The New York Red Bulls have enjoyed plenty of attention in the last week. Not only did Bruce Arena take over the coaching staff, but two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash made a cameo appearance in training, and the Red Bulls played European champions Barcelona in front of 79,000 fans on Saturday.
“Our boys had a great experience the other night against Barcelona,” said new Red Bulls assistant coach John Harkes. “We’re hoping that they can learn from some of the things in that game, that tremendous experience of being exposed against the best players in the world, and just try to carry over some good, positive things from that.”
The Red Bulls are unbeaten in their last four regular season matches.
United is eager to get back on track in the league after a heartbreaking defeat at Real Salt Lake on July 29, but the familiar faces in New York — Arena and Harkes on the sideline and recently acquired fiery midfielder Dema Kovalenko on the field — promise to make it a challenge.
“[Kovalenko’s] up and down, up and down. He’s a hard worker and he’s going to get to get in your face, so that you know,” said United forward Freddy Adu. “I think it’s going to be tough for us now that they’ve got Bruce as their coach. In some stretches they looked great against Barcelona, so we gotta take this game very seriously.”
D.C. United (13-2-6) at Red Bull New York (5-6-9)
» Where: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
» When: Tonight, 7:30
» TV: None
» Radio: WMET-1160 AM, WACA-1540 AM
