MLS: New York's Red Bull Arena Opens with a Bang

After years of playing at Giants Stadium, the New York Red Bulls finally have a home of their own.

On a night filled with fireworks and celebrities like Super Bowl winner Reggie Bush, singer Kelly Rowland, Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, and former NY Cosmos great Franz Beckenbauer, the Red Bulls made their triumphant debut at Red Bull Arena by throttling Pele’s former club, Brazilian powerhouse Santos F.C., 3-1 in a friendly match in front of 25,000 fans.

Playing without their superstar, Juan Pablo Angel, the Red Bulls aggressively attacked and outmuscled the Santos.

Newly signed Joel Lindpere scored the first-ever goal at Red Bull Arena in the 11th minute. Two more goals by Mike Petke (44th minute) and Dane Richards (45th minute) gave the Red Bulls a 3-0 halftime lead.

Although Santos F.C. demonstrated beautiful ball movement with their passing, they weren’t able to convert them into goals until the last minute of the game. 

After an embarrassing 2009 campaign, the Red Bulls organization had a busy offseason. With the hiring of Erik Soler as their general manager/sporting director and Hans Backe as their manager, the Red Bulls organization has made it clear that the team will not have another embarrassing season.

With a new attacking strategy, the team had an undefeated preseason with a 7-0-3 record.

With the MLS season less than a week away, the Red Bulls have all the pieces to have a respectable year and attract new fans. With a new arena, manager, general manager, and players, anything less than a winning season will be unacceptable for Red Bull fans.

The next match will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 27, against the Chicago Fire.

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for Latino Sports (www.latinosports.com). Send Cesar a question or comment for potential use in a future column at [e-mail]. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots; you need JavaScript enabled to view it. Or write your comments below in the comment section.