Juan Agudelo became the first player from the Red Bulls Academy to start a game for the senior team in MLS when the 17-year-old took the field and played the full 90 minutes of theRed Bulls’ 1-0 win at San Jose in the first leg of their quarterfinal series.
Injuries to Thierry Henry and Ibrahim Salou created the opportunity forAgudelo, a promising 17-year-old striker who was born in Colombia, but grew up in New Jersey. As an academy player who signed a Generation Adidas contract, his guaranteed salary of $70,000 does notcount toward the club’s salary budget. He traveled to Ireland and then to Peru with the United States under-20 national team.
“We had no other option,” Coach HansBacke said. “But he was excellent. He didn’t hide and he was most impressive. Often times young players are going to hide.”
Agudelo is 6-foot-1, has quick feetand the technique to challenge opposing defenders one on one. “The game was my chance to show everybody that I can play at this level,” said Agudelo, who, reports Jack Bell, became the fourth-youngest player to start a playoff game in MLS (only Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu and Eddie Gaven were younger).“Hans told me to be strong on the ball, but most important, keep it simple. I think I held the ball well. I didn’t want to go too crazy and try to do too much. Just keep itsimple.”