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New York Red Bulls vs. Juventus: Matchday Commentary

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The New York Red Bulls take on Italian powerhouse Juventus at Red Bull Arena today (1pm, Fox Soccer Channel) in one of the many high-profile friendlies being played by MLS teams in coming weeks and months.

The Red Bulls are in the midst of a brutal schedule and will start a team of mostly reserves today, while Juventus will start out with a star-studded lineup featuring Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet and Diego.

I will be providing commentary from today's match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):

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FINAL– Red Bulls 3, Juventus 1. A good performance from the home team in a game played in front of mostly visiting fans. Will some of them come back? That's the big question.

That's all for me. Please be sure to check out SBI for more post-match coverage from today's friendly, and from the weekend's MLS action. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

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91st Minute– You can never make too much of these results because European clubs never really push it in off-season friendlies. That has to be even more the case in a friendly being played AFTER a disappointing season.

The Red Bulls can certainly gain some confidence from this one, especially after failing to find the net for three straight MLS matches.

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90th minute- GOAL JUVENTUS!! And it's Amaury with a simple turn and blast from close range to make it 3-1 Red Bulls.

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85th minute– Funny that New York hasn't scored in three MLS matches, but found the net today. Will Hans Backe still with the young players on Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup match vs. Colorado, or will he try some veterans? I say he sticks with the young guys for that match, but he might also have to consider some of them for New England on Saturday.

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83rd minute– Bardi nearly gets stripped by Angel after putzing around with the ball in front of goal.

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78th minute– Juventus about to put in even more subs, including a goalkeeper who looks 16. Francesco Bardi is the name. Maybe he'll be good in ten years.

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77th minute– Okay, so this Brazilian defender, Clebao, hasn't actually been that bad after a rough early going.

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75th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!! ANd it's Angel with the finish off a perfect cross from Richards. Red Bulls 3, Juventus 0.

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72nd minute– The ballot for man of the match has Chinn, Hall and Sutton. How is Irving Garcia not on the ballot? He gets my vote.

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70th minute– Let's see how Angel and Co. do today.

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68th minute– Chinn, Garcia and Hall leave the match, Angel, Richards and Stammler come in. Good performances from the young guys today.

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64th minute– Seth Stammler, Dane Richards and Juan Pablo Angel are set to come into the match.

Is it me, or is the Red Bulls second unit just a better team lately than the first team? They play with an energy and attacking efficiency the first team just doesn't have these days.

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60th minute– Juventus fans are quiet now, but you wonder if any of them will look at the action and think they might want to give these Red Bulls a chance by coming to watch again. It hasn't been pretty, but there have been impressive moments.

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57th minute– Juve with wholesale subs, taking out Diego, Zebina and Del Piero. In comes Grygera, Paolo de Ceglie and Michele Paolucci.

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55th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!! ANd it's Conor Chinn with a classy finish, touching down a long pass from Miller and blasting it past Manninger. WOW. Red Bulls 2, Juventus. 0.

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53rd minute– Some SBI readers asked me why I talked up Irving Garcia so much at the draft. I think he's shown today why. The kid has some skills. He's raw, but he can play.

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52nd minute– Hall had a rough first half, but made up for it with that cool finish from 12 yards out. Could that score spark him into being the impact winger he was drafted to be?

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51st minute– Juve comes right back as Diego slides a pass to Del Piero in the area, but the legend can't quite put it on net.

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50th minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!! ANd it's Jeremy Hall with the finish off a caromed blast from Irving Garcia, who pelted a long-range shot off the crossbar. Red Bulls 1, Juventus 0.

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49th minute– Wolyniec draws a free kick near the left corner of the penalty area.

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HALFTIME– Red Bulls 0, Juventus 0. Some decent looks for each team, but still no goals. Juve came close with a Del Piero shot off the woodwork, but that's about it.

Borman and Hall can't want to come back in the second half, and I can't imagine Backe wants them back in. I also think we saw enough of Clebao to know he won't be getting a contract offer.

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40th minute– CHINN with a shot that forces a great save from Manninger. Chinn had about five seconds on the ball in front of goal before finally turning and shooting.

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42nd minute– Red Bulls fans are now chanting "IN-Ter Mi-Lan." Juve fans have no comeback.

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40th minute– Del Piero rockets one off the crossbar, sending the Juventus fans into a roar.

Juve fans woke up after Wolyniec's dive and they're obviously outnumbering Red Bulls fans today.

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32nd Minute– Chinn just ran onto a turnover and raced in on goal before earning a corner. You have to love surreal moments like that from friendlies like these.

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29th Minute– The ESC finally gets a reaction from the Juventus fans with a "Del Piero sucks" chant. Some loud whistles rained down. You can talk about pizza and guidos, as some other chants did, but once you talk about Del Piero there will be problems.

And seriously, I can't imagine a Red Bull fan who wouldn't take Del Piero

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28th Minute– Borman is struggling today. To be fair, dealing with Zebina and Diego isn't like dealing with the right side of any MLS team.

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25th Minute– Conor Chinn tries a nice turn and volley that goes a foot over. If he had hit that shot the world would have ended.

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24th Minute– Will Juan Pablo Angel and some other key starters get in for the second half? You have to hope so.

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21st Minute– And the Hall-Borman tandem isn't working too well on the left.

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17th Minute– Garcia with the nice cross in that's barely blocked away. The rookie is showing some nice flashes today.

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16th Minute– And we're back to the Red Bulls having possession. Nobody has stepped up yet for New York.

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13th Minute– Juve has taken control of the match now. A goal seems inevitable.

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10th Minute– Red Bulls fans are offering up some good taunts, including "Seventh Place" to a Juve side coming off a terrible season. Not sure Red Bulls fans should taunt Juve's record considering the year they had in 2009 (and almost every year before that).

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9th Minute– Nice sequence from Juve, with Candreva dribbling through before being hammered by Clebao. Those wondering who this Brazilian defender is, word is Jeff Agoos found him on a scouting trip.

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7th Minute– You can't imagine Juventus players are overly enthused about having to play in this game. They're off to a bit of a slow start as you might expect.

This New York team is mostly the same team enjoying a great U.S. Open Cup run so they should play well together.

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6th Minute– Irving Garcia with a nice dribble into the area and shot that forced a fingertip save. The kid has skills.

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3rd Minute– Clebao's first touch is a soft back-pass that is nearly stolen in front of goal by Del Pierro. The trialist is off to a great start.

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2nd Minute– Red Bulls are fielding a reserve team today, which you can't really blame them for considering their loaded schedule.

Today should be a good test for all the young Red Bulls, especially Tchani, Hall, Garcia and Borman.

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1st Minute– And we're off.

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PRE-GAME- We're almost underway. There's a good turnout, with a bunch of Juventus fans in the house.

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PRE-GAME– Juventus' starters today include: Fabio Grosso, Alessandro Del Piero, Alex Manninger, Simone Padoin, Jonathan Zebina, David Trezeguet, Goncaio Brandao, Antonio Candreva, Diego and Luca Marrone.

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PRE-GAME– Good afternoon folks. Here is New York's lineup for today:

————Chinn————-Wolyniec—————

Hall——–Tchani———–Ubiparipovic——Garcia

Borman—–Mendes——–Clebao————-Sassano

———————Sutton——————————-

Clebao is a guest Brazilian player on trial with the team.

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Comments

  1. The stadium is fine. The hassle of getting there before the game and of getting out after is not. The grungy little train station is a 10-minute walk through and around barriers, and there’s a line blocks long after games. Parking is more like a 20-minute walk, and after games, you’re going to be stuck in long lines of traffic after the 20-minute walk.
    Motivation is directly proportional to reward divided by effort. The effort it takes to get to and from the arena is not worth the reward of seeing the product that’s being put on the field.
    The stadium was not built for people within a 40-mile radius. It was built simply to accommodate people close enough to walk across the bridge, and raspberries to everyone else.

    Reply
  2. CONMEBOL might want MLS because we are potentially a huge TV market. Whether that potential is ever realized is a different story…

    I get that at this point, we are probably not quite ready to ask to be let into Libertadores. My concern is that no one is even talking about that as something down the line. Every time an MLS club plays in a friendly like this one, I am reminded of this.

    I do agree with you that until MLS clubs show that they can consistenty beat Mexican clubs in the CONCAAF tournament, the chances of anyone letting us into Libertadores are pretty smal.

    Reply
  3. I considered that one as well, but I think I’d probably stick with Stammy/Robinson to start for the time being. But I’d definitely insert Tchani during a game if we need more energy in attack.

    Reply
  4. Great win from Red Bulls, but Juventus was uninspired. That certainly contributed to the outcome of the game.

    Reply
  5. I’m not so sure, Henry will cause the attendance to jump for sure but if their is any lack of quality in the play the attendance will return to it’s current standards.

    Reply
  6. There weren’t many of us RBNY fans there, but the atmosphere was still excellent. It’s fun watching these Baby Bulls play. I can’t wait for Wednesday’s USOC match against Colorado. The future is bright!

    Reply
  7. If I’m Backe, I have to seriously consider the following right now:
    – starting Chinn alongside Angel up top
    – starting Garcia in place of Richards on the right wing

    Reply
  8. “I’m just agitated with the RBNY fans because they are “football” elitist.”

    Earlier in the thread you said that NY area soccer fans are too “elitest” to support the Red Bulls. Now you’re saying that Red Bulls fans themselves are elitist. That doesn’t make any sense. If they’re fans of the team, they’re obviously not too “elitest” to support the team. Let’s be honest here: you obviously just don’t like New York.

    Reply
  9. Did people really think that perceptions of the Red Bulls were going to change overnight? The team played in a terrible stadium and mostly lost for 14 years. People in the area don’t think anything of them. They’ve blended into the background of the sports world. It’s going to take more time to turn that around.

    Reply
  10. Yeah, i think most leagues would look at attendance to judge how popular a team is in the region.Thats why baseball left Montreal. If they arent filling out their stadium no matter the size, they arent exactly popular. I mean if every mls team had sponsors like red bull and a market like ny, we would continue to see some great stadiums built

    Reply
  11. 15K is a lot if the stadium was old and not accessible. Why would Garber ever want a second team in NY. Unless they were getting Toronto or Sounders fan numbers, its pointless. Additionally, St Louis is struggling with USL teams. How can they manage with an mls team. Southeast or Baltimore should get a team.

    Reply
  12. Yeah, MLS teams aren’t THAT bad. But after a long ( and by Juve standards dissapointing) season, do you really think Juventus are gonna be that excited to play NY? But that aside, NY put on a great performance today, props to them.

    Reply
  13. Juve is clearly already on vacation. But even though I’m not a fan of NYRB, they deserve props for their all round play. Especially for the positional play of the back four and the tracking back of the midfield on defense. Oh yeah, the finishing was quite good too.
    No doubt many Juve fans are NOT happy with this performance!

    Reply
  14. Fan of the league. I refuse to let you label me because it fits your agenda of hiding the fact NYRB have horrid fans.

    (SBI-So you’re a fan of the league but you never once commented on this website before today, and today you post 15 comments to rip attendance at Red Bull Arena? How’d that happen? Welcome aboard and hopefully you can become a regular and offer more than just negative comments in the future.)

    Reply
  15. so if a European team loses to a mls team in pre season they are all out of shape and it dosent matter matter. But when they lose after the season they dont push it enough in off season friendlies and it dosent matter. MlS aren’t as bad as most people think we can compete

    Reply
  16. I didnt go to this game. Why not? Well I’ve seen Juventus play in the area twice!

    Juve coming to NYC (NJ) is not something new nor something special. I would actually want to see a regular MLS game over some BS friendly. Or a friendly between two former teams. These games are too forced.

    Reply
  17. excellent maneuvering around the subject at hand… your a typical… wait who are you again…oh yea a fan of the fans… Your just full Substancy goodness.

    Reply
  18. i guess that means thats not true…..

    football cannot be won by going through the motions especially against any MLS side who have great physicality and athleticism

    Reply

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