Rojas finally a Red Bull
By BRIAN LEWIS
The Red Bulls’ lengthy pursuit of Jorge Rojas _ reported in the Post back in April _ has come to fruition. The Post has learned from multiple sources that the 31-year old has come to terms with the club, and is in the process of flying to New York _ maybe as early as Monday _ to ink a deal.
“We’ve come to personal terms with Jorge Rojas and now await a physical, a p-1 and approval from the league,” sporting director Jeff Agoos told the Post.
After clearing those hurdles, Rojas could suit up after the transfer window opens July 15. That means he’ll miss Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup game and road tilts at Colorado and Kansas City, but could face David Beckham, Landon Donovan and the L.A. Galaxy July 19 at Giants Stadium.
Check out the run and perfectly-weighted pass at the 3:15 mark of this clip, imagine him providing this kind of service to Juan Pablo Angel or Dane Richards, and it’s easy to see why the Red Bulls chased him so doggedly. Now they finally have him.
Here are some of the Postâs reports of the teamâs pursuit of Rojas.
Rojas is the captain of the Venezuelan national team, and second-most capped player in its history. He has played left wing and left fullback, but Red Bull coach Juan Carlos Osorio views him as an attacking midfielder, either on the flank if he gets his central midfield transfer target or in the middle if he doesn’t.
For those fixating on whether he can play as an attacking midfielder, know that he’s played far more midfield than defense in recent years, and as he’s gotten older _ and his pace lessened _ he’s tended to drift more into the middle of the park.
El Zurdo won four Venezuelan championships with Caracas and another Colombian title with Atletico Nacional. But he moved on to Union Atletico Maracaibo, what had been the richest team in Venezuela, to make some extra coin. Turns out the grass isn’t always greener.
Osorio came close to prying him away from Maracaibo this preseason, but the team held on to him as they were playing in Copa Libertadores _ or at least get a big payday for his services _ and the player decided to stay.
Turned out to be yet another bad call, because the suddenly cash-strapped government-run club couldnât afford to pay his wages or his rent.
He offered to take a fraction of what they owed him in return for them letting him go on a free transfer. They agreed, to get out from under his contract, and now the Post has confirmed he has agreed to personal terms with Red Bull.
Rojas _ who helped lead Venezuela to a 2-0 win over powerhouse Brazil in Foxboro _ isn’t much of a scorer with only two interbnational goals.
He tallied in a 3-2 loss at Spain in 2004 and this nice give-and-go this past Feb. 2 against Haiti. You can see he’s active, all over this video _ he’s No. 17 _ and has a cannon left-foot, evidenced here in this golazo for Nacional.
But he’s a good playmaker, setting up another score against Haiti in a seperately friendly just four days later with as pinpoint cross onto the head of Alexander Rondon at the 3:30 mark of this video.
That will help an offensively-challenged Red Bull team whose 15 goals are third-worst in MLS and second-lowest in the Eastern Conference. Oft-injured Red Bull captain Claudio Reyna had been miscast as an attacking midfielder, and has played just 461 of a possible 1260 minutes.
