The New York Red Bulls open their 2012 MLS season today on the road against FC Dallas. The match will not only be a new beginning for the Red Bulls, but for the MLS as well. The 3 p.m. ET match will be the first shown on the NBC Sports Network.
The Red Bulls will open the season without two players expected to play key roles for them this season. Defender Wilman Conde, acquired during the offseason, will miss the match with a quadriceps injury. Veteran midfielder Rafa Marquez will begin the 2012 season serving a two-game suspension for his role in an altercation with the LA Galaxy at the conclusion of the Red Bulls-Galaxy Western Conference semifinals series in 2011.
Here is the Red Bulls' projected starting lineup:
GK - 18 Ryan Meara
D - 7 Roy Miller
D - 22 Stephen Keel
D - 5 Markus Holgersson
D - 8 Jan Gunnar Solli
M - 20 Joel Lindpere
M - 6 Teemu Tainio
M - 11 Dax McCarty
M - 19 Dane Richards
F - 14 Thierry Henry
F - 33 Kenny Cooper
-- See SB Nation's Once A Metro for more discussion of the Red Bulls.