The Red Bulls brought 10 non-rostered players to training camp in Florida on Monday, and Miguel Ibarra was one of them. Just not the Miguel Ibarra their fans expected.
The 10 players are keeper Evan Lauro, defenders Ambroise Oyongo Bitolo, Chris Duvall, Ibarra and Tyler Polak, midfielders Arun Basuljevic, Chris Lema, Widner Saint Cyr and Eric Stevenson, and striker Sammy Adjei Jr.
It initially had been reported Miguel Ibarra, a winger from NASL team Minnesota United was coming to camp, something that prompted both the player and United’s GM to deny the story on Monday. Turns out this is a different Ibarra, a 29-year-old defender who was born in New York and has appeared for Ecuador’s national team.
He plays for Sociedad Deportivo Quito, and has played for Ecuador’s Barcelona and Quito-based side Universidad Católica. Ibarra was first called up for Ecuador in 2009 for World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Paraguay, and – after not playing in either game – earned his first cap with a start against El Salvador on May 27, 2009.
Stevenson and Duvall are draft picks, Bitolo, Ibarra and Polak are invitees, and the Red Bulls have the MLS homegrown rights to Lauro, Basuljevic, Lema, Saint Cyr and Adjei, all either presently in the academy or products of their academy. Adjei stars for Iona, and his father was a former international player, while Polak is just two years removed from being a highly-coveted Generation adidas signing.