Revolution 2
Red Bulls 0
The Red Bulls broke ground on their long-awaited Harrison stadium, set to open in the 2008 season. Last night’s 2-0 loss to the New England Revolution, seen by a tiny gathering of 6,670 at Giants Stadium, went a long way to killing their hopes of a 2006 postseason – and showing just why they need a new home so badly.
They played in an environment as sterile and unemotional as a crypt, and performed like it. They couldn’t make use of their possession, or put shots on goal; and put themselves squarely on the outside of the postseason picture.
The Red Bulls (7-10-11, 32 points) had a chance to climb into a third-place tie with New England with a win. Instead, they remained in fifth place, and a point behind Kansas City for the fourth and final playoff spot. But they lost their game in hand on the Wizards, whom they host in the finale.
Taylor Twellman scored in the 16th minute, and Andy Dorman in the 48th. Dema Kovalenko earned a yellow card for taking Dorman down from behind, and after goalkeeper Jon Conway saved Clint Dempsey’s free-kick, Dorman fittingly tucked away the rebound for the final margin.
It was a poor effort on the heels of Tuesday’s groundbreaking in Harrison for their $220 million, 25,000-seat stadium on the Passaic riverbank.
Despite fielding what may be their strongest lineup of the year, with Amado Guevara and Youri Djorkaeff in the midfield together for the first time since a 6-0 rout of Real Salt Lake back on Aug. 26, they put just six of their 19 shots on net.
Newly acquired Markus Schopp made his debut at halftime, but with the defense missing Carlos Mendes, the former Austrian captain could not stem the tide.
But even if the Red Bulls don’t make the playoffs, the near future looks much brighter. With Djorkaeff’s announced retirement, Peter Canero’s expected release and departed Sergio Galvan Rey’s salary coming off the books, they will save almost $500,000 in salary. Aging goalkeeper Tony Meola and midfielder Chris Henderson make another $255,000, and they have cash left from the sale of J.P. Peguero.
If they do miss the playoffs, they’ll get a $250,000 allocation, and could have $1 million to spend in a league with a $1.8 million salary cap – and lose just one starter. Claudio Reyna seems a likely target, and the names Ronaldo, David Beckham and Luis Figo are sure to surface.