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By JACK BELL
Published: November 10, 2008
It was early March and snow was falling in Salzburg, Austria, as the Red Bulls went through a rigorous practice under the watchful eye of their new coach, Juan Carlos Osorio.
Jack Bell for The New York Times
Dane Richards injured his knee during a training match in Austria in March and missed the first month of the M.L.S. season.
Dane Richards sat in the empty stands, his right leg in a brace, propped up on an empty seat. Richards, a second-year midfielder, sprained his knee in a preseason exhibition match against Red Bull Salzburg’s reserve team. He ending up missing about a month of the Major League Soccer season, and returned as the team struggled and as Osorio looked south to remake his roster.
Richards, a promising national team player for his native Jamaica, held his tongue and waited. Although he started 18 games during the regular season, he seemed to be an afterthought — a speedy wing who was stuck in the slow lane on a team about to take a familiar exit.
All that changed Sunday in Houston, where Richards led the Red Bulls to an upset of the two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo.
“I was, ‘Oh my God,’ everyone doubted us and we beat the champions, 3-0,” Richards said Monday in a telephone interview. “Unbelievable.”
CHANGES WERE MADE After playing Houston to a 1-1 draw Nov. 1 at Giants Stadium, the Red Bulls again used a revamped, blue-collar lineup to oust the Dynamo, 4-1, in the first-round, total-goals series.
Richards’s play, especially against Houston defender Wade Barrett, was crucial.
“He played with a controlled aggression,” Osorio said, according to the Red Bulls’ Web site. “A lot had been said about the rivalry between him and the fullback Barrett, but I think at the end, Dane got the better of the two with his pace. He’s doing a lot better work now. He comes inside and looks for a pass, now his combination play is better, and we always know that he is a threat in behind, and we’re very pleased with his performance today.”
Richards scored the game’s first goal Sunday, on a stunning breakaway. He contributed to the second goal when his cross struck the arm of the Dynamo’s Ricardo Clark, leading to Juan Pablo Ángel’s penalty kick. And he beat three players before assisting on John Wolyniec’s insurance goal in the 81st minute.
As the eighth and final playoff team, the Red Bulls were moved into the Western Conference bracket for the postseason and will play Saturday night at Real Salt Lake. The winner advances to the MLS Cup on Nov. 23 in Carson, Calif., against the Chicago Fire or the Columbus Crew. (Of the four remaining clubs, only Chicago has played for a league championship.)
The Red Bulls’ victory was perhaps the biggest upset in M.L.S. playoff history and was certainly the most significant victory in the star-crossed 13-year history of the franchise. The Red Bulls have appeared in the postseason 10 times, but had previously won only one playoff series, against Dallas in 2000.
“I know I was really down when we were in Austria,” Richards said. “But it was really only my first injury, and it really wasn’t such a long road back because there was no surgery. I’m scared of surgery. So I took my time to heal and did some enjoyable rehab.”
IMPORTS ARE BENCHED To Osorio’s credit, he gave his playoff lineup an extreme makeover after a 5-2 loss at Chicago in the Red Bulls’ regular-season finale. Osorio — who went out on a limb when he signed Jorge Rojas, Juan Pietravallo, Gabriel Cichero and Diego Jiménez during the summer — benched all but Jiménez and shuffled his starting selection for the two games against Houston. Richards had seen limited playing time in the four games in October.
“I’m just here to play, and whatever decision the coach makes I respect it,” Richards said. “I don’t know, maybe he thought I wasn’t suitable for a game. The only thing is when my chance came I have to prove myself on the field at the time. You have to make the most of your opportunity. With all the changes Coach made, we all wanted to prove we should stay on the field, now all the way to MLS Cup.”
In many ways, Sunday was simply not the Dynamo’s day. Houston buzzed around the Red Bulls’ goal early in the match. In the second half, the Dynamo had excellent scoring chances, but was stymied by goalkeeper Danny Cepero. Cepero, who was pressed into duty after Jon Conway violated the league’s substance-abuse policy, was credited with five saves. Houston outshot the Red Bulls, 16-7. In addition to missing Conway, two other regular starters — defender Jeff Parke (drug suspension) and midfielder Seth Stammler (knee) — are out for the season.
The Red Bulls are 2-0-6 against Real Salt Lake, which is in its fourth year of existence.
Financial Fútbol
Saturday’s Western Conference championship match will be played in the new $115 million Rio Tinto Stadium, in Sandy, Utah. Rio Tinto, a Britain-based global mining company, signed a 10-year, $20 million naming rights deal with Real Salt Lake.
Published: November 10, 2008
It was early March and snow was falling in Salzburg, Austria, as the Red Bulls went through a rigorous practice under the watchful eye of their new coach, Juan Carlos Osorio.
Jack Bell for The New York TimesDane Richards injured his knee during a training match in Austria in March and missed the first month of the M.L.S. season.
Dane Richards sat in the empty stands, his right leg in a brace, propped up on an empty seat. Richards, a second-year midfielder, sprained his knee in a preseason exhibition match against Red Bull Salzburg’s reserve team. He ending up missing about a month of the Major League Soccer season, and returned as the team struggled and as Osorio looked south to remake his roster.
Richards, a promising national team player for his native Jamaica, held his tongue and waited. Although he started 18 games during the regular season, he seemed to be an afterthought — a speedy wing who was stuck in the slow lane on a team about to take a familiar exit.
All that changed Sunday in Houston, where Richards led the Red Bulls to an upset of the two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo.
“I was, ‘Oh my God,’ everyone doubted us and we beat the champions, 3-0,” Richards said Monday in a telephone interview. “Unbelievable.”
CHANGES WERE MADE After playing Houston to a 1-1 draw Nov. 1 at Giants Stadium, the Red Bulls again used a revamped, blue-collar lineup to oust the Dynamo, 4-1, in the first-round, total-goals series.
Richards’s play, especially against Houston defender Wade Barrett, was crucial.
“He played with a controlled aggression,” Osorio said, according to the Red Bulls’ Web site. “A lot had been said about the rivalry between him and the fullback Barrett, but I think at the end, Dane got the better of the two with his pace. He’s doing a lot better work now. He comes inside and looks for a pass, now his combination play is better, and we always know that he is a threat in behind, and we’re very pleased with his performance today.”
Richards scored the game’s first goal Sunday, on a stunning breakaway. He contributed to the second goal when his cross struck the arm of the Dynamo’s Ricardo Clark, leading to Juan Pablo Ángel’s penalty kick. And he beat three players before assisting on John Wolyniec’s insurance goal in the 81st minute.
As the eighth and final playoff team, the Red Bulls were moved into the Western Conference bracket for the postseason and will play Saturday night at Real Salt Lake. The winner advances to the MLS Cup on Nov. 23 in Carson, Calif., against the Chicago Fire or the Columbus Crew. (Of the four remaining clubs, only Chicago has played for a league championship.)
The Red Bulls’ victory was perhaps the biggest upset in M.L.S. playoff history and was certainly the most significant victory in the star-crossed 13-year history of the franchise. The Red Bulls have appeared in the postseason 10 times, but had previously won only one playoff series, against Dallas in 2000.
“I know I was really down when we were in Austria,” Richards said. “But it was really only my first injury, and it really wasn’t such a long road back because there was no surgery. I’m scared of surgery. So I took my time to heal and did some enjoyable rehab.”
IMPORTS ARE BENCHED To Osorio’s credit, he gave his playoff lineup an extreme makeover after a 5-2 loss at Chicago in the Red Bulls’ regular-season finale. Osorio — who went out on a limb when he signed Jorge Rojas, Juan Pietravallo, Gabriel Cichero and Diego Jiménez during the summer — benched all but Jiménez and shuffled his starting selection for the two games against Houston. Richards had seen limited playing time in the four games in October.
“I’m just here to play, and whatever decision the coach makes I respect it,” Richards said. “I don’t know, maybe he thought I wasn’t suitable for a game. The only thing is when my chance came I have to prove myself on the field at the time. You have to make the most of your opportunity. With all the changes Coach made, we all wanted to prove we should stay on the field, now all the way to MLS Cup.”
In many ways, Sunday was simply not the Dynamo’s day. Houston buzzed around the Red Bulls’ goal early in the match. In the second half, the Dynamo had excellent scoring chances, but was stymied by goalkeeper Danny Cepero. Cepero, who was pressed into duty after Jon Conway violated the league’s substance-abuse policy, was credited with five saves. Houston outshot the Red Bulls, 16-7. In addition to missing Conway, two other regular starters — defender Jeff Parke (drug suspension) and midfielder Seth Stammler (knee) — are out for the season.
The Red Bulls are 2-0-6 against Real Salt Lake, which is in its fourth year of existence.
Financial Fútbol
Saturday’s Western Conference championship match will be played in the new $115 million Rio Tinto Stadium, in Sandy, Utah. Rio Tinto, a Britain-based global mining company, signed a 10-year, $20 million naming rights deal with Real Salt Lake.
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