When the final whistle blew confirming the final of NYCFC 3, Red Bulls 2 on Sunday at Yankee Stadium, the winning coach hugged his star player so hard you immediately wondered two things:
Was Patrick Vieira going to inadvertently injure David Villa with his death grip?
And, would Vieira ever let go?
“It was all love,” Vieira said with a smile about his emphatic bear hug of Villa, who scored all three NYCFC goals.
Perhaps the only surprising element to what Villa, the Spanish superstar, did Sunday was the fact that it was his first career MLS hat trick.