SOME FAMILIAR FACES Smith looking forward to make Red Bulls debut vs. his old team -- the Revs
By Michael Lewis BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
Khano Smith: I'll probably be so pumped up I'll need to keep myself level headed, not running like a chicken with my head caught off." Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
Montclair, N.J. -- Saturday certainly is a big day for midfielder Khano Smith. Not only will be make his debut for the New York Red Bulls in their home opener, but he will do it against his former team, the New England Revolution.
"First game in New York. First game back. First against the Revs. I guess I couldn't ask for anything better," he said.
So, don't worry about Smith getting pumped up for the match. He wants to make sure he can keep his emotions in check.
"To play you don't need to get pumped up," he said earlier this week at Montclair State University. "Obviously this one I will be. But I'll probably be so pumped up I'll need to keep myself level headed, not running like a chicken with my head caught off, trying to concentrate what I need to do. That will be the biggest thing for me is trying to not let those emotions get to me."
Smith did not play in the Red Bulls' 3-0 season-opening loss to the Seattle Sounders FC last week as he served the final game of a three-match ban for kicking Herculez Gomez in the Revs' first playoff game last fall.
He was taken by the Sounders in the expansion draft, but was traded to the Red Bulls in the off-season.
"It would have been nice to play against Seattle, too, being there and beginning in that environment," Smith said. "That's how the cookie crumbles. But I'm definitely looking forward to it. Seeing those guys. Some of them are my good friends, but they won't be from 7:30 to 9:30."
Smith has been in contact with Revs all-star defensive midfielder Shalrie Joseph. He said he has boasted to his former teammate that "I'm going to definitely score. We've been going back and forth, having some fun. Come Saturday it won't be fun."
Red Bulls/MetroStars fans definitely remember a time when it wasn't fun watching Smith play for the Revs. That came during the second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals in the 2005 MLS playoffs.
Smith, a first-half substitute who replaced Marshall Leonard, scored from a severe angle in the 83rd minute to climax New England's comeback from a 2-0 deficit in the total-goals series. The Revs won the match, 3-1, and the 3-2. If you're interested, he took a Clint Dempsey pass, raced down the left wing, beat Eddie Gaven and curled a shot past goalkeeper Tony Meola into the right corner.
"That was a big one," Smith said. "Hopefully, the fans will forgive me for that, accept me. If I get one against the Revs it will go a long way in repaying some of that."
Since the loss, coach Juan Carlos Osorio has been working with the defense.
"It's been working on the backline this week and everybody defending from the front, not just from the backline," Smith said. "I think we started well. Everybody thinks we started well. When Seattle scored, everything started to go downhill. We just have to take care of things defensively first. We've got plenty of attacking talent. We'll create chances no matter what.
Smith is expected to start at left midfield and Osorio is hopeful that Smith will play consistently. Smith has a history for playing 20 minutes of brilliant soccer and then becoming invisible.
Asked how he will get Smith to play more consistently, Osorio replied, "Just by mentioning that fact. probably being the player that he is and the qualities that he has, He can be more consistent. He is capable of taking people on, getting into the attacking third. He's quick, he's strong. Hopefully, we will manage to get the best out of him."
