The Red Bulls held their annual media day this afternoon ahead of Saturday's RBA curtain raiser against Santos. There was good news and some not so good news, not to mention a massive cake created by Hoboken's own Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro.
Let's get the not so great stuff out of the way first. Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer reports that, as a result of Julian De Guzman's horror tackle in the second half of the Disney championship game in Florida, Juan Pablo Angel will not be playing on Saturday and is even in some doubt for the MLS opener against Chicago (assuming it happens). De Guzman should receive a warm New Jersey welcome on his next visit.
Now for the good. Brian Lewis spoke with Juan Agudelo and reports on his Twitter feed that though Agudelo has not yet signed with MLS, he expects that New York is where he will end up. Lewis and several others also asked coach Hans Backe about the Ze Roberto rumors that made the rounds again this morning, and Backe denied that there was any substance to them.
As for new players, Michael Lewis inquired about the status of Ibrahim Salou, the hulking striker currently on trial from Danish club Vejle. Backe told Lewis he would make a decision on the Ghanaian following Saturday's game. Finally, Dave Martinez at The Offside brings us a bunch of great pics from inside the stadium, including the image of the cake (above) and one of Chris Albright in training for the first time.
Edit: Even more RBA media day goodness, including some great video clips, courtesy of First Row Photos.
And one additional item we neglected to mention. The club unveiled the franchise's all time First XI, as voted on by fans. The tasty lineup goes as follows (not bad for a club that's never won a major trophy):
Goalkeeper: Tim Howard
Defenders: Jeff Parke, Mike Petke, Eddie Pope
Midfielders: Youri Djorkaeff, Amado Guevara, Tab Ramos, Dave van den Bergh
Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Juan Pablo Angel, Clint Mathis
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