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Tag: the red

  • Red Bulls kick off Michael Bradley era with visit to Orlando

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    (Photo credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)

    Former MLS and U.S. men’s national team star Michael Bradley is returning home … in a sense.

    The central midfielder, who logged 151 appearances for the national team while playing nearly 500 matches in his professional career, was hired as the new coach of the New York Red Bulls in December.

    He will lead his new squad on Saturday evening as the 2026 MLS season kicks off with the Red Bulls visiting Orlando City.

    ‘I am excited for the opportunity to be head coach of the club that I started my professional career with and also in the state that I call home,’ Bradley said after he was hired.

    Bradley began his career with the MetroStars, the former nickname of New York’s first MLS club, after being selected 36th overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft.

    He made 30 appearances for his father, Bob, then the MetroStars’ head coach, before moving to Europe in 2006, starting with Dutch side Heerenveen. He also would suit up for Borussia Monchengladbach, Aston Villa, Chievo and Roma and enjoyed a standout 10-year stretch back in MLS with Toronto FC.

    He leads a Red Bulls contingent that failed to make the MLS Cup playoffs last season for the first time in 16 years, resulting in the ouster of coach Sandro Schwarz.

    The club added two wingers: Cade Cowell, who had 12 goals and five assists in three years with Chivas Guadalajara, and Jorge Ruvalcaba, who registered 16 goals and nine assists in 100 appearances with Pumas UNAM.

    They will join with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who finished second among MLS newcomers with 17 goals last season. His 22 total goal contributions tied for the club lead, as Emil Forsberg had 11 goals and 11 assists last season.

    Defender Justin Che and goalkeeper Ethan Horvath joined the Red Bulls from abroad.

    ‘The way Bradley’s started everything and the ideas he has, how we want to play football, straightforward, attacking, intensive, everyone embraced that quite fast, and I like that style of play,’ Choupo-Moting said.

    New York faces an Orlando side that also had a disappointing 2025 MLS campaign, finishing just ahead of the Red Bulls in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. The Lions were knocked out of the playoffs in the wild-card round, falling 3-1 to the Chicago Fire.

    Coach Oscar Pareja, now in his seventh season, acknowledged the club’s desire to improve its league standing.

    ‘All of the players came in a good state, and we are ready to push,’ Pareja said. ‘We want to win titles as we did in the past when we won the (2022 U.S. Open) Cup.’

    The Lions added Canadian national team goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau as part of a busy offseason that included the addition of Paraguayan midfielder Braian Ojeda.

    Orlando City did lose Alex Freeman, the 2025 MLS Young Player of the Year, to Villarreal.

    Martin Ojeda and Marco Pasalic combined for 28 goals and 20 assists last year for the Lions, who are looking to reach the playoffs for the seventh straight season.

    –Field Level Media

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  • No. 1 Arizona looks to rebound against flashy No. 16 Texas Tech

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    (Photo credit: Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

    Top-ranked Arizona will look to bounce back after suffering its first loss of the season when it hosts No. 16 Texas Tech in a Big 12 game on Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.

    Arizona (23-1, 10-1 Big 12) had a program and Big 12 record start of 23 consecutive wins snapped Monday with an 82-78 loss at No. 9 Kansas.

    Texas Tech (18-6, 8-3) enters the game with wins over West Virginia and Colorado after losing against UCF and then-No. 11 Kansas.

    A key matchup will be in the paint with Arizona’s Motiejus Krivas and reserve Tobe Awaka matching up against JT Toppin, who leads the Red Raiders with 21.5 points and 10.9 rebounds a game.

    Krivas had 14 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots against Kansas, but Jayhawks post player Flory Bidunga countered with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and had 10 rebounds.

    Awaka got in early foul trouble and finished with only six points and a season-low three rebounds.

    Texas Tech’s Lejuan Watts, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward, is second on the team with 6.4 rpg.

    He will be matched against Arizona freshman Koa Peat, who averages 14.3 ppg but is coming off a six-point performance on 2-of-11 shooting from the field against Kansas.

    ‘In this league, you don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself,’ Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. ‘We played a tough game in a tough environment, but our focus has to be on the next one. Texas Tech is a disciplined, physical team that doesn’t beat themselves.

    ‘We have to be better on the glass and more connected defensively if we want to protect our home court.’

    Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland, an assistant coach of Lloyd’s with the gold medal-winning Team USA U19 World Cup team last summer, also used the word ‘connected’ when describing how his team must play against Arizona.

    Keeping the teams connected could come down to the play of Texas Tech point guard Christian Anderson (19.1 ppg, 7.7 assists per game) and Arizona counterpart Jaden Bradley (13.5 ppg, 4.5 apg).

    Bradley struggled at Kansas with a season-low six points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line.

    ‘The effort is matching the intelligence that we need to understand scheme and not just physicality or how hard you play,’ McCasland said of the wins over West Virginia and Colorado. ‘JT Toppin and Christian Anderson are really the anchors to what we’re doing.

    ‘Arizona is as talented as it gets. You can’t just play hard; you have to play smart, communicate, and stay connected for all 40 minutes.’

    Anderson is coming off 11 assists against West Virginia and seven against Colorado.

    Arizona freshman guard Brayden Burries had 25 points against Kansas, his eighth game with at least 20 points.

    He leads the Wildcats in scoring at 15.7 ppg while shooting 50.8% from the field.

    Both teams have an eight-player rotation with all but one player averaging double figures in minutes played.

    Texas Tech has attempted 705 shots from 3-point range, while Arizona is at 395. The Red Raiders have made 276 (39.1%) while Arizona has converted 141 (35.7%).

    –Field Level Media

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