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SWEET 16 :Haitian-American Josmer Altidore's late goal save NYRed Bulls in 1-0 win over Columbus Crews

Sept. 16, 2006

By Michael Lewis

BigAppleSoccer.com Editor

East Rutherford, N.J. -- At this point in the season, beggars certainly can?t be choosers.

So when a 16-year-old rookie forward who had all of nine minutes of pro soccer experience entering the game saves the Red Bulls' playoff hopes, no one on the team will complain.

Second-half substitute Jozy Altidore connected on a blazing 28-yard shot in the 83rd minute to lift the Red Bulls to a 1-0 MLS victory over the Columbus Crew at Giants Stadium Saturday night.

The fifth-place Bulls (7-9-11, 32 points) desperately needed the win to move within a point of the fourth-place and idle Kansas City Wizards (9-13-6, 33) in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

A loss and even a tie would have been devastating against the worst team in the league -- Columbus (6-14-8, 26) -- and because there are only five games remaining in the regular season.

"I don't know how to explain it, man," Altidore said of his first pro goal. "You sit on the bench and you pray for that one chance to get in. But you never think you'll score the game-winning goal in a game like this, the importance of it."

It certainly didn't faze Altidore that he did not have much time to savor the goal. He had to play in the Bulls' reserve game afterwards. He brought into the Red Bulls media room before coach Bruce Arena was so Altidore could start in the late match.

"I'm ready, man," he said.

The 5-10, 175-lb. Altidore, a member of the U.S. Under-17 National Team, certainly was ready when he replaced an injured John Wolyniec. Wolyniec was forced from the game with a bloodied right eye after an elbow by Marcos Gonzalez, who was red-carded in the 71st minute.

"I saw on the bench that we had two forwards," Altidore said. "Mike (Magee) had already gone in. Unfortunately, he had already had received a red card. So, I knew that my name was going to be called as soon as they got a second red."

Before he went in, coach Bruce Arena told Altidore, "We need a goal."

Altidore complied. Taking a pass from Seth Stammler, Altidore found himself alone on the left side and fired away.

"I was like, did that just go in?" Altidore said. "I thought I was day-dreaming for a second. I heard the crowd with the goal and I was like, 'Oh shoot, that was me.' "

Arena was impressed. "It was quite a goal," he said. "That young man has potential. It will be interesting to see how he makes progress over the next couple of years.

"One thing I see that he doesn't look like he's 16-year-old. We need to do a bone scan on him," Arena jokingly added.

But seriously, folks.

"He's a big, strong forward," Arena said. "You see in training, his feet isn't as good as they need to be. He gets in spots, can hold the ball up a little bit. He does a pretty good job in finishing. Let's face it, that's a big part of being a striker."

Until Altidore's goal, the game was an exercise in futility for the Bulls, who wound up with a man-advantage for 60 minutes thanks to a pair of Crew red cards before a crowd of 11,141.

The Bulls squandered a golden opportunity to take the lead on a missed Youri Djorkaeff penalty kick in the 57th minute after ex-MetroStar defender Chris Leitch handled a Chris Henderson cross in the penalty area. Former St. John's goalkeeper Bill Gaudette saved the kick.

"The goalkeeper moved," Arena said. "Fair enough."

After a rather lackluster start to the game in which neither side could dominate, the Bulls received a major break in the 20th minute when Crew forward Joseph Ngwenya was red-carded by referee

As Stammler and Ngwenya converged on an air ball in Red Bulls territory, the Crew forward kicked the defender in his chest, studs up.

After 44 minutes of failing to score, the Crew evened up things when Bulls midfielder Mike Magee was red-carded for elbowing ex-Metro Ezra Hendrickson in the 64th minute. Magee had entered the game three minutes prior for defensive midfielder Danny O?Rourke.

The Bulls eventually regained the man advantage in the 71st minute when Gonzalez was ejected for elbowing Wolyniec in the face. Wolyniec, who was bleeding profusely over his right eye, was forced from the match.

That's when Altidore took center stage and saved the Red Bulls? season for the time being. They host the New England Revolution at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"What can you say this point?" Arena said. "We just need three points. I'm not going to critique this a whole lot."

But Arena did go on to critique the referee.

"The calls tonight were a mystery to me," he said. "I couldn't follow it any more. I think some of the cards were pretty harsh against the Columbus players. I think the one with Wolyniec was just a foul.

"I saw it in the biggest stage of all in the World Cup and it was frightening, the officiating. The World Cup and games like tonight, it seems the referees get on the field and they are given a message on how to referee. I thought it was unfair for the Columbus players tonight. Having said that, we're going to take it."