Danny Royer likes playing the villain, hearing the venom spewed from the home crowd.
The New York Red Bulls winger got a little taste of that at Estadio Caliente when his team pulled out a historic 2-0 win over Club Tijuana in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal last month.
That heat the Austrian felt in Tijuana, though, will be turned up a few degrees Wednesday night at Estadio Akron when the Red Bulls face Chivas de Guadalajara in the CCL semifinals.
“I like it if the whole stadium is against you,” Royer said. “We know that already from Tijuana and different places, but this one will be different I think. That should be something where we can grow as a team, where we can sure we’re mature enough to get a result over there even though everyone is against us and the atmosphere will be fire.”
After the Red Bulls ousted Olimpia of Honduras in the Round of 16, Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said facing Xolos was taking a step up. And even though Tijuana is technically ahead of Chivas in the Clausura table — by two points — New York is taking another step up Wednesday night.
“For me, the biggest difference is the history of the club here at Chivas, the recent success and the style of play,” Marsch said in a press conference at Estadio Akron Tuesday. “That along with the environment here in Guadalajara, playing at elevation, playing in front of these fans, in this stadium, I think it’s a bigger task. It’s a tougher match for us. It’s going to require us to play even better than we did.”
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While the Red Bulls survived an early scare to emphatically down Xolos, winning 3-1 at home and 5-1 on aggregate, the 2-0 victory at Estadio Caliente was about two things — taking their chances and Luis Robles coming up with a heroic effort in goal as the Red Bulls survived wave after wave of pressure from the hosts.
While Marsch knows another strong defensive effort is vital, bunkering down is not the game plan Wednesday night.
“We’re not coming here to defend for 90 minutes,” Marsch said. “We know that we’ll have to address their strengths and there’s going to be moments when they throw a lot at us and the momentum of the crowd, the game. But we like to go after games, we like to go after teams, we like to be aggressive, we like to run, we like to press. We will do that tomorrow.”
For the Red Bulls, one of Major League Soccer’s original franchises, this is unchartered waters. They’ve never played in the CCL semifinals before and have only faced Chivas once — in a preseason friendly in 2011, a game won by the hosts, 3-2.
And although there will be pressure — from the opposition, the fans and the altitude — Aaron Long wouldn’t want it any other way.
“That’s what we’re thinking, that we’re going to get the best from all aspects, from their team, from their fans, from their city,” the central defender said. “It’s going to be unbelievable.”
Listen: full press conference at Estadio Akron with Jesse Marsch and Michael Murillo