Kandji impresses new teammates

MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- Mac Kandji came to New York with nothing but the clothes on his back.

After scoring a goal for the Atlanta Silverbacks in a 1-1 draw at Seattle last Saturday, Kandji arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with his teammates. Kandji's cell phone rang and his agent told him to stay put.

Moments later, Kandji's phone rang again. His agent was on the line again, telling him to board a flight for Newark Liberty International Airport.

"I came to New York with my Atlanta travel gear," Kandji said. "It was a very tiring road trip to get here, but it was very exciting."

After going through an extensive physical Monday, the 23-year-old Senegalese forward officially joined the Red Bulls as the club's prized signing just before the MLS roster freeze deadline.

On Wednesday, Kandji joined his teammates at training for the first time, impressing Dave van den Bergh for one.

"He looked good, to be honest with you," he said. "I only saw him on the ball twice, but when he was on the ball he just deked three guys. He looks good, he looks very strong. My understanding, from what I heard, he's fast so hopefully he can help us."

Kandji spent two years with the Silverbacks, scoring 11 goals and adding five assists in 21 matches this year. He was named to the USL-1 Best XI five times and was twice named the USL-1 Player of the Week. His ability on the ball and flashy moves made him a fan favorite in Atlanta. That part of his game, he said, will remain the same despite moving up to MLS.

"I will never change the kind of player I am," Kandji said. "I think even higher levels from here I can still use that anywhere. I'm very confident with my skills and speed. You're going to see a lot of that in the MLS from me."

Red Bulls fans hoping to get a glimpse of Kandji in an MLS game, though, will have to wait at least another week. The team is letting Kandji's sprained right ankle heel and the lanky 6-foot-4 striker is targeting the Red Bulls' next home game -- Sept. 27 against Colorado.

"I will follow (Red Bulls head trainer Rick Guter's) advice," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "He's thinking in two weeks time he will be 100 percent. In the meantime we are trying to get him back into fitness and doing individualized training as much as we can.

"I don't know if he will be available for (the Colorado game) fully fit, but he will have definitely improved substantially," Osorio added.

Van den Bergh is also out for the Red Bulls for Thursday's match against league-leading Columbus. The veteran left-sided midfielder flew to Germany Wednesday and will undergo surgery Friday in Munich to repair a sports hernia. Dr. Ulrike Muschaweck will perform a "minimal repair technique." Chris Leitch and Carlos Mendes were among several New York players to get the same operation done.

Van den Bergh is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks.

"I've had it for a while, but I didn't want anyone to know because as soon as your opponents know that's not good," van den Bergh said. "We just kept it to ourselves."

With the Red Bulls in the thick of the playoff hunt, the timing isn't great. But if van den Bergh waited, the next possible time to get the surgery would have been Oct. 10.

"If it's not right I wont force the issue because otherwise I might be out for the rest of the year," he said. "I'm going to see how it feels and do the right thing for my body because otherwise I'm just going to aggravate it again. I just want to have it healed completely before I step on the field."

Jorge Rojas, who has played in an attacking midfielder role for the Red Bulls, will likely slide over to fill in for van den Bergh, while Mike Magee might play behind Juan Pablo Angel, who will likely be the lone forward in a 4-5-1 formation.

"I think it's the best team (I've been on) in terms of depth, the way we've been playing," Magee said. "The only thing that we've kind of struggled with has been road games. The last two games playing D.C. and Chicago were really tough games and I think we learned a lot."

The Red Bulls meet the Crew for the second time this season after opening the season with a 2-0 victory at Giants Stadium on April 5. Since then, though, the Red Bulls have added eight players.

If the playoffs were to start this week, the Red Bulls and Crew would be meeting in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. But right now the club's focus is on the excitement of playing against the best team in the league.

"I think this is the biggest game of our season," Osorio said. "I think playing against the top team in the league is, as I told the players, there is no extra motivation. It's the best possible game we can ask for."