The New York Red Bulls may have their next budding star in Julian Hall.
After Hall powered a successful season opener for new head coach Michael Bradley and the Red Bulls, they will try for two wins in two weeks when they face the New England Revolution in their home opener Saturday in Harrison, N.J.
Hall, 17, pounded in both goals from close range in New York’s 2-1 win at Orlando City SC last week. He was just the fifth player in league history to record a multi-goal match before age 18 and he won MLS Player of the Matchday for the league’s opening weekend.
He made a winner out of Bradley, the former U.S. men’s national team stalwart and son of longtime coach Bob Bradley, who was making his MLS head-coaching debut for the Red Bulls (1-0-0, 3 points).
“Julian is a really talented young player,” Michael Bradley said. “I think people sometimes — it’s easy to forget how young he still is because he’s been a professional for a few years, but he has really big qualities and we’ve got to keep pushing him so that he can take the next step.”
The Red Bulls split their two-match season series with the Revolution last season, with each team winning at home.
The Revolution (0-1-0, 0 points) are eager to shake off a 4-1 loss at Nashville SC that began their season in ignominious fashion. They allowed Sam Surridge to tally in the sixth and 16th minutes en route to a 3-0 halftime deficit.
Assistant coach Michael Morris told reporters this week exactly what the staff is seeking from the group in the mental game.
“Now it’s about, how do we just build the mentality in the group that … if an adverse situation happens, it’s just about the next action,” Morris said. “You move on immediately and it’s the next action, it’s finding the intensity and the togetherness and moving together as a group and dealing with it. Because getting punched in the face, it’s your choice how you deal with it.”
Leo Campana tallied New England’s only goal to kick off his second season with the club. Morris said defender Mamadou Fofana was back at practice this week after missing the start of the season while obtaining his green card.
–Field Level Media
