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Carolina Cup: Red Bulls vs. Toronto FC (Running Commentary)

Good afternoon folks. The Red Bulls will be taking on Toronto FC in the Carolina Challenge Cup today at 6 p.m. You can follow the action via video feed on www.USLlive.com.

I will try to do a running commentary on the match and encourage all you Red Bulls and Toronto FC fans to follow the action here. Share your thoughts and opinions on the match action below.

With two weeks to go before the start of the MLS season tonight’s match should offer some insight into how far along both teams are. Obviously both teams are awaiting some foreign acquisitions to come through, but it will still be a good chance to see players such as Toronto rookies Julius James and Pat Phelan as well as Red Bulls rookies Luke Sassano, Eric Brunner and Danleigh Borman.

Share your pre-game thoughts below and enjoy the soccer.

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FINAL- Toronto FC 1, Red Bulls 1. Toronto dominated the first half and the Red Bulls had the better play in he second half. Overall though, it was a typical pre-season game.

Luke Sassano and Danleigh Borman looked good for the Red Bulls and Colin Samuel and Jeff Cunningham started well for TFC.

What did you think of the match? Share your thoughts below.

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91st minute- If you’re a cricket fan you’re probably not watching MLS pre-season matches in an internet video feed.

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90th minute- Why would Toronto bring in a sub for three minutes? If I were Jared/Jerrod Smith I might pull a Scottie Pippen and refuse to go in. Okay, maybe not.

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85th minute- As badly as the Red Bulls played in the first half they have been much better in the second. I think the wind played a bigger part in their first-half struggles than I gave credit for.

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80th minute- Angel hits the right post!!

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74th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. Wolyniec with a quality finish after running onto a well-placed pass from Reyna. Finally some promising stuff from the Red Bulls.

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61st minute- Zach Thornton with a good save for the Red Bulls.

Borman not looking shabby today.

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58th minute- Wolyniec wastes a great breakaway after running on to a perfect Danleigh Borman pass. He doesn’t get a good shot on the keeper.

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56th minute- Looks like John Wolyniec coming in for Echeverry. Not a great showing for Echeverry today.

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52nd minute- Ballooned over by Juan Pablo Angel. Yuck.

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51st minute- Rather generous free kick awarded to the Red Bulls. Good chance here.

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49th minute- Van Den Bergh slides into central midfield for the Red Bulls.

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Second Half- Thornton for Conway, Borman for Magee and Brunner for Mendes.

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HALFTIME- Toronto FC 1, Red Bulls 0. Toronto with some solid defending and quick counters. The Red Bulls have had a few build-ups but nothing resembling a quality scoring chance.

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45th minute- TFC’s Colin Samuel with a great chance, missing just inches wide after running on to a Cunningham drop off pass. Some good work between Cunningham and Samuel this game.

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44th minute- Angel sends a header over the crossbar. That’s as close as the Red Bulls have come all day.

Wake me up when it’s over.

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40th minute- Toronto FC’s lineup includes newly-signed right back Marco Velez. MetroStars fans with good memories will recall that Velez tried out for the MetroStars in 2003.

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38th minute- Frustrating to watch the Red Bulls. Luke Sassano has been a bright spot in a pile of mediocrity.

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35th minute- Angel gets a yellow card from the female ref. Yes, I know, it shouldn’t matter that it’s a female referee but it’s still a unique site.

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25th minute- Claudio Reyna’s passing is way off today. He’s got about a 10 percent completition percentage right now.

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23rd minute- Pat Phelan comes in for James. Tough break for James. I’ve heard great things about him in TFC camp.

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21st minute- It looks like Julius James dislocated his shoulder, or at least injured it somehow.

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18th minute- Still waiting for the Red Bulls to show up. Good stuff from Toronto early on. I like what I’ve seen from Julius James at times and Jeff Cunningham is a handful today.

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12th minute- Still waiting for the Red Bulls to hold the ball long enough to create something.

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10th minute- GOAL Toronto FC. Jeff Cunningham scores, beating Jeff Parke after running onto a quality through-pass from (I believe) Kevin Harmse.

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8th minute- This minute was brought to you by the Charleston Tourism Board. Yawn.

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6th minute- A wind day at Blackbaud Stadium today so don’t expect great crosses today.

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3rd minute- Jon Conway sporting the pants today. Somewhere Paul Grafer is asking for royalties.

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2nd minute- Could the wide camera be further away from the field? I think it’s in Maryland.

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1st Minute- And we’re off.

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PRE-GAME- "The young ladies certainly felt that in their faces." Um, yeah.

PRE-GAME- Anyone else think Oh Canada almost sounds too regal for a pre-season match? Toronto should have a pre-season anthem that doesn’t sound as official.

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PRE-GAME- Okay, so this is not the same British announcer as the Red Bulls-Charleston game. This guy sounds like he’s doing Shakespeare.

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PRE-GAME- Here is the Red Bulls lineup for tonight’s match:

—————–Angel——-Echeverry———

Van Den Bergh——-Magee———-Sassano

—————–Reyna——-Stammler——–

Goldthwaite———-Parke———–Mendes

———————–Conway——————

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Comments

  1. True Idk what we’ll do if we don’t win the Carolina cup, might have to resort to sexy football and invent a few cups til we win one

    Reply

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