Goals galore in an exhibition game that left no one unfulfilled, and All4All Blogger MoHaMeD was there to enjoy it all.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- It took the crowd of 38,152 a few minutes to settle into their seats, but FC Barcelona needed no such coaxing. From the first whistle Pep Guardiola’s side, fielding close to a full-strength XI, ran rings around the Red Bulls en route to a comfortable 6-2 pre-season win.
It was pure champagne soccer in the first half as Barcelona played the equivalent of half-court basketball. The backline of Eric Abidal, Carlos Puyol, Rafa Marquez and Daniel Alves defended comfortably from the halfway line; their midfield combination of Xavi and Andres Iniesta passed at will and controlled the flow of play.
The Red Bulls could only watch and defend as chance after chance flashed in front of Jon Conway’s goalmouth. When Thierry Henry found the net on 15 minutes, tapping in a Samuel Eto’o pass from the left, the relief on Conway’s face to see the linesman flag up said it all.
It was to prove light relief, though, because less than three minutes later, Alves flung a menacing cross in from the right wing on the overlap, and Xavi rose unmarked between at the edge of the 6-yard box to head home through Conway’s hands.
The vocal, playful crowd expected more. They had come to see all that Barcelona is supposed to be, creative, quick, mythical, almost. And they were not to be disappointed.
Barely a minute later, Barca struck again. The Red Bulls lost possession--again. Iniesta pushed forward, untouched, before releasing Eto’o up the middle with a perfectly weighted pass that left Carlos Mendes and Jeff Parke helpless to Eto’o’s crisp, low finish under Conway. Brilliant execution from the mercurial midfielder, who enjoyed a wonderful run of form during Spain’s route to victory in Euro ’08, and it sent the carnival crowd into delirium.
There was a palpable tension in the press box by this point, as writers stopped to laugh and guess as to just how high the score might get. It was both curious and frustrating. No one wants to see a professional team, the home side, even, crushed beyond recognition.
But there was nothing New York could do when Barcelona struck again just five minutes on. Marquez flicked Iniesta’s shot into the roof of the net, leaving Conway helpless. After the goal, his facial expression shouted for mercy; wide-eyed, bemused and befuddled, he couldn’t help but crack a small smile as Barca celebrated. Hard as it is for any goalkeeper to swallow goals, he knew was this was: Barcelona’s day, their spotlight, and despite his inability to fend off their attacks, one got the impression that he couldn’t help but enjoy the atmosphere.
It wasn’t all glory and gusto from the Blaugrana, as veteran goalkeeper Victor Valdes gifted a simple tap-in goal to Seth Stammler on the half-hour mark. Dave van den Bergh’s seemingly innocuous cross from the right slipped right through Valdes’ grasp, and Stammler was on-hand to smash the ball into the empty net.
The game sagged a little heading into half-time, although Barca’s fourth goal on 43 minutes was the pick of the bunch: recent Arsenal transfer Alexandre Hleb cut in from the right flank, beating two defenders into the box before feeding the electric Eto’o. His first touch brushed him past a tackle and his next slid the ball under Conway for his second goal of the night.
Barcelona made several changes at half-time and let their up-and-coming teenagers run the show. While the tempo and pace became less frantic after the break, Barca ceded little time or territory to the Red Bulls, dictating the game in the same way their seniors had done: controlled passing, sustained possession, continual off-the-ball movement and constant menace. Yaya Toure and Sergio Busquets, while lacking the polish of Xavi and Iniesta, gave assured, confident performances that must delight Guardiola as to the strength in depth of his squad.
However, it was the Red Bulls who scored first after the restart, thanks to another Valdes error in judgment. While their goals were far from goodwill in this playful fixture, a dangerous cross from the right side by the tireless Parke skidded under Valdes’ late dive and Rojas tapped it in for his first goal as a Bull. Obviously Valdes was going through the motions on this night. Either that, or Guardiola better start looking for a new goalkeeper.
From there, the game became the usual mish-mash of mistimed tackles and substitutions that one finds in friendlies such as this, but the Blaugrana still found time to squeeze in two late goals; the first saw Puyol (playing a more attacking role in the 2nd half, much to his delight) advance down the right and cutting the ball back to the penalty spot for sub Jeffren Suarez to curl it round substitute goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell, whle the second saw Suarez’s mazy run down the right end with a cut back to Pedro who finished firmly from close to the penalty spot five minutes from time.
After all the off-field distractions involving Ronaldinho’s protracted transfer to AC Milan and the confusion surrounding Messi’s desire to play for his country during the Olympics, it was another self-assured, clinical outing for the Barca superstars, most of whom took a spot on the bench for the second half. La Liga is grueling, and they need to take this sparkling run of form (19 goals and only 5 allowed in 4 matches before tonight) into their early-season schedule. Their midfield shone brightest, and Eto’o put his own petulance behind him with two well-taken goals.
For the Red Bulls, there were few positives, but Rojas and half-time substitute/new face Gabriel Cichero acquitted themselves well against the Barcelona attack. It was hardly the best pick-me-up after a difficult run of recent form, but the Red Bulls must put the carnival behind them and concentrate and reversing the tide of four defeats in their last 5 competitive matches. Meanwhile, it’s onward and upward for Barcelona, who begin preparations for their UEFA Champions League qualifier against Polish league champions Wisla Krakow.
The crowd filtered out in the last few minutes, missing the obligatory swapping of shirts and handshakes between the teams, but they took home the memories of a clinical, thoroughly enjoyable match. Barcelona fans outnumbered Red Bulls supporters in the stands, but the most uplifting sight came in the vast number of neutral fans that flooded the Meadowlands to enjoy the festivities.
Surrounded by the vocal Barca culers, beating drums and dancing from start to finish, they were given a show that everyone could appreciate, regardless of allegiance. It was a welcome alternative to the dour, unimaginative performances from West Ham and Everton against MLS sides in recent days, and as we headed back to the car, passing fans in soccer shirts from around the world, there was precious little to groan about.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- It took the crowd of 38,152 a few minutes to settle into their seats, but FC Barcelona needed no such coaxing. From the first whistle Pep Guardiola’s side, fielding close to a full-strength XI, ran rings around the Red Bulls en route to a comfortable 6-2 pre-season win.
It was pure champagne soccer in the first half as Barcelona played the equivalent of half-court basketball. The backline of Eric Abidal, Carlos Puyol, Rafa Marquez and Daniel Alves defended comfortably from the halfway line; their midfield combination of Xavi and Andres Iniesta passed at will and controlled the flow of play.
The Red Bulls could only watch and defend as chance after chance flashed in front of Jon Conway’s goalmouth. When Thierry Henry found the net on 15 minutes, tapping in a Samuel Eto’o pass from the left, the relief on Conway’s face to see the linesman flag up said it all.
It was to prove light relief, though, because less than three minutes later, Alves flung a menacing cross in from the right wing on the overlap, and Xavi rose unmarked between at the edge of the 6-yard box to head home through Conway’s hands.
The vocal, playful crowd expected more. They had come to see all that Barcelona is supposed to be, creative, quick, mythical, almost. And they were not to be disappointed.
Barely a minute later, Barca struck again. The Red Bulls lost possession--again. Iniesta pushed forward, untouched, before releasing Eto’o up the middle with a perfectly weighted pass that left Carlos Mendes and Jeff Parke helpless to Eto’o’s crisp, low finish under Conway. Brilliant execution from the mercurial midfielder, who enjoyed a wonderful run of form during Spain’s route to victory in Euro ’08, and it sent the carnival crowd into delirium.
There was a palpable tension in the press box by this point, as writers stopped to laugh and guess as to just how high the score might get. It was both curious and frustrating. No one wants to see a professional team, the home side, even, crushed beyond recognition.
But there was nothing New York could do when Barcelona struck again just five minutes on. Marquez flicked Iniesta’s shot into the roof of the net, leaving Conway helpless. After the goal, his facial expression shouted for mercy; wide-eyed, bemused and befuddled, he couldn’t help but crack a small smile as Barca celebrated. Hard as it is for any goalkeeper to swallow goals, he knew was this was: Barcelona’s day, their spotlight, and despite his inability to fend off their attacks, one got the impression that he couldn’t help but enjoy the atmosphere.
It wasn’t all glory and gusto from the Blaugrana, as veteran goalkeeper Victor Valdes gifted a simple tap-in goal to Seth Stammler on the half-hour mark. Dave van den Bergh’s seemingly innocuous cross from the right slipped right through Valdes’ grasp, and Stammler was on-hand to smash the ball into the empty net.
The game sagged a little heading into half-time, although Barca’s fourth goal on 43 minutes was the pick of the bunch: recent Arsenal transfer Alexandre Hleb cut in from the right flank, beating two defenders into the box before feeding the electric Eto’o. His first touch brushed him past a tackle and his next slid the ball under Conway for his second goal of the night.
Barcelona made several changes at half-time and let their up-and-coming teenagers run the show. While the tempo and pace became less frantic after the break, Barca ceded little time or territory to the Red Bulls, dictating the game in the same way their seniors had done: controlled passing, sustained possession, continual off-the-ball movement and constant menace. Yaya Toure and Sergio Busquets, while lacking the polish of Xavi and Iniesta, gave assured, confident performances that must delight Guardiola as to the strength in depth of his squad.
However, it was the Red Bulls who scored first after the restart, thanks to another Valdes error in judgment. While their goals were far from goodwill in this playful fixture, a dangerous cross from the right side by the tireless Parke skidded under Valdes’ late dive and Rojas tapped it in for his first goal as a Bull. Obviously Valdes was going through the motions on this night. Either that, or Guardiola better start looking for a new goalkeeper.
From there, the game became the usual mish-mash of mistimed tackles and substitutions that one finds in friendlies such as this, but the Blaugrana still found time to squeeze in two late goals; the first saw Puyol (playing a more attacking role in the 2nd half, much to his delight) advance down the right and cutting the ball back to the penalty spot for sub Jeffren Suarez to curl it round substitute goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell, whle the second saw Suarez’s mazy run down the right end with a cut back to Pedro who finished firmly from close to the penalty spot five minutes from time.
After all the off-field distractions involving Ronaldinho’s protracted transfer to AC Milan and the confusion surrounding Messi’s desire to play for his country during the Olympics, it was another self-assured, clinical outing for the Barca superstars, most of whom took a spot on the bench for the second half. La Liga is grueling, and they need to take this sparkling run of form (19 goals and only 5 allowed in 4 matches before tonight) into their early-season schedule. Their midfield shone brightest, and Eto’o put his own petulance behind him with two well-taken goals.
For the Red Bulls, there were few positives, but Rojas and half-time substitute/new face Gabriel Cichero acquitted themselves well against the Barcelona attack. It was hardly the best pick-me-up after a difficult run of recent form, but the Red Bulls must put the carnival behind them and concentrate and reversing the tide of four defeats in their last 5 competitive matches. Meanwhile, it’s onward and upward for Barcelona, who begin preparations for their UEFA Champions League qualifier against Polish league champions Wisla Krakow.
The crowd filtered out in the last few minutes, missing the obligatory swapping of shirts and handshakes between the teams, but they took home the memories of a clinical, thoroughly enjoyable match. Barcelona fans outnumbered Red Bulls supporters in the stands, but the most uplifting sight came in the vast number of neutral fans that flooded the Meadowlands to enjoy the festivities.
Surrounded by the vocal Barca culers, beating drums and dancing from start to finish, they were given a show that everyone could appreciate, regardless of allegiance. It was a welcome alternative to the dour, unimaginative performances from West Ham and Everton against MLS sides in recent days, and as we headed back to the car, passing fans in soccer shirts from around the world, there was precious little to groan about.
No comments:
Post a Comment