On Oct. 23, few in Major League Soccer thought the New York Red Bulls would advance to their first-ever MLS Cup appearance. Heck, most thought the club would miss the playoffs altogether.
And yet, exactly a month later, the Red Bulls were at The Home Depot Center as one of the final two teams standing. Sure they lost to the Columbus Crew 3-1, but their Cinderella run through the postseason, which included thrilling victories at Houston and Real Salt Lake, will be remembered for some time.
"I'm really proud of what we achieved this year considering all the circumstances," Juan Pablo Angel said at The Home Depot Center following the final. "It doesn't necessarily mean I'm happy because we lost, but I think we went to a stage we weren't expected to reach."
To get to their first-ever final, the Red Bulls faced every obstacle imaginable, from the early retirement of a designated player to the substance abuse suspension of two starters late in the regular season. The run even surprised their head coach.
"As a coach and a human being that sees the glass half-full, I went into the season thinking we're going to make the playoffs and we're going to go probably to the final of the conference," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "But with all the adversity and all the problems and issues we were confronted throughout the season at some point I had doubts, reservations and concerns."
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SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The season started with the appointment of Osorio, who was named head coach of the Red Bulls on Dec. 18, 2007, becoming the club's 11th coach in 13 years. The former MetroStars assistant stresses stiff defense and that was evident early in the season when the Red Bulls conceded six goals in the first seven games.
However a 5-1 blowout by the Chicago Fire, who earned a measure of revenge against their former coach, followed on May 25. It would be the first of several lopsided losses for the Red Bulls.
Two weeks later, star striker Jozy Altidore was sold to Villarreal of Spain's La Liga, leaving Juan Pablo Angel without a partner up front.
Following two injury-plagued seasons, Claudio Reyna announced his retirement from soccer on July 16, leaving the Red Bulls without one of their two designated players and without their playmaker in the midfield.
Osorio was forced to go on a shopping spree, bringing in three South Americans in the midseason. Venezuelan internationals Gabriel Cichero and Jorge Rojas and Argentinean defensive midfielder Juan Pietravallo were all inserted into the starting lineup, but it was met with mixed results. After initial success, all three were benched for the stunning playoff run. Cichero was waived at season's end.
Osorio also added attacking players Matthew Mbuta and Mac Kandji from United Soccer League clubs at the roster freeze deadline for a Red Bulls club that seemed a lock to make the postseason after an undefeated August -- not counting, of course, a 6-2 exhibition loss to FC Barcelona at Giants Stadium on Aug. 6.
However, the Red Bulls won just one of their next seven matches and worse adversity was still yet to come.
The Red Bulls were dealt what at the time seemed to be a crushing blow when starting goalkeeper Jon Conway and central defender Jeff Parke became the first two players in Major League Soccer history to be suspended for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance on Oct. 16.
The 10-game suspensions came days before a critical home game against the Columbus Crew as the Red Bulls were battling for their playoff lives.
Untested rookie Danny Cepero was named the starting goalkeeper after Conway played every minute of every game. Not only did Cepero get a key win in his MLS debut, he also scored the goal that killed the game on an 80-yard free kick that bounced at the top of the 18-yard box and over the head of Columbus Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, in the process becoming the first goalkeeper to score a goal in an MLS game.
A win at Toyota Park on Oct. 23 against Chicago would clinch the 10th playoff berth in club history. Instead, the Fire thrashed the Red Bulls 5-2, meaning New York would have to wait three more days to find out their fate.
On the final day of the regular season, the Red Bulls made the playoffs when the Columbus Crew defeated D.C. United at Crew Stadium. New York earned the final of two wild card berths and was sent out West where they were set to face the mighty Houston Dynamo, the league's two-time defending champion.
The task of beating the Dynamo became even more daunting when versatile Seth Stammler had knee surgery just before the start of the postseason. Instead of playing Rojas and Pietravallo, Osorio rolled the dice and went with Sinisa Ubiparipovic, who has been a reserve for much of his two seasons, and rookie Luke Sassano, in the midfield.
The gamble paid off. Both players took the opportunity and ran with it during the postseason, especially keeping Houston's combination of Dwayne De Rosario and Ricardo Clark quiet during the Western Conference Semifinal Series.
Dane Richards was dominant in a remarkable 3-0 victory in the second leg of that series. The Red Bulls then jumped ahead early in the Western Conference Championship and withstood a wave of pressure the rest of the way to pull off a 1-0 victory against Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium to book their MLS Cup ticket.
Also by doing so, the Red Bulls qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.
"It's an incredible achievement by the club. I think we've taken some big steps this year and we've raised the bar," Red Bulls sporting director Jeff Agoos said. "This is certainly a very big step for the New York franchise, for the Red Bulls to be playing against some of the top clubs in this region and we hope to make the most of it."
While the Red Bulls might have stunned the MLS world by advancing to the MLS Cup, Osorio said the formula to get there was actually quite simple.
"At the end it was just a matter of playing organized football, effective football," Osorio said. "I think we did that and that's why we went far."
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