For the first time in their 18-year torturous, title-less history, the Red Bulls are finally champions of something. The Curse of Caricola is over, smashed with a 5-2 come-from-behind rout of Chicago on Sunday that earned them the best record in MLS and the Supporters’ Shield that goes with it.
The Red Bulls danced in front of the South Ward with their first meaningful silverware, winning it with a master-class performance that was equal parts determination, doggedness and dominance. With three assists, Peguy Luyindula was named Man of the Match, but rookie coach Mike Petke was the man of the hour.
Petke was a defender on the Red Bulls’ 5-19-6 team in 2009, and their 7-25 squad five years earlier that prompted soccer magazine Bild to label them the world’s worst team. But Sunday night Petke choked up as his team turned a game into a coronation, Thierry Henry handed him the Shield to hold aloft to the long-suffering supporters.
“This is a great moment in our franchise, the players, the staff, the supporters especially. It’s been a long time coming, and these guys earned it,’’ Petke said. “These guys gave me everything they had. … As player and coach, this is by far the best moment because of what it means to this organization, these supporters and us.
“Over the last two weeks, the pressure and stress I felt on my shoulders, that I put myself under, I feel like to be honest I can handle anything in life now. It was tough, very emotional. … I just didn’t want to let down the fan base, didn’t want to let down the organization, being so close after so many years of heartache.’’
They have had plenty of that since losing their very first home game on Nicola Caricola’s own goal in the dying seconds, and seemed destined for more when ex-Red Bull Mike Magee scored off a rebound just six minutes in on Sunday. But they reeled off five unanswered scores.
“It just has to be heart. It wasn’t there at the start. It’s not a criticism: It’s a fact,’’ said Tim Cahill, praising Petke as the biggest difference-maker. “This guy is the heart and soul. He knows what it is to be a New York Red Bull.’’
Henry ran onto a Luyindula chip over the defense, chested it down and took it off one bounce to blast a 24th-minute equalizer upper 90. They got the go-ahead goal in the 49th off an Henry free kick, when the ball went off Cahill in a scrum and Ibrahim Sekagya knocked it in. But the Red Bulls were hardly done.
They followed with a textbook counter seven minutes later, Luyindula laying the ball to Lloyd Sam who cut back for a left-footed tally. Sub Eric Alexander finished off Luyindula’s third assist with an acute angle goal. Jonny Steele tallied in the 84th, with Chicago’s 90th-minute goal from Quincy Amarikwa doing little to dim their celebration en route to next weekend’s date versus Montreal or Houston.
“It’s a great moment. We’ve been waiting for that for a very long time,’’ said Henry, who passed the Shield to Petke and then longtime equipment manager Fernando Ruiz. “I wanted Mike and Fernando to lift the Shield before everybody else.’’