Red Bulls captain Thierry Henry may be sitting out the top-of-the-table clash Sunday in Seattle, but it doesn’t sound as if the trainers could keep Tim Cahill off the CenturyLink Field if they tried.
Despite the beating and bruises he took last weekend, he’ll suit up Sunday with the Supporters Shield potentially on the line.
“That’s why we play football,’’ Cahill said this week. “This game in Seattle is going to be a magical day for both teams. I think us as players, we’re going to get up for it and look forward to it.’’
Cahill, 33, came through an exceptionally physical game in last weekend’s 1-0 victory over FC Dallas, the Red Bulls’ fourth straight win, which vaulted them one point ahead of Seattle in the overall MLS table with just four games left in their schedule.
But the Sounders enjoy two games in hand, and with the Red Bulls facing the prospect of playing sans Henry, Jamison Olave and Bradley Wright-Phillips, they need Cahill’s presence on the field even more.
“Tim’s OK,’’ said Red Bulls coach Mike Petke. “He was obviously as bit tired towards the end of that game. But I think that he’s going to try to continue to practice.’’
The always active Cahill — whose 69 fouls committed are second-most in MLS — was coming back from an ankle injury last week. But his recuperative powers are akin to The Wolf’s driving in Pulp Fiction: It’s a four-to-six week injury. He’ll be back in two.
“I felt it [after] 75 minutes, I definitely felt it, you know, three weeks out,’’ Cahill said, adding “that knock at the end didn’t help. But I think it was quite a good game, quite active from both teams.’’
Cahill was promoting the launch of FIFA 14, the latest version of EA’s wildly-popular soccer game, at a party Monday night at the Union Square Ballroom, where The Bronx’s Swizz Beatz was DJ.
Cahill he took on hip-hop star Drake in a round of FIFA 14. Drake played as Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid and Cahill naturally took his Red Bulls. They played to a 2-2 draw. Eschewing penalty kicks, Drake and Cahill played a rematch, with Cahill winning in the 88th minute — on a header by himself, naturally.
“The game is even more realistic than it was. It makes you play through the midfield, use more of the team,’’ Cahill said. “The tackling, it suits me good, as you saw against Drake, where you can push and get a little bit of hustle in there. So for me, I love the game. You know what I think of it: Five years with the FIFA family, and I done them proud tonight.’’
Cahill was the cover boy for last year’s game, and is a candidate for this year’s fan-voted, MLS-specific downloadable cover as well as the version in his native Australia.