While the New York Red Bulls are currently in their offseason and preparing for the 2007 campaign, their sister club, Red Bull Salzburg, has been dominating the Austrian Bundesliga.
Heading into their winter break, through the first 21 games of the season, the Red Bulls lead the Bundesliga by 10 points over nearest rival SV Mattersburg, earning a 13-5-3 record. Red Bull Salzburg has been led by forward Alexander Zickler, who has scored a league-leading 16 goals this season.
The Red Bulls have been strong on both ends of the field, scoring the most goals in the league (44) and conceding the fewest (12). To boost their squad, Salzburg most recently signed Japanese national team defender and captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto from Gamba Osaka of the J-League. Miyamoto, 29, has 70 caps and featured in the past two World Cups.
"He was right up there at the top of the wish lists of both myself and [head coach Giovanni] Trapattoni," said coach Lothar Mätthaus. "A player of his experience and caliber would make any European club stronger, which makes us even more thrilled to have Miyamoto join our team."
With the best home and away record going into the break, the autumn champion will start training again for the second half of the season on Jan. 8 with a winter camp in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai from Jan. 22 to Feb. 4. The Red Bulls will also host the Bulls Cup, an invitational tournament featuring FC Bayern Munich and the Urawa Red Diamonds.
Red Bull Salzburg reopens their Austrian Bundesliga play on Feb. 24 against GAK.
