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New York Red Bulls vs. Cruzeiro: Match Night Commentary

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BY MIKE NASTRI

The Red Bulls haven't played a match in almost two weeks, but battle Brazilian side Cruzeiro Esporte Clube in a friendly from Red Bull Arena at 8:00PM.

Cruzeiro is a very competitive side that finished 4th in the Brazilian Serie A this season. The 2003 Brazilian Champs played the Revolution five days ago and were dominant in a 3-0 victory behind a hat trick from Wellington Paulista.

The Red Bulls finished strong before the World Cup break winning their last two matches. The regulars will look to get some work ahead of their match against Kansas City eight days from now.

It should be a good one and is only being televised in Brazil. So make sure to stay glued to your computer screen and follow SBI for live commentary of the match (after the jump of course).

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Postgame- Cruzeiro cruises past NYRB 4-2. Not a ton of positives to take away from this result for the Red Bulls. They looked a bit rusty and definitely have some work to do this week in preparation for the Wizards on the 26th. 

The defense had trouble marking the quick Cruzeiro forwards and balls were peppered into the box creating all kinds of problems for NYRB. Cruzeiro could've easily scored three or four more goals had it not been for some great saves from both Coundoul and Sutton.

The attack did look good at times resulting in two goals. No one got hurt for the Red Bulls and the any of the already injured Red Bulls have over a week to get fit for the next match that means something.

Cruzeiro is better than almost any MLS team. It was a fun match to watch for anyone that was here as the Brazilian's side skill was on display for all of the 7+K fans at Red Bull Arena. 

That's it for me but check out SBI tomorrow for in-depth post game reaction from Hans Backe and some of the players in the SBI Video Corner.

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Final- 4-2 Cruzeiro with the victory. Thiago Ribeiro had 2 goals to lead the Brazilian side past the Red Bulls. Cacapa and Wellington Paulista had the other two. Juan Pablo Angel and Conor Chinn score in a losing effort for NYRB.

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87th Minute- Thiago Ribeiro with a chance for a hat trick off cross from Jonathan. Ribeiro just couldn't get a clean touch on it.

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80th Minute- Roger gets standing ovation from the crowd as he is subbed out in favor of Fabinho. Paulista also off for Elicarlos.

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79th Minute- Juan Agudelo in for Stammler and Tchani moves into central midfield.

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78th Minute- Hans Backe says that Chinn is always good for goals and although they aren't always pretty he continues to show he can finish.

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77th Minute- CONOR CHINN GOALLLL!!!!! The Red Bulls cut the lead to 4-2 on a sliding goal from Chinn. Tchani played the ball down the right wing to a streaking Wolyniec who played a great ball across the middle to Chinn.

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76th Minute- It's target practice on Greg Sutton. Diego Renan rips a shot at the top of the box just tipped wide by the RB kepper.

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74th Minute- Garcia slips past a defender and lays the ball to Wolyniec at the top of the box who blasts a shot way wide.

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73rd Minute- Thiago Ribeiro has been one of the best players for the Brazilian side. He cuts up Sassano in the box and rips a point blank shot at Sutton who parries the ball wide for the Cruzeiro corner.

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68th Minute- Cruzeiro is in complete control of this match. Besides the two Sassano crosses, NYRB hasn't sniffed a good chance in this second half. One positive to take from this match is Cruzeiro is more skillful than almost any MLS team. It's a good test for the Red Bulls to shake off the rust in a game that doesn't mean anything rather than a regular season match.

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66th Minute- Attendance tonight 7,680…not as bad as the 4K we heard before the match. Most of the fans are for Cruzeiro. Revs drew 12K against Cruzeiro last week.

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65th Minute- Paulista rips one from 35 yards out completely off target.

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63rd Minute- Garcia in for Hall and Chinn in for Angel.

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62nd Minute- Eliandro can fly. Loose ball in the middle picked up by the midfielder who streaks on goal but Sutton comes out well for the save.

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58th Minute- Eliandro for Robert and Marquinhos Parana for Henrique.

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57th Minute- Sassano another dangerous cross this time to Lindpere who heads it wide.

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54th Minute- Garcia, Chinn and Agudelo warming up for NYRB…the entire bench is warming up for Cruzeiro.

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53rd Minute- Dangerous cross from Sassano who finds Angel back post for the solid header but a great save by Rafael keeps the 4-1 lead for Cruzeiro.

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51st Minute- THIAGO RIBEIRO GOALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!! A TOUCH OF CLASS FROM THE STRIKER! Paulista plays a beautiful ball to Ribeiro who times his run perfectly. Ribeiro found himself one on one with Sutton and calmly cut it past Sutton and easily slotted it into the back of the net. 4-1 lead for the Brazilian club.

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47th Minute- GOAL CRUZEIRO!!!!!! Roger plays ball off free kick back post and Cacapa gets just enough on the header from the impossible angle for the 3-1 lead.

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46th Minute– Some changes for Red Bulls. Here is the new lineup:

—————Angel———-Wolyniec——————

Hall———–Stammler——-Lindpere———-Tchani

Borman———–Ream———–Mendes————-Sassano

—————————Sutton—————————-

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Halftime- Some house keeping here…the roster had it as Thiago Robeiro but it is in fact Ribeiro thanks to our reader who pointed that out. The NYC media thanks you as all of us would be incorrect in our stories tomorrow.

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Halftime– Angel and Lindpere exchange jerseys with Paulista and Roger so you would assume those four players are done for the night.

The Red Bulls have looked decent attacking but have had some major marking issues in the back. Cruzeiro is the strongest test they have seen all season as the Brazilian team has come to play. Cruzeiro has a ton of skill and NYRB is lucky its not four or five to one.

Let's see if NYRB can adjust at the half like they did in the friendly against Juventus
almost a month ago. This a game built for Irving Garcia who can inject some life into this RB offense. Wouldn't be bad to give Agudelo and Chinn a run as well for an entire half to see how they perform as the Red Bulls prepare for the continuation of the MLS season.

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45th Minute– Albright sends cross over the net on last chance before halftime.

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43rdth Minute– Roger plays seeing through ball to Robert who HITS THE POST on a shot that would have beat Coundoul. Robert and Thiago Robeiro have gotten behind Albright numerous times on the left flank.

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42nd Minute– Borman gets a warning as he tugs Jonathan's jersey after the defender cut him up. Jonathan has been driving the Cruzeiro attack out of right back playing dangerous ball after dangerous ball in the RB box.

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39th Minute– WHAT A SAVE BY COUNDOUL!!! Jonathan plays a great ball backpost to Ribeiro who heads it on net but Coundoul makes a quick reaction save to prevent the goal.

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36th Minute– Paulista lit up the Revs five days ago with a hat trick. He hasn't been a huge factor in this game besides two balls intended for him just out of reach. But a good striker doesn't always have to be on the ball to be effective. Paulista showed that with superb skill to get by two defenders for the goal.

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34th Minute– PAULISTA STRIKES FOR CRUZEIRO!!!! Wellington Paulista takes ball down on his chest and then fakes out both Albright and Petke to get free. The Brazilian then takes a touch to his left and rips it past Coundoul for the 2-1 lead.

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32nd Minute– GOAL RED BULLS!!!!!! JUAN PABLO ANGEL KNOTS IT UP!!! Lindpere plays corner back post and Chris Albright puts header across the goal. Angel knocks the gift wrapped goal in for the 1-1 tie.

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30th Minute– Another near miss for Paulista as Jonathan plays a ball across the goal mouth but Petke does just enough to disallow a clean touch from Paulista.

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28th Minute– Ream misses on ball off corner that could have knotted it up. Red Bulls pressing the last few minutes.

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27th Minute– Game has stalled a bit…Salou ran down a great ball from Borman out of the back but couldn't hold it. He's been having trouble all match holding the ball for the RB midfielders to run off of him. He is so much bigger than everyone else but can't seem to get a good touch on the ball to take advantage of that size.

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22nd Minute– Roger with great through ball to Thiago Ribeiro who plays ball across the goal mouth just out of the reach of Paulista.

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19th Minute– Lindpere with a great run and then cross into the middle but headed away from Cruzeiro defender just before Salou could get to it.

Red Bulls playing a bit better but the Brazilian squad still controlling the tempo so far.

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18th Minute– Roger rips one from 30 yards out but Coundoul makes easy save to his right. Still 1-0 Cruzeiro…

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14th Minute– I know some of you have asked about the injuries. Ubiparipovic and Nielsen are both left off the squad tonight. After the match I will ask about their statuses for next week. Look for an answer to that question in the post game video that will be up tomorrow morning.

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11th Minute– Nice footwork by Tchani on right wing as he cuts up a defender and plays a ball back to Albright. Albright finds a wide open Salou, but the big forward puts the header off frame.

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10th Minute– Angel shot deflected wide for RB corner. Nothing comes of it as it easily cleared by the Brazilians.

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9th Minute– That was poor defending by NYRB as no one wanted to contest Thiago Ribeiro at the the top of the box. These attacking players for Cruzeiro will strike if given that kind of space.

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7th Minute– GOAL CRUZEIRO!!!! Thiago Ribeiro cuts across the top of the box and hits a well placed shot beyond the reach of Coundoul! 1-0 Cruzeiro

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5th Minute– Thiago Ribeiro with a screeching shot just over the cross bar.

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4th Minute– Rafel handles the Linpere cross easily and the first real chant from the Brazilian supporters so far.

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3rd Minute-  Red Bulls get a free kick on a foul drawn by Salou right near corner flag.

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1st Minute– We're underway.

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Pregame- Probably about 6-7K here now with most being Cruzeiro fans. The Empire Supporters Club are here as always cheering on NYRB.

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Pregame- Dane Richards is not in the squad tonight, I will try to find out his status for next week after the match. Dane hurt his right hamstring in the Dynamo match on June 2nd.

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Pregame- It's pretty warm here at RB Arena and a beautiful night. Probably only about 4K here right now, don't know if they are expecting a lot more than that in the middle of the World Cup.

The Red Bulls just want to get some work in here to stay fresh before the MLS season resumes next weekend. They want to play some clean soccer and avoid any knocks.

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Pregame- Good evening everyone, Mike Nastri here with you for the live commentary.

Here are the lineups:

RED BULLS

—————Angel———-Ibrahim——————

Hall———–Stammler——-Lindpere———-Tchani

Borman———–Ream———–Petke————-Albright

—————————Coundoul—————————-

Cruzeiro

—-Thiago Ribeiro—–Robert——Paulista—-

Henrique—————Roger—————–Fabricio

Diego Renan——–Cacapa——–Gil———Jonathan

————————-Rafael———————————

Comments

  1. This game, along with Cruzeiro’s match against the Revolution, was heavily marketed to the Brazilian community on Globo tv, the leading Brazilian network, which is available on various providers around the New York region. Shockingly low attendance considering, even if Cruzerio doesn’t have any superstars. Seems like the Red Bulls, aside from Santos, should concentrate on Flamengo, Sao Paulo, Inernational, and Corinthians if they want to draw big crowds from the Brazilian community. You’d think the US-Brazil match at the new Meadowlands stadium will sell out — but tons of tickets are available now, so we’ll see.

    Reply
  2. I saw that “celebration” too. Cruzeiro is the rival of my club Atletico mineiro (there was a banner of the team at the NY supporters section) and i just felt like round house kicking all of them in the face, scoring a goal, doing a samba dance in front of the bench and kissing the american flag afterwards. that would be a dream come true.

    Reply
  3. Touch of class from these Brazilians? Are you kidding me? Did you see Paulista’s goal “celebration”? Romping around with his cheeks puffed and arms rounded at his sides signifying “fat americans”? I wouldn’t use the word class in the same sentence as these disrespectful classless scumbags, ridiculing us in our own house. What a shame when you get to see the true colors of what I once thought was a great footballing nation.

    Reply

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