Aug 5th return leg, prelim in CONCACAF Champions League, Giants Stadium, NY 8 pm EDT
live on FSC
http://www.atdhe.net/http://www.tntingermany.com/player/mp3player.swf?file=http://www.tntingermany.com/mp3/music/superblue-wconnection.mp3PREVIEW.Connection confident of win in Red Bull territory
By: Randy Bando (ttproleague.com).W Connection head coach Stuart Charles Fevrier is confident that his players will register a win in Wednesday’s visit to the Red Bull New York at the Giants Stadium in their second leg clash of the CONCACAF Champions’ League preliminary round.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for us. They(Red Bulls) will be at home and they are boosted by their two away goals, however we are a big team,” said Fevrier.
W Connection opened the scoring against the MLS club through a Jonathon Frias strike heading in Hughton Hector’s corner in the 40th minute but conceded two deflected goals in the second half by Red Bulls’ Ernst Obster and Alfredo Pacheco before Hector salvaged a 2-2 draw in the 72nd minute with a brilliant strike.
“We were a little unfortunate,” said the Connection coach over the deflected goals that got past goalkeeper Marvin Phillip. “That’s football...these things happen.”
“However the focus now shifts to Wednesdays match,” continued the St Lucian. “We had a fare amount of chances on Thursday night and I believe that we can get a victory and move into the Group stage of the (CONCACAF) Champions’ League.”
“I think our players showed character and to come from 2-1 down and earn a draw,” he ended.
W Connection are expected to depart Trinidad on Sunday with no changes to Thursday’s squad that faced Red Bull New York in the first leg.
Thursday’s First Leg 18-man squad against Red Bull New York
Marvin Phillip(gk), Jan Michael Williams(gk), Elijah Joseph, Jonathon Frias, Matthew Bartholomew, Gerrard Williams, Keryn Navarro, Igor Santos, Andrei Pacheco, Kern Cupid, William Da Silva Oliveira, Clyde Leon, Andre Toussaint, Hughton Hector, Renato Pereira, Eder Gilmar Aras, Kelvin Modeste, Christian Viveros
The Red Bulls want credibility. Street cred on the line in two hours
By Brian Lewis (NY Post)Follow the Post's soccer coverage on Twitter!
Talk to the Red Bull front office about what this organization needs, and the same word keeps coming up: Credibility. They're building the country's finest soccer stadium in Harrison, surrounded by futbol fans who live and breathe the sport but could care less about this team. Their mission is to change that, and the biggest hurdle comes tonight at Giants Stadium.
Red Bull managing director Erik Stover and sporting director Jeff Agoos know to capture the fans from Harrison _ the second-generation Europeans from Kearny, and the Portuguese and Brazilians from the Ironbound _ they need soccer street cred. And the first step is getting by W Connection and into the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League.
"With the way the seasons gone, the disappointing results we've had, getting into the playoffs is almost (impossible),'' Agoos said. "It's a long-shot at best; so this game will give us the opportunity to move into the group play of a prestigious tournament and hopefully gain some credibility back.''
"We take it very serious. We take this tournament as if it were the goal for this year at this point. This is what we need to do. I think it is a little bit of flag-waving for MLS, but I think our main concern is flag-waving for Red Bull.''
Since the CONCACAF Champions Cup was replaced last season with the Champions League, MLS hasn't done much flag-waving; just a lot of surrendering.
New England and Chivas USA went winless in the preliminary stage last year, with Toronto eliminated this year. No MLS club had ever advanced out of the prelims until D.C. United mustered a 1-1 tie Tuesday night against Luis Angel Firpo, and moved through to the group stage on penalty kicks.
Now the Red Bulls are trying to match that feat, and went into tonight's home leg with the upper hand. They tied 2-2 in Trinidad, and are coming back to Giants Stadium with two vital away goals. A win or a 0-0 or 1-1 draw earns them the group stage _ and at least a chance to earn just a little bit of that credibility they seek.
Granted, for a club mired in a 14-game winless streak in all competitions _ putting coach Juan Carlos Osorio's job squarely on the line _ nothing is ever certain or easy. And for their mission of gaining traction in the discerning New York soccer community _ and building some much needed equity with their fans _ they could ill afford to lose at home to the Caribbean champs.
"(We need) a credible product on the field. Over the years we've struggled,'' Stover admitted, in an understatement of vast proportions. This club has lost more games than anybody in the history of MLS, with their fan base becoming more and more disgruntled and calling for the heads of both Osorio and Agoos.
"It's very important for us; if we're going be successful, if we're gong to sell out this stadium, we're going to do it with passionate soccer fans, and we have to have credibility with them. Walk down the street in the Ironbound, you'll see 20 soccer jerseys, and none of them are Red Bull jerseys. We have to change that. We have to get them to believe in what we're doing.''
That'll be easier said than done, convincing a Brazilian to support Red Bull as well as Sao Paulo, a Portuguese to cheer for Red Bull as well as Sporting Lisbon. But that's the task _ and the first step to being taken seriously is getting past W Connection and into a group stage.
That would set up six legitimate international games this summer and fall, with three at home. Picture a meaningful contest against storied six-time Mexican champ Pumas UNAM on Sept. 30 at an electric Giants Stadium, knowing the knockout stage is on the line.
The Red Bulls are sixth in MLS in merchandise sales, but have a vast untapped market because they spent years marketing to soccer moms and ignoring the urban fan. The old MetroStars' only forays into attracting hardcore fans were ethnic pandering _ but they rarely gave the Colombians or any other group a quality product to back.
But a result tonight buys them at least the rest of the summer and the fall to undo much of the damage this season has done. It earns them a half-dozen games with which to prove to disenchanted fans that 2010 isn't just about a big 25,000-seat real estate deal, but that this club has a future worth supporting. Six games to earn some street cred.
And it starts in two hours.