BUENOS AIRES --
The New York Red Bulls extended their preseason unbeaten streak to six on their 16-day tour of Argentina with a 1-1 draw against the Argentinos Juniors (UTA) of the Argentinean First Division Tuesday morning. New York is 2-0-1 in Argentina and 3-1-3 overall in the 2009 preseason with one match remaining during their trip on Friday, March 6 against the Boca Juniors reserve side.
The two teams played to a scoreless first half, though New York had most of the opportunities with Jorge Rojas taking a number of shots on net. At the half, head coach Juan Carlos Osorio substituted out eight players, but kept Rojas, Juan Pablo Angel and Kevin Goldthwaite in the match.
The Red Bulls finally broke through in the 67th minute when Jorge Rojas stepped up for a direct kick from 30 yards out and drilled a shot into the upper left corner past goalkeeper Moralie Diedo to give the Red Bulls a 1-0 lead.
But in the 75th minute, Argentinos Juniors leveled the match when Gonzalo Aban was set free with a pass that split the Red Bulls defense and sent him in alone on Red Bulls goalkeeper Danny Cepero. Aban took control of the ball and chipped it over Cepero and into the net.
"Today was an excellent opportunity to compete against a very good team," Osorio said. "It was a great opportunity for our players. We are very pleased. (It was) a very good first 60 minutes. After that we made some changes and we probably weakened the team. I think we did very well against a very good team and a very good coach."
"I think it was a good exercise today," Angel said. "What we came here to achieve was very positive. It created a bond with the team. The group is coming along really well. Fitness-wise, we've all improved. We were tested today, more than we have been before. I think it was a really good match."
Score by period: 1-2-F
NYRB: 0-1-1
UTA: 0-1-1
Scoring Summary:
NYRB: Rojas (67')
UTA: Aban (75')
New York Red Bulls (First Half) - Jon Conway, Carlos Mendes, Mike Petke, Kevin Goldthwaite, Nicolas Villafane, Dominic Oduro, Juan Pietravallo, Jorge Rojas, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Danleigh Borman, Juan Pablo Angel.
New York Red Bulls (Second Half) - Danny Cepero, Jack Traynor (Aklie Edwards, 67', Traynor, 82'), Kevin Goldthwaite (Gabriel Quirulef 62'), Andrew Boyens, Jeremy Hall, Khano Smith, Jorge Rojas (Nicolas Villafane, 67'), Luke Sassano, Nick Zimmerman, Dane Richards, Juan Pablo Angel (John Wolyniec, 62').
Argentinos Juniors (First Half) - Juan Carrera, Pedro Balbuena, Federico Pistone, Daniel Franco, Derlis Cardozo, Rafael Viotti, Facundo Alfonso, Carlos Recalde, Luis Bevacqua, Gabriel Perex, Mariano Martinez.
Argentions Juniors (Second Half) - Moralis Diego, Gonzalo Prosperi, Ignacio Canuto, Maximiliano Sola, Nicolas Berardo, Ciro Ruis, Franco Quiroga, Carlos Santibanez, Matias Cordoba, Gonzalo Aban, Nicolas Giianni.
Disciplinary Summary:
NYRB: Sassano (caution) 91'
NYRB: Wolyniec (caution) 91'
Time of Game: 1:48
