Game Face

Juan Carlos Osorio (Getty Images)

By Andrew Keh
Special to amNewYork

Somewhere along the line, probably about the time it appeared the Red Bulls would miss the playoffs and spend another off-season pondering their chronic mediocrity, the image we had of Juan Carlos Osorio, the cerebral tactician, transmogrified into Juan Carlos Osorio, the over-thinking tinkerer.
But over the course of two weeks and one playoff series win — only the second in team history — the Red Bulls coach has once again revealed the magic touch that made him so coveted by management last winter. He has his team on the doorstep of its first-ever trip to an MLS Cup final.
This week, much of the credit for Sunday’s gigantic 3-0 upset over the Houston Dynamo justifiably went to midfielder Dane Richards, who spent his 84 minutes on the field buzzing up and down the right wing, weaving and accelerating like a motorbike in traffic. He had a hand in every goal: scoring the first himself on a seam-splitting solo run, forcing a hand ball from Houston’s Ricardo Clark that resulted in a penalty kick for the second, and assisting John Wolyniec on the third after humiliating the entire left side of the Dynamo defense by dribbling 60 yards down the length of the field.
But Richards’ theatrics barely overshadowed the brave moves from Osorio that have helped earn the Red Bulls a date with Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference championship game on Saturday night (9:30 p.m. on FSC and HDNet).
Osorio swallowed his pride and benched the trio of Gabriel Cichero, Juan Pietravallo and Jorge Rojas — the mid-season pickups who were so highly touted over the summer but so ineffective during the team’s unlikely run to the playoffs — for both games of the series.
In their stead, Osorio opted for Luke Sassano, a rookie out of University of California, Berkley, and Sinisa Ubiparipovic, a second-year player. The two combined for only 20 starts this regular season, but both were rock-solid in central midfield over 180 minutes of play.
Then there was Wolyniec, the journeyman striker from Staten Island, currently in the midst of his third stint with the Red Bulls, who earned starts from Osorio in both matches despite going scoreless in 19 regular-season appearances. There is a reason, it seems, that the playoffs are called the “second season,” and it was Wolyniec, as if on cue, who provided the final dagger in Sunday’s match.
In celebration, Wolyniec did a horrifying rendition of Michael Jackson’s famous “Thriller” dance. But it was an appropriate choice, in a way, considering how Osorio has revived a team previously left for dead.

By Max J. Dickstein

In his MLS debut on Saturday, goalkeeper Danny Cepero became the first goalkeeper in MLS history to score a goal with an 81-yard direct kick that bounced over the embarrassed opposing goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Cepero's goal was named Week 30's Sierra Mist Goal of the Week and the Red Bulls, who beat the Columbus Crew 3-1 on Saturday, can seal a playoff berth with a victory Thursday in Chicago against the Fire (9 p.m., ESPN2).

With their lustrous display at Euro 2008, Spain showed that they are far ahead of the field in soccer. But as recent events have shown, Spain’s efforts to eliminate racism from the game are still light years behind.
On Tuesday, the city of Madrid once again became a flashpoint in Europe’s seemingly perpetual battle against racism in the stands when UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, imposed a two-match home ban on Spanish club Atletico Madrid. The penalty came after myriad incidents at their stadium — monkey chants and racist slurs directed at black players and journalists, among other general violence — marred their Champions League match against Marseille on Oct. 1.
The punishment is the harshest yet for a race-related incident from either UEFA or FIFA, two organizations notorious for their inability to back talk with action regarding racial abuse. It’s clear now that the practice of fining a federation or club, which they mind-bogglingly never diverged from until this week, does not work.
In September, for example, after fans aimed monkey chants at English player Emile Heskey at a match at Zagreb, FIFA fined the Croatian Football Federation a paltry $25,000. Heskey and his teammates afterward ridiculed the weakness of the gesture.
On Monday, the English Football Association announced its reluctance to play a February 2009 friendly against Spain in Madrid because of their experience in the city in 2004, when the team’s black players were subjected to racist taunts from the crowd. That incident earned Spain a measly $90,000 fine.
The stadium ban, then, represents an important first step toward a more proactive stance against racism. And if this tactic does not work, then point deductions for teams with abusive fans must seriously be considered.
Amid all this, certain Spanish players still cannot grasp the big picture, bemoaning the penalties this week instead of condemning the behaviors that brought them about.
Fernando Torres, for example, was distressed that he would not be able to return to the stadium of his old club if Liverpool and Atletico’s Champions League clash next week is moved to a neutral site. “It is the worst and most unexpected news that I could have heard,” Torres told the sports paper Marca on Tuesday.
Perhaps he had not heard the news of why the game was being moved in the first place.

— Andrew Keh

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

Jason Kidd, as he often does, backpedaled on defense, anticipated his opponent’s next move, and swooped in to intercept a pass in his own half. The Mavericks point guard then pushed the ball up the sideline to lead his team’s fast break.

Out of the corner of his left eye, he spotted a teammate streaking forward and, as always, delivered to him a pass with pinpoint accuracy. The subsequent shot hit nothing but net.

But Kidd wasn’t on the basketball court. He was on a soccer field in Manhattan. The beneficiary of Kidd’s assist? Salomon Kalou, a forward from the Ivory Coast who stars for Chelsea in the English Premier League.

Kidd and Kalou were just two of the many star athletes that congregated in Manhattan last week to play in an eight-on-eight charity soccer match dubbed “The Showdown in Chinatown” by its hosts Steve Nash, point guard for the Phoenix Suns, and Claudio Reyna, the captain of the Red Bulls.

“I wanted to bring some of my friends from basketball and soccer together and create a great atmosphere in downtown Manhattan,” Nash said of the event. “Everyone had a great time, and the guys put on a great show for the fans.”

The match, as well as the live auction in SoHo that followed, was organized to benefit the individual foundations of Nash and Reyna, both of which focus on helping children in underserved communities. As Reyna said, “I hope everyone had a good time. But, above all, this was really for the kids in the inner city.”

The two athletes faced off against one another on the pitch for 60 minutes, backed by teams that also included NBA stars like Baron Davis, Raja Bell, and Leandro Barbosa, and soccer players such as Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel, Jozy Altidore, Greg Berhalter, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman.

The names on display attracted a gigantic horde of enthusiastic fans and curious spectators to the small field. Those who could not see over the numerous rows of observers resorted to climbing trees, lampposts, and basketball hoops to get a better view.

Those lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the action were treated to a match that mixed sublime skill and light-hearted antics.

Davis, despite being on the lower end of the group’s spectrum of skill, quickly endeared himself to the crowd, playing the match in thick-rimmed glasses and a backwards baseball cap, putting Barbosa in a headlock, and earning a yellow card for swatting away a goal-bound shot with his hands. The Warriors guard even scored a goal of his own in the first half.

“I played in the seventh grade,” Davis said of his soccer background. “I was a forward. I used to score all of the goals because I was quicker than everyone.”

The soccer artistry, meanwhile, was provided by Henry, who became available for the match after his French team was knocked out of Euro 2008 by Italy last week. The Barcelona striker was always in the middle of the action and turned on the style in the second half, drawing from his deep bag of flicks and tricks, much to the delight of the crowd.

“Thierry brought the level of buzz from here to here,” Reyna said, moving his down-turned palm from his waist up to his chest.

Afterwards, Nash and Reyna were quick to declare the event a huge success, and both already seemed to be making plans for another match next year. Reyna said that several other star players, including Lionel Messi, Clarence Seedorf, and Hidetoshi Nakata, expressed interest but could not play this year because of other commitments. The next match, he suggested, could be even bigger.

And how would they deal with a larger, rowdier crowd?

“We might need a stadium,” Reyna offered, presumably only half-joking.

--Andrew Keh

CARSON, CA - JUNE 15: Goalkeeper Alvin Rouse #1 of Barbados can't react fast enough to a deflected ball directed into the net by Brian Ching #11 of the USA (not in picture) during the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying match at the Home Depot Center on June 15, 2008 in Carson, California. USA defeated Barbados 8-0. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

The United States ended a 287-minute scoring drought with an eight-goal gale against Barbados in its opening match of World Cup Qualifying in Carson, Calif., Sunday. But the 8-0 win, as impressive as it was, should not be viewed as much more than a positive training exercise for the later rounds of qualification.

Barbados, with a population just over 280,000 (about the same as Newark), placed 121st in the latest FIFA world rankings. The U.S., by comparison, has a population over 300 million and is currently ranked 21st. The teams’ only other meetings came in August and November of 2000, when the US won 7-0 and 4-0, respectively.

It was no surprise, then, to see little resistance from the Caribbean side as the Americans attacked in numbers from the opening whistle. Within the first minute, forward Clint Dempsey took a lofted pass from captain Carlos Bocanegra in the box and nutmegged goalkeeper Alvin Rouse for the opening goal. Brian Ching provided a bookend in the 89th minute when he scored the team’s eighth and final goal while completing his own hat trick.

Barbados, at times, played like a high-school squad. In fact, Landon Donovan’s bit of trickery in the 59th minute — he forewent the referee’s usual measuring of 10 yards on a free kick to sneak a shot past Rouse, who was naively still setting up his wall — was a play my own high school team used to great effect against our more oblivious opponents.

So dismal is the state of soccer in Barbados, it seems, that the Barbadian Football Association has placed a want ad for players on its official site.

Think you’ve got what it takes to suit up for the 121st-ranked team in the world?

— Andrew Keh

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - JUNE 08: Tim Howard of the United States of America blocks a shot by Julio Cruz #9 of Argentina during their match at Giants Stadium on June 8, 2008 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

The pounding drumbeat that thumped relentlessly over the hubbub of 78,682 soccer fans in Giants Stadium Sunday night may as well have been the beating of USA goalkeeper Tim Howard’s heart, as he faced Argentina’s onslaught of creative attacking force.

The Argentines — led by offensive prodigies Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero — came out firing energetically on all cylinders, finding space in dangerous places between an American defense that looked overwhelmed in the opening minutes of the match. The Argentines peppered the U.S. goal with shots from a constellation of angles.

But the 29-year-old Howard, netminder for English Premiership club Everton, was unflinching for 90 minutes. He recorded seven saves, shutting out the top-ranked national team in the world that disassembled Mexico last week, 4-1.

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - JUNE 08: Freddy Adu #19 of the United States of America drives the ball past Javier Zanetti #8 of Argentina during their match at Giants Stadium on June 8, 2008 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Howard’s mind-blowing saves with every extremity of his body allowed the United States to defy the odds to earn a 0-0 draw. But with no goals scored and many of the superstars subbed out early — Messi came out at halftime — the real show may have taken place in the stands, where giant flags, showy banners and colored balloons festooned the fourth largest crowd ever for a soccer match at Giants Stadium.

The fans assembled early, overloading Sunday’s sizzling stadium parking lot with grills, blaring speakers and pickup games. The fans stayed late, too, getting even rowdier as the rain began to pour in the match’s closing minutes.

The spectacle provided a glimpse of the massive potential for the sport in New York and New Jersey, one that has unfortunately yet to be fully tapped into by the area’s professional team, the Red Bulls.

— Andrew Keh