Washington, DC (Aug 7, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- As expected, Red Bull NY wasn't able to put up much of a game against Barcelona during their friendly match-up at Giants Stadium on Wednesday night.
"Today, it was frustrating for every one of us," Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel said. "But we got to play against the best players in Europe. There are very different ways to analyze the game. I think you can talk about futbol all day long here. The difference is that they are top players and we are trying to just to grow here and make the league better. That's the difference between MLS and Barcelona."
Goals from Xavi Hernandez in the 17th, Samuel Eto'o in the 18th, and Rafael Marquez in the 24th had the visitors 3-0 up before RBNY got it's opener through Seth Stammler in the 30th. Eto'o would make it 4-1 Barcelona at the half. Jorge Rojas pulled one back for Red Bulls at the hour mark, but Barcelona kept pressing the attack and got two more late. Jeffren Suarez in the 80th and Pedro Ramirez in the 85th.
"The result is very difficult to digest," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "But I want to look at the bigger picture and think that the players will benefit from games like we played today.... The moment is difficult, but at 9:30 tomorrow morning, we'll be working as hard as we can as always and preparing the game for Sunday. The players grow from this experience."
Barcelona finished with 22 shots (12 on goal) to RBNY's five with three on goal. Victor Valdes was forced to make one save, with New York's Jon Conway and Caleb Patterson-Sewell combing for six.
New York used five substitutions to Barcelona's eight, with both teams giving the fans 45 minutes of their regulars. Thierry Henry played 61 minutes for Barca.
"I think the crowd was great and a great fitting," Henry said. "Maybe, it would have been bigger if it was on a Saturday afternoon or a Sunday. We came here though to work and whoever came to the game I think enjoyed it and that's the important thing."
-- Game Report --
FC Barcelona (1-0-0) vs. New York Red Bulls (0-1-0)
August 06, 2008 -- Giants Stadium
Scoring Summary:
FCB -- Xavi Hernandez 1 (Daniel Alves ) 17
FCB -- Samuel Eto'o 1 (Xavi Hernandez ) 18
FCB -- Rafael Alverz Marquez 1 (Andres Lujan Iniesta 2, Xavi Hernandez 1) 24
NY -- Seth Stammler 1 (Dave van den Bergh ) 30
FCB -- Samuel Eto'o 2 (Alexander Hleb ) 43
NY -- Jorge Rojas 1 (Jeff Parke ) 60
FCB -- Jeffren Suarez 1 (Carles Puyol ) 80
FCB -- Pedro Ramirez 1 (Jeffren Suarez 1, Eidur Gudjohnsen 1) 85
FCB: Victor Valdes, Daniel Alves (Gerrard Pique 46), Rafael Alverz Marquez (Jose Martin Jose Martin 62), Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal, Alexander Hleb (Sergio Busquets 46), Andres Lujan Iniesta (Toure Yaya 46), Xavi Hernandez (Eidur Gudjohnsen 46), Seydou Keita (Bojan Krkic Perez 46), Samuel Eto'o (Pedro Ramirez 46), Thierry Henry (Jeffren Suarez 61).
Substitutes Not Used: Marc Crosas, Jose Manuel Pinto
RBNY: Jon Conway (Caleb Patterson-Sewell 46), Chris Leitch, Carlos Mendes (Luke Sassano 66), Jeff Parke, Kevin Goldthwaite (Andrew Boyens 88), Dave van den Bergh (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 72), Jorge Rojas, Juan Pietravallo, Seth Stammler, Danleigh Borman (Gabriel Cichero 46), Juan Pablo Angel.
Substitutes Not Used: Hunter Freeman, John Gilkerson, Diego Jimenez, Gordon Kljestan, Mike Magee, Chris Megaloudis, David Roth
Misconduct Summary:
Referee: Kevin Stott
Referee's Assistants: Greg Barkey; Craig Lowry
4th Official: Mark Geiger
Time Of Game: 1:51
Attendance: 38,152
Weather: Partly Cloudy -and- 85 degrees
Game Report and quotes courtesy of US Soccer Communications
