They’ve showcased their skills in a pair of U.S. Open Cup matches in front of a handful of fans and have impressed when coming off the bench in some Major League Soccer matches so far. But the Red Bulls reserves took a step up in class Sunday, taking on Italian powerhouse Juventus in an international friendly at Red Bull Arena.
“I just came from college and playing against Diego and [Alessandro] Del Piero, I’ve been watching those guys since I was little,” Red Bulls rookie midfielder Tony Tchani said. “In the beginning I was so nervous. But when I saw these guys I said this is going to be a good game.”
The Baby Bulls struck three times in the second half, beating a tired Juve squad, 3-1, in front of 18,735 at Red Bull Arena Sunday afternoon.
“I’m very, very happy with the way we were organized today, how we defended,” Red Bulls coach Hans Backe said. “Also, our attacking game was excellent. We didn’t force anything, we got a lot of possession from central positions in midfield, we got wide to our wing players and created a lot of chances and good attacks. It’s a great, great game today.”
Juventus capped the Serie A season two weeks ago, finishing a disappointing seventh in the league. Stars Diego, Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet and Fabio Grosso started the match for Juve.
“The Red Bulls definitely played a great game, but we are disappointed with the result,” Del Piero said. “As time went on we started feeling tired from the long trip and the entire season.
The friendly also came at a bad time for the Red Bulls, which already has a congested schedule.
Just three days after losing to the Columbus Crew, 3-1, in a league game, the Red Bulls stepped back on the field Sunday and Backe wisely went with a younger lineup.
“We have to cope with it, it’s a busy time for us before the [World Cup] break…but they showed a lot of energy, we didn’t look tired,” Backe said. “We have young players who can step in and show what they can do.”
One of those players is Irving Garcia. The rookie midfielder is yet to make his MLS debut, but he impressed, especially in the attacking third. He knifed through the Juve defense and forced Austrian goalkeeper Alex Manninger into a difficult save in the sixth minute. In the 19th minute, the rookie midfielder served a perfect ball into the box, but was unable to connect with Conor Chinn.
“It was amazing playing with that crowd,” said Garcia, who nabbed Diego’s jersey post-game. “Obviously Del Piero, Trezeguet, Diego, it’s one of my dreams come true to play with big guys like them. It’s amazing.”
Garcia set up the game’s first goal when he attacked open space and hit a blistering shot from 26 yards that caromed off the crossbar. Jeremy Hall took the ball off his chest and calmly finished in the 50th minute.
“We were all excited, standing in the lineup next to Del Piero, Grosso and all of those guys, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” Hall said. “But once you get on the field, we have nothing to lose, it’s a friendly. These are top international players in the world, so we just go out there, have fun, show off our skill and show that we can compete with these guys.”
Five minutes later, Chinn, who scored twice against the Philadelphia Union in a U.S. Open Cup qualifier, struck for the second goal, putting Roy Miller’s cross past Menninger from six yards.
“I think everyone was just excited to play a team like Juventus,” Chinn said. “I think it was a thing where we had to treat them with respect, but not too much respect.”
Red Bulls captain Juan Pablo Angel , who came on as a substitute in the 68th minute, scored the Red Bulls final goal in the 75th minute, finishing Dane Richards’ cross first time from in front of the net.
Amauri scored low from inside the 18-yard box in the 90th minute, one of the few things the large Juventus crowd had to cheer.
“We are getting ready to go to our break, we were not in the right conditions to play a game with this team, but it does not matter,” Juventus forward David Trezeguet said. “The only thing that matters is that nobody got hurt and we are all healthy…This is the most important thing.”
For the Red Bulls, the most important thing is that its young players got a chance to step on the field and hold their own against world-class players, albeit stars who have already started their vacation.
“I think we did pretty good,” Tchani said. “In the second half we kept the ball, we scored three goals on those guys. That’s big, that’s huge.”