The Red Bulls are preparing for tomorrow’s friendly vs. Champions League champion Barcelona and FIFA Player of the Year Ronaldinho, but another MVP stopped by practice yesterday, when two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash kicked the ball around and revealed he’s a far bigger soccer junkie than basketball fan.
“It was great. I had a blast.
It was a dream come true for me. I’m just a converted soccer player, so getting a chance to play with professionals was a dream come true for me,” said Nash, who has attended a pair ofWorld Cups and watches “10 times more soccer than I do basketball.” Nash – who averaged 10.4 assists for high-scoring Phoenix – lives in New York during the offseason and couldn’t resist a chance to get on the field with a pro soccer team, especially one featuringWorld Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff.
“He could probably play in this league,” coach Bruce Arena said of Nash. “He’s a superbly conditioned athlete, technically he’s good, and . . . he has a brain. He’s a very sharp and alert guy. It’s a pleasure to see.” The point guard’s family spent time in London and are Tottenham fans, but he talked about how Michael Jordan inspired him to play basketball. Yet, he also admired Jordan’s attempt to play baseball and said he’d love to give soccer a try once he puts away his basketball high-tops.
“I’d love to. Is it realistic? I doubt it. It’d be a dream come true. I can relate to [Jordan] feeling like a kid in a candy shop. I don’t care what my coaches say; if they invite me, I’m there,” said Nash, half-joking when he added, “I haven’t told anyone yet, but I took this as a tryout. I’m going to look for my name on the roster sheet Saturday so I can get in against Barcelona.”
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The club used a portion of its J.P. Peguero allocation to get the rights to MFs Dema Kovalenko and Shawn Kuykendall.
The former is a 28-year-old former all-star who took a cut from his $175,000 salary; the latter is a developmental player.
They still have most of that $250,000 left and are looking to add a forward, but they still have midfielder Markus Schopp on trial, a 32-year-old Austrian national teamer they could get on loan from sister club Red Bull Salzburg.
