Lower-wattage Barça dismantles Red Bulls, 6-2
Thierry Henry #14 of the FC Barcelona looks on during the game against the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium August 6, 2008 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Barcelona defeated the Red Bulls 6-2. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images for New York Red Bulls)
Can you measure Ronaldinho's worth in seats filled at a stadium? How about Lionel Messi's? Or Deco's?
If yesterday's match between FC Barcelona and the Red Bulls at Giants Stadium is any indication, then perhaps you can.
With none of the above-mentioned superstars involved in Barcelona's preseason tour through Chicago and New York (Ronaldinho and Deco moved on to different teams this summer and Messi is with Team Argentina at the Olympics), only 38,152 fans turned out to witness the Catalonian club's 6-2 rout of the local MLS stragglers.
The word "only," of course, is used here in a relative sense. Relative, that is, to the staggering 79,002 people that purchased tickets for Barcelona's last visit to Giants Stadium in August 2006. Relative, even, to the 46,754 that came out to watch David Beckham and the Galaxy at the Red Bull's last home match on July 19. Certainly not relative, though, to the Red Bull's average home attendance, which has hovered around 13,000 this season.
To be fair, Barcelona hardly seemed to suffer without their departed stars last night, and their dismantling of the Red Bulls, though wholly expected, was visually impressive. Spanish midfielder Xavi spun like a boomerang at the fulcrum of their attack, turning left and right around hapless defenders to release his running teammates into the tiniest vacuums of the Red Bulls' formation. Brazilian fullback Daniel Alves, bolting up and down the right sideline with seemingly endless reserves of stamina and enthusiasm, showed why Barcelona recently paid the Spanish club Sevilla a fee of over 29 million euros for his services. And Thierry Henry, the biggest star on the field, tantalized Red Bulls fans — who, perhaps ill-advisedly, are hoping he'll play in New York in the near future — with his prototypical skill-set and regal presence.
But there was no Ronaldinho to drop jaws with his outlandish dribbles and no-look passes. No player like Messi, who seems to take palpable delight in running straight at, and then easily around, opposing defenders. No one player, it seemed, that could draw neutral fans to the very edges of their seats with a simple flick or gesture.
And the match, to the casual observer, was simply less exciting. Forty-thousand fans less exciting, to be exact.
— Andrew Keh
