Osorio's midfield gamble pays off

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Juan Carlos Osorio rolled the dice.

Heading into the opening leg of the Western Conference Semifinal Series against the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo, the New York Red Bulls coach kept his prized South American midseason signings on the bench and instead went with a pair of central midfielders with little in the way of big game experience.

Sitting on the bench Saturday at Giants Stadium were Venezuelan internationals Jorge Rojas and Gabriel Cichero, as well as Argentinean defensive midfielder Juan Pietravallo, while Luke Sassano and Sinisa Ubiparipovic started together in the midfield for the first time since a 2-0 win against the San Jose Earthquakes on April 27.

"I am not afraid to make changes and there are no automatic choices in this team," Osorio said. "Whoever is playing well and whoever is showing me that is willing to play for this team and they are willing to play 100 percent, then they will play especially today."

While not naming names, Osorio said he was especially upset following last Thursday's 5-2 drubbing at Chicago with the lack of effort shown defending a corner kick in that match.

"There were players not doing their jobs," Osorio said. "I thought that wasn't disciplined so I took them off the starting lineup, simple as that, because we couldn't concede any goals that easy."

Osorio approached Sassano and Ubiparipovic before Thursday's training session, broaching the possibility that the two would be in the starting lineup to replace Pietravallo and Seth Stammler, who that night had season-ending knee surgery.

"We're going to need you on Saturday," Osorio told Ubiparipovic. "We're going to need you to play hard and give us your best."

Sassano said he expected his heart to be in his throat when he heard the news, but instead he composed himself and did some homework.

"I went back and watched some of the games I played and you watch the good things you do to get your confidence up," the rookie said. "In a playoff game there's a lot more at stake, but you have to take it like it's just another game. You go through your motions, do your routine and you just have to come out and be confident."

For Ubiparipovic, it was his first start since Sept. 6 in a 1-0 loss at Chicago, while Sassano was in the starting XI for the first time since a 2-0 win against Toronto FC on Aug. 17. But the two have performed well for the Red Bulls reserves of late.

"I feel we have a really good chemistry with each other," Sassano said. "Today was kind of one of those games you just have to battle out there."

Sassano and Ubiparipovic, who had a combined 35 minutes of playoff experience coming into Saturday, had the unenviable task of trying to lock down Dwayne De Rosario and Ricardo Clark, arguably the best central midfield combination in the league.

Neither was intimidated and both showed well.

"I think they did a job against them and if you look at the battle, I think they probably won it, which is what we needed," Andrew Boyens said. "Luke cleaned up everything, worked hard and passed the ball well and Sinisa was really creative for us at times, but also did well to battle back and did a good job defensively."

Added John Wolyniec: "I thought Luke had a phenomenal game. His work rate was incredible, he cut off a lot of plays and kept the ball for us, which was great, and a guy like Sinisa, who hasn't played in a while, played well, got forward and created chances and really covered a lot of ground."

Sassano played the full 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw, while Ubiparipovic left the match in the 77th minute, replaced by Pietravallo in Osorio's lone substitution.

"I think tonight we showed that we can compete with the best in MLS," Ubiparipovic said. "I thought we deserved to win, but it's 1-1 and now we've got to get over there and it's not going to be easy, but we're up for it."