goalkeeper Fabio Costa.

The second goal came in the 43rd minute when Carl Robinson swung in a deep corner that Tim Ream knocked into the goal area, where Petke scored on a volley from close range.

Moments later, New York made it 3-0 when Sinisa Ubiparipovic stole the ball in the New York half and played it ahead to Macoumba Kandji, who played it wide to Richards, who scored with a 23-yard blast.

The Red Bulls controlled play through much of the second half but couldn't add to their lead. Santos' only goal came in second half stoppage time when Germano flicked home an Alex Sandro cross.

On a down note for the Red Bulls, Robinson (knee) and Richards (hamstring) left the game with injuries. They're already without star Juan Pablo Angel, who is sidelined with a knee injury.

March 20 in Harrison, N.J.
New York 3 Santos (Brazil) 1. Goals: Lindpere 11, Petke (Ream, Robinson) 43, Richards (Kandji) 45; Germano (Alex Santos) 90.
New York -- Coundoul (Sutton 61), Hall, Miller, Ream, Petke (Boyens 80), Hall, Ubiparipovic, Lindpere (Tchani 85), Robinson (Agudelo 46), Richards (Sassano 61), Kandji (da Luz 73), Salou (Wolyniec 67)
Santos – Fabio Costa (Raphael 86), Aguiar, Alex Sandro (Wesley Santos 64), George Lucas, Alan Santos (Jefferson 82), Luciano Castan, Neymar, Germano, Breitner (Diego Monar 46), Giovanni (Marcel 46), Zezinho (Crystain 80)
Referee: Jorge Gonzalez.
Att.: 25,000.

0 comments

I w Nowozeniuk

commented on: March 21, 2010 at 12:27 p.m.

The 2010 NYRB looked organized, patient, took their chances and held good team shape on both sides of the ball. First half had much more pace and when Salou exited, so did the attacking forays. Except for Ubiparipovic and Robinson, who looked a bit lost and hesitant, the team played well. The spectators were into the game, however, the TV coverage was a disaster when the wide-angle cameraman kept losing the sight of the ball constantly. Either he had a BAD-day or he was incompetent. As for the kahuna of the TV crew, he failed miserably in the timing of replays compounded by overdone closeups of the individual players, coaches and the ref while play continued on the pitch. Last but not least Fox Soccer commentators Sullivan and Rogandino did their best to kill the game with their winded analysis and they choked during injury down time. Sullivan for one kept repeating "amazing" and "fantastic" which had no relevance to the game at hand. Sullivan keeps using superlatives where they don't fit during every match to includ repetitive overanalysis. Fittingly, he follows the footsteps of former soccer analyst Ty Keough who yada-yadad about everything except the match at hand. The match gets a B, the TV coverage gets a D- and Sullivan gets an F for fundamental incompetence. Can the NYRB continue the intensity, passion and efficacity?

Kenneth Barr

commented on: March 21, 2010 at 2:50 p.m.

A nice debut for what looks like a fantastic place to watch soccer. As for the TV coverage, I watched on MSG, where except for showing one too many replays of the Richards goal so that they missed the restart and subsequent action that resulted in some contretemps, the production was quite good. JP Dellacamera and Shep Messing kept their comments match related. I would have liked a little more comment about the state of the pitch, which appeared waterlogged even though the rains stopped Monday evening. Certainly, there wasn't the long winded and often irrelevant commentary that seems to be a trademark of FSC's MLS coverage. Even though Max Bretos has moved on to ESPN (where he will not get even a sniff of work come World Cup time), it would seem from I w Nowozeniuk's post that Christopher Sullivan still suffers from diahrrea of the mouth. As for any comparison with the unlamented Ty Keough, has Sullivan mentioned that player was in a offside position for a throw in, as Keough would do on an annual basis? From now on, perhaps FSC could take the feed of the local commentators, which here in Red Bull country is far superior to theirs. I'm sure it's true throught MLS.

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