From the New York Post’s Brian Lewis.
On the eve of the Red Bulls’ game against D.C., and their trade for Jean Philippe Peguero, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz discussed what role Franz Beckenbauer will play, reports of bringing back the Cosmos (and their famous name), rumors of Ronaldo, and his grand plan for making an impact in U.S. soccer.
Though Beckenbauer (above) will lend his expertise after this summer’s World Cup, Red Bull won’t become a Cosmos reunion as had been reported elsewhere. Meteschitz said, “There are no plans of including Franz Beckenbauer or other former Cosmos players in the structure of the Red Bull New York operations. Franz’s role is that of an adviser, whenever we believe we need his advice or valued input.”
That’s a far cry from the reports that had Beckenbauer overseeing a club that included former Cosmo teammates Giorgio Chinaglia as chairman, Shep Messing as GM, with either Carlos Alberto or Wim Rijsbergen as coach and Vladislav Bogicevic and Johan Neeskens as assistants.
Mateschitz also eventually decided against reviving the Cosmos name, saying, “We came to the conclusion that the best name would be Red Bull New York.”
As opposed to the New York Red Bulls?
Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Spurs — the final North London derby to take place at Highbury — leaves Tottenham in excellent position to secure the Premiership’s 4th Champions League spot if they can win their two final matches. Spurs would’ve claimed all three points were it not for Thierry Henry’s scintillating 85th minute strike (above), though there’s plenty of rancour surrounding Robbie Keane’s 65th minute opener, which occured with Arsenal’s Emmanuel Eboue flat on his back.
(ADDENDUM : The Human Whoopee Cushion’s Weekend Understudy asks “forgive my footie ignorance, but why was (Thierry Henry) sitting out the first half in such a crucial game?” Well, there’s the not-so-tiny matter of Henry having played a full 90 minutes in last Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg victory over Villareal, with the away leg to follow this Tuesday night. While beating Spurs in their attempt to qualify for next year’s Champions League was undoubtedly something Arsene Wenger would’ve preferred to do, actually winning this year’s competition when they’re so close to doing so would be considered the priority for anyone who wasn’t a complete moron. It’s really inspiring that the Mighty MJD deems soccer worthy of his shit-for-brains nuanced analysis, but there’s an entire football universe beyond the EPL.)