ST. LOUIS -- When Chivas USA selected Michael Lahoud with the ninth overall pick of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, one of the happiest people in the St. Louis Convention Center Thursday afternoon was Juan Carlos Osorio.
That's because the New York Red Bulls coach would be able to pick up one of the two players he targeted with the club's first-round pick -- Indiana outside back Kevin Alston or Maryland outside midfielder Jeremy Hall.
Alston went with the next pick to the New England Revolution and the Red Bulls got Hall, who will immediately compete for the left-sided midfield slot vacated when Dave van den Bergh was traded to FC Dallas earlier this week.
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"It's a dream come true," Hall said. "I didn't know where I was going to go and to be selected by New York, it's a great team and I'm looking so forward to playing there and being a part of that great franchise."
That trade also allowed the Red Bulls to move up to the 11th overall pick and have a better chance at getting one of the players they valued.
"We needed to move from 14 to 11 to get one of those two players," Osorio said.
Osorio and Hall have a long history that dates back to their flight from Fort Lauderdale to St. Louis.
"I got to meet with him a little bit on the flight here to St. Louis from the Combine, we actually sat next to each other so we talked a little bit," Hall said. "I know he's a great coach, he's very experienced."
Hall is a pacy outside midfielder who scored 14 goals and had seven assists for Maryland, helping lead the Terrapins to the national championship. He was one of nine players to sign a Generation adidas contract, but struggled at bit at the MLS Player Combine and dropped a bit further down the draft list than expected.
That proved to be perfect, though, for the Red Bulls.
"We've been tracking him for a couple of years and we've seen his talent in college and we thought he was a phenomenal player," Red Bulls technical director Jeff Agoos said. "We're really looking forwarding to seeing how he makes the transition to MLS."
Also, as part of the van den Bergh trade, the Red Bulls received the 18th overall pick and selected 6-foot-4, 215 pound center back Babajide Ogunbiyi from Santa Clara, who has also played for the Nigerian under-23 national team.
"He is an imposing figure in the back," Osorio said. "If I'm honest there were four center backs in this Combine, two were already taken. I think he has those physical attributes we can work with and hope to develop him and make him more comfortable on the play."
With the 29th overall selection, the Red Bulls picked left fullback Jack Traynor out of Notre Dame. He was preceded in South Bend, Ind., by Kevin Goldthwaite and now might battle for a starting spot with the Red Bulls.
"We'll see what happens there, some friendly competition," Traynor said.
But according to Osorio, the two could still play on the field together because Goldthwaite can move over centrally.
With their final pick, the Red Bulls picked Nick Zimmerman out of James Madison, who can not only play right midfield, but is also versatile enough to see time at right back.
While the draft might be over, the building of the 2009 Red Bulls is far from done. While Hall could start immediately, Osorio said the No. 1 priority is to find a natural left-sided midfielder.
"We need to have competition for places and I would like a natural left-footed player in that position," Osorio said. "We now have to concentrate all our efforts in trying to get the identified targets that we have already. I'm confident we'll get one of them."
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