The New York Cosmos started their defense of the 2015 Soccer Bowl title on Sunday, April 3 at James M. Shuart Stadium, coming away with a resounding 3 – 0 victory to start the campaign over the Ottawa Fury.
The Cosmos and the Fury had played the last game of the 2015 season that decided the title, after each club had taken 2 – 1 victories in the semi-final playoff matches entering the Championship. The Cosmos defeated the Fury 3 – 2 at Shuart Stadium on November 15, 2015, as late transfer Gaston Cellerino came away with MVP honors while scoring a hat-trick to help the Cosmos earn their seventh NASL title dating back to the 1970s.
The Cosmos, as is also the case with the Ottawa Fury, have a much different locker room than they did in the previous campaign, and you can see the difference in the starting lineup for both the title game, and this year’s opening debut this past weekend.
Here is how both clubs looked in the title game last season.
Cosmos (4 – 2 – 3 – 1)
GK Maurer
DF Perez Garcia – Mendes – Roversio – Freeman
MF Szetala – Senna
MF Guenzatti – Raul – Restrepo
F Cellerino
Ottawa (4 – 3 – 3)
GK Peiser
DF Trafford – Falvey – Alves – Richter
MF Ubiparipovic – Ryan – Eustaquio
F Araujo – Heinemann – Wiedman
Here is how the clubs looked on opening day this past Sunday.
Cosmos (4 – 1 – 4 – 1)
GK Maurer
DF Ayoze – Mendes – Ockford – Freeman
Sweeper Lahoud
MF Flores – Bover – Arango – Guenzatti
F Arrieta
Ottawa (4 – 3 – 3)
GK Peiser
DF Timbo – Alves – Rozeboom – Porter
MF de Jong – de Guzman – Gyorio
F Araujo – Bruna – Chin
Ottawa endured a rough off-season, losing standout Tommy Heinemann, while also bringing in new head coach Paul Dalglish.
The Scotland native took over for Mark Dos Santos just five days after the title game loss to the Cosmos after coaching for the Austin Aztex the previous season in the USL. After a 20-year career as a player, which included two MLS Cups with Houston, Dalglish also coached under Jeff Cassar in Salt Lake, and jumped at the opportunity to not just coach, but also become the team’s General Manager, giving him full reign to build his club as he would like.
In my three years of covering the NY Cosmos for podcasts and articles, I too was concerned that the Cosmos might have lost a significant amount of talent in the off-season. Gone are Raul and Marcos Senna, who are both considered legends in not just New York, but in Europe as well. The club also lost their leading goal scorer Leo Fernandez, and a true playmaker by the name of Walter Restrepo.
Raul and Senna both retired after taking home the NASL title in 2015, while Fernandez and Restrepo are both in Philadelphia playing in the MLS with the Union. One good thing that came from The Restrepo transaction was the trade for Michael Lahoud.
Replacing a champion caliber squad is never easy for any head coach, but Coach Giovanni Savarese, who is also the Cosmos’ Sporting Director, did a tremendous job of filling the void in the off-season. In comes players like Juan Arango who, oh by the way, put two goals in the back of the net in the Cosmos 3 – 0 home opening win. Arango is a Venezuelan native as is Savarese, and what Arango brings to the club is a wealth of experience. Arango has played professionally for 17 years and has made an incredible 127 caps for his National Team since 1999.
Of course I was at the home opener, and witnessed both goals from Arango from close range. I was sitting in the Five Points supporters section when this happened….
Niko Kranjčar officially joined the club on March 17, with the announcement coming just after the New York Cosmos Media Day in NYC the day before. Kranjčar had traveled and practiced with the club all through the pre-season, although there were no terms revealed and the club was unsure if he would re-sign in Europe or represent the Cosmos in 2016. The Croatian influence in New York might have helped his decision, and we saw plenty of Croate pride in banners around Shuart Stadium to open the season. Kranjčar did make it on the field for the home opener, as he came on as a sub in the 77th minute for Arango, and to be honest, he looked fantastic.
I spoke to the manager of team operations, Jack Gaeta, before the match on Sunday, and as Kranjčar was warming up I said to him, “My god, someone looks ready for the campaign!” Jack simply responded with a “Yes, he is going to be a nice asset this season for sure.”
Make no mistake, however, that the Cosmos still have plenty of pieces in place from a season ago. The NASL’s all-time leader in clean sheets Jimmy Maurer, added to his collection this weekend with the 3 – 0 win. Captain Carlos Mendes, who was the first-ever signing with the Cosmos when the re-organization of the NASL took place four years ago, will be calling signals all throughout the match.
Lucky Mkosana and Sebastian Guenzatti remain as quality attacking forwards, while Danny Szetela and Andres Flores return at midfield. Hunter Freeman is also welcome to take a set piece or drive up the far sideline off his back line.
Roversio returns again in 2016, although he will start the year on the injury list, but his presence and confidence certainly makes Jimmy Maurer’s job easier in net.
Adam Moffat once again launched a 45-yard missile to score the third goal in this weekend’s win, although Mr. Peiser made it much easier for him by leaving the net unattended.
It was great to hear Coach Gio in his press conference after the match say, “Overall it was a good performance, but we can still improve, although it was a pretty good start to the season.”
In all, the Cosmos looked impressive in their home opener and of course I have the video evidence of the match, as well as pics and comments on my Twitter feed, so let’s welcome in another NASL campaign, and see if the New York Cosmos can hang an eighth banner this season.
