The New York Red Bulls return from a two-and-a-half week break on Friday when the Chicago Fire visit Red Bull Arena on Pride Night, presented by Bayer.
The break from the league action, which comes after 16 league games, serves as an unofficial midway point. For the players, it offered a chance to recharge and get ready for a busy second-half of the season, including seven games in the next 30 days.
“I think you always have to take it as a positive, like I said, we could recover physically and also, you know, refresh your mind and mentally,” Danny Royer said. “But then when you come back you always have to show up again with the right mentality and focus, and I think everybody did that during this week.”
While the time off allowed for recovery, the team’s veterans know that they will need to be ready from the first whistle on Friday night.
“We’re in the business half of the season,” captain Luis Robles said. “We had a scrimmage a couple of days ago that I think accomplished its purpose of getting some of the rust off because that’s something that we’re really going to go up against. I think it was a great training session. I think the guys are ready to go and they know what’s at stake here.”
New York and Chicago have already faced off once this season, with the Fire taking a 1-0 victory at Seatgeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
“They are good team,” Robles said. “You look at their roster, starting from their sixes to their attacking pieces -- they’re very dangerous. I don’t think their record accurately reflects what they’re capable of. But we also have our own agenda. We want to get as many points as possible because we want to continue to climb the table as well. Knowing that this year with the new playoff system, standings, the seeding, is very important so every single one of these games at home has to be three points.”
Kickoff on Friday night is set for 8 p.m. ET, with coverage on UniMas and Red Bulls Radio in English and Spanish. Tickets for all home matches are available by calling 1.877.727.6223 or visiting www.newyorkredbulls.com/tickets.
