After beating international powers Santos and Juventus earlier this year, the Red Bulls finally lost a high-profile friendly, 4-2 to Cruzeiro. They did it in front of a mostly pro-Brazilian crowd that made its way from the Ironbound to see a team from their homeland dissect their hometown team.
There was little of the drama of the World Cup, and no noise-making vuvuzelas, just 7,680 mostly yellow-and-blue clad fans cheering for Cruzeiro. Thiago Ribeiro scored a brace, while the Red Bulls got to play in the middle of their three-week World Cup break, before a June 26 return in Kansas City.
“It’s a good exercise for us after the break to get in the rhythm again,” said captain Juan Pablo Angel, who scored an equalizing goal in the 32nd minute. “It was a difficult game for us because right from the go they were the better side. When you play against teams like this they give you a reminder you have to be on your toes all the time, and don’t give time and space to good players.”
That’s exactly what happened. Coach Hans Backe experimented by keeping a high line and pressuring Cruzeiro. The 2009 Copa Liberatdores finalists made them pay, with Wellington Paulista — who had a hat-trick in Cruzeiro’s recent 3-0 rout of New England — scoring the go-ahead goal just two minutes after Angel’s.
He cut back in the box to nearly send cornerback Mike Petke to the ground, and beat goalkeeper Bouna Condoul. Cacapa heading home a Ribeiro cross a minute into the second half, and Paulista played Ribeiro in alone on Sutton for a 4-1 lead in the 51st minute. Rookie Conor Chinn slid onto a John Wolyniec cross for the final margin.