Aug. 7, 2006 LOOK WHO'S BACK Djorkaeff returns to Bulls after a month away
After missing seven league games over the course of a month to take care of his ailing mother, Youri Djorkaeff is back with the Red Bulls. Photo by Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
By Dylan Butler
BigAppleSoccer.com Associate Editor
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Youri Djorkaeff was back with the Red Bulls after a little more than a month away from the club. The French World Cup champion, who missed seven league games, thought of not returning from France. But it’s not because of the team’s struggles or the circus-like atmosphere around Giants Stadium a month ago.
“Yes, it was regarding the health of my family,” he said after Monday’s training session, the team’s first since the All-Star Break. “Now it’s better and I come here and I could have my 100 percent mind in soccer and not just be worried about what happened in France so much. To be here and motivated I think this is the most important because the last two weeks before I left, it was difficult for me. It was hard to come to the stadium every day because I had this problem in France and I have to be in France. Now I’m back because I wanted to continue, I wanted to play this last couple of games we have.”
Djorkaeff, a very private person, didn’t go into much detail about his mother but did say she is doing better.
“The therapy she’s following, she’s responding well and now it’s much more positive,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about this in front of you but it’s better now. It’s not finished but if I’m here, it’s good, very good.”
Djorkaeff, who was selected the team MVP a year ago, has been away from the Red Bulls for the entire month of July. He left for France after the Red Bulls scoreless tie against Columbus June 28 to take care of his ailing mother but three days later, Djorkaeff was the center of controversy when he was spotted by TV cameras in the Frankfurt stands in Germany in France's 1-0 stunner over Brazil.
According to a report in the Rheinpfalz daily, Djorkaeff was also arrested on July 1. He detained for failure to pay a fine -- reportedly 77,000 euros -- after he was convicted of leaving the scene of an accident in September 2001, according to the Rheinpflaz. He was a member of FC Kaiserslautern at the time.
He was released on bond and later attended the France-Brazil encounter
It was embarrassing for Red Bull New York, which issued a statement prior to their July 1 match at New England saying they weren’t told Djorkaeff would be attending a match and Djorkaeff was the subject of international criticism for attending the game.
“I don’t care. The people thought I was just watching a game,” he said. “Just one thing, I was invited to the first game, I was invited by FIFA and I say no because we had a game against Los Angeles and we beat Los Angeles. This story of the game is ridiculous compared to what happened the rest of the 29 days.”
Djorkaeff also denied he left because of the environment around Giants Stadium, although he did call the end of the Mo Johnston era “bizarre.”
“I didn’t leave the team because the atmosphere or the team was not good,” Djorkaeff said. “If I’m back, it’s not because the team wasn’t good, it’s because I had some things to do in France and now I’m back and I’m happy to be back. To be honest, I feel very, very, very happy to be here.”
Arena said he spoke to Djorkaeff, both by phone and in person before Monday’s training session, and he is convinced the 38-year-old is focused on the second half of the season.
“His mindset is to finish his last season of professional soccer the right way,” he said.
As for Djorkaeff’s fitness after a month away?
“Youri was about our best player in training today,” Arena said. “He looks like he can still play to me so I’m not concerned about that. Obviously his fitness, with the time off he had, isn’t where it needs to be but he’ll play himself back into form.”
