El Zurdo led Venezuela past Brazil 2-0
By BRIAN LEWIS
Red Bulls transfer target Jorge Rojas showed exactly why coach Juan Carlos Osorio has been trying to acquire him for years, helping lead Venezuela to a stunningly-convincing 2-0 win over powerhouse Brazil Friday night in Foxboro, with Red Bull brass looking on.
Ronald Vargas _ a gifted 21-year-old midfielder for Caracas who Osorio also scouted but found too expensive at the time _ utterly dominated the game, springing Giancarlo Maldonado with a perfect longball for the first goal then scoring himself after a nice run.
That’s Vargas, No. 10 in this video, helping Venezuela to their first-ever victory over Brazil, ranked second in the latest FIFA poll.
The crowd of 54,045 at Gillette Stadium was clearly pro-Brazilian, but apparently all the green-and-gold didn’t help. Neither did a new lineup by Brazil coach Dunga that didn’t work.
The Red Bulls are closing in on a deal for the 31-year-old Rojas, who is the second-most capped player in Venezuelan history. El Zurdo has started at left fullback and left winger for his country, but Osorio told the Post he sees him as an attacking midfielder, playing either centrally or on the flank.
Osorio had at one point said he was going up I-95 to watch the game, but Thursday night he said another Red Bull employee would be making the trip. That might have something to do with the fact that leading scorer Jozy Altidore was sold out from under him Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m., with the coach claming he was left out of the loop.
One has to wonder if MLS had kept him up to date as Altidore’s U.S.-record $10 million transfer to Villarreal was unfolding whether Osorio would’ve paid more attention to Vargas, whom he personally watched in March playing for Venezuelan champion Caracas.
Osorio assumed Vargas would be too pricey at the time, but that’s before he knew he had a $500k allocation coming. So the Red Bulls didn’t pursue him, and now he signed a four-year deal with Belgian side Club Brugge KV.
Sure, they’re headed back to the UEFA Cup next season, so they’re no scrub outfit. But with all that coin, it begs the question of whether Osorio could’ve been sending an emissary with two contracts in hand….
What do yout think of the way the transfer was handled? Of how Rojas played, if you plunked down the $20 on PPV? Or if you have any input on El Zurdo from his many stops? Check in….