Red Bull defender Kevin Goldthwaite has returned to practicing full-time with the team this week. But don’t assume that means he’ll be making an appearance on the field anytime soon. Think more like two months…or more.
While fellow defender Chris Albright is expected to be ready to play when he’s eligible to come off the disabled list May 8 at the San Jose Earthquakes, clearly Goldthwaite is a lot further away _ like after the break in June.
“I think he’s been away such a long time I think it’ll take a month before he’s ready to play. Or perhaps since you have the break in June, it can be July,” coach Hans Backe said. Since the Red Bulls play June 5 against Chivas USA and not again until June 26 at Kansas City, I asked if he meant the latter game.
“Yes, it can be. We’re in April now….I’d say yes.”
*** Incoming Danish winger Brian Nielsen has his P-1 visa, and his appointment at the embassy is April 26th _ or two days after their regular-season game with expansion Philadelphia, and the day before their U.S. Open Cup rematch with the Union. But coach Hans Backe is confident that can be expedited.
“It’s normally no problem, just a couple of days after you get your papers to get you’re your appointment,” said Backe. We shall see if he’s right. If so, after all the drama this club has had over the years with immigration issues, it would be pretty telling about past regimes.
Backe added that he hoped British forward Luke Rodgers _ who has been cut loose by Notts County, thus isn’t bound by the MLS transfer deadline yesterday _ would get his visa in the next day or so.
*** Could it be a coincidence that once the Red Bulls knew Rodgers was in the queue that they sent Damani Ralph packing? The Jamaican forward has been rehabbing with the club, and in preseason Backe talked openly about keeping the former Chicago Fire striker around training with them until midseason.
“No, he’s out,” Backe said. “I talked to him. Because we could see he’s limping, and the best thing I told him just to be fair try to find a team where he could play even if it’s a lower division, just get some games and see how it works out.”
*** BTW, check out our new redone soccer front page. It’s a work in progress, but we’ve added a RSS feed for soccer news on the bottom, the blog scrolling across the left, and a Twitter feed on the right, along with inside the EXTRA TIME blog. Tell us what you think. Bring suggestions. Holla at us…
