RED BULLS WIN

The New York Red Bulls (2-3-2, 8 pts.) got its first road win last Saturday night at DC United’s RFK Stadium in the nation’s capital. The 2-0 defeat of host DC United (1-4-1, 4 pts.) came from goals by forward Thierry Henry and defender Jamison Olave and put New York in fourth-place tie in the Eastern Conference.

Henry’s 25-yarder in the 29th minute beat DC goalkeeper Bill Hamid as it took a bad bounce just in front the goalkeeper before landing in the goal. The Red Bulls though did find the back of the net moments after Juninho’s corner kick was flicked on by Brandon Barklage and nudged into the goal by Olave at the 36th minute. In other MLS games last weekend, Portland beat San Jose, 1-0, and Dallas defeated Los Angeles by the same score; Philadelphia and Toronto, Montreal and Columbus, and Real Salt lake and Vancouver, all played to 1-1 draws; Houston beat Chicago, 2-1, and Colorado topped Chivas USA, 1-0.

CONCACAF hosts FIFA President Blatter

Jeffrey Webb, the new CONCACAF president, is really working the public relations circuit and strengthening his relationships in FIFA in an effort to shore up CONCACAF regions in need of more development. He is pursuing his mission to re-establish CONCACAF as one of the most effective and successful confederations in FIFA. Webb, also a FIFA vice president, vowed recently to lift the standard of administrative operations and the standard of play throughout the Caribbean and North and Central America. In this regard, the CONCACAF president hosted FIFA President Joseph Blatter and Secretary General Jerome Valcke in a Caribbean tour recently.

“We are honored to have President Blatter and Secretary General Valcke for a week-long tour to see some of the advancements within the CONCACAF region,” said Webb during a press conference. “At CONCACAF, we are following FIFA’s footprints by empowering the region through development.”

The contingent visited Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba, places in need of more exposure and development, since the focus was to inaugurate FIFA Goal Projects in those regions. The FIFA Goal Projects are an initiative to build stadiums and administrative buildings in under-developed countries and in other areas in need of expansion.

In the Dominican Republic, that nation’s soccer federation’s president, Osiris Guzman, led the delegation on visits to past Goal Project initiatives such as the Joseph Blatter Technical Center and the new Pan-American Soccer Stadium. The group also visited the future site of the next FIFA Goal Project, where a futsal field will be built.