Felipe (left), with Tyler Adams: “We have a great opportunity right here.” (Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports)
By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
Felipe believes the Red Bulls have Toronto FC where they want them.
New York enters the second leg of the MLS Eastern Conference semifinal series facing a 2-1 deficit Sunday.
Yet, the midfielder felt his team can pull off an upset of the Supporters Shield champions and win at BMO Field.
“We have a great opportunity right here,” he told reporters following training at the Red Bulls Training Facility this week. “We know we are capable of going anywhere and scoring two or three goals. I am very confident we’re going to go there and do that. Even if we play the worst game, I still think we can get a tie.”
Winning at BMO Field certainly would be a momentous achievement for any team because Toronto FC is 13-1-3 there this season.
“We’re making sure every guy is on the same page and don’t do the same mistake we did in the first leg,” Felipe said. “We know we have 90 minutes left to score a couple of goals.
“We’re going to play to our strengths, we’re going to put the game on our terms.”
Of course, against a team that boasts the likes of Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore, Victor Vazquez and Michael Bradley, that’s easier said than done.
“Toronto’s one of the best teams in MLS history,” defender-midfielder Tyler Adams said. Their attackers are very good and they could punish us if we do make mistakes. We have to be more aggressive heading into Toronto.
“We know that if we play our game as a team and stick together, good things will come from it.”
The Red Bulls have talked a good game before many games this regular season, but wound up with a rather mediocre year.
Now would be a good time to put back up those words or suffer yet another first-round playoff elimination.
“We have nothing to lose at this point,” Adams said. “We’re going to go out and we have to be aggressive because we know we need a certain scoreline in order to go through, but we know they’re going to be up for the challenge as well.”
Head coach Jesse Marsch reminded reporters that it was only halftime of the aggregate goal series.
“It’s a shame that we haven’t learned more from past mistakes, but on another level now we have a chance to show that we can learn from it, he said.“I think everyone wants to play the game now. I know we have to talk about it, but I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to play.”
