Growing up in the shadows of Giants Stadium, I looked up to the New York Cosmos as idols. My brother, cousin and I would emulate them...going straight to our yard after watching them play to imitate our role models after a game.
I was intrigued when reading Jack Bell's column in the New York Times about the potential of the Cosmos coming back as an MLS franchise, and would be really excited about the idea of rekindling this formative part of my own soccer experience.
The team in question is the New York Cosmos, a club that was the flagship team in the North American Soccer League, which ceased operations in the mid-1980s. Now, a group led by the English businessman Paul Kemsley, and with Pelé as honorary president, has acquired the club’s globally recognized name and on Sunday announced its relaunch. The announcement was made at halftime of the final of Copa N.Y.C. at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
“This is fantastic,” Pelé said in an interview. “We are working very hard to bring the beautiful game back to New York, and now we finally have people who support us. It’s been almost two generations; in 1977 I came here and now this. The game has grown and is growing, and what is important to us, P. K., the Cosmos is to support the base, the young players. Looking back, we know mistakes were made in the league, but that happens everywhere in the world. But the football is the reality, and one day I hope to be happy to see the New York Cosmos playing the Red Bulls in the championship game.”
That might be a few years down the road, perhaps 2013 or beyond, but it is clear that the new people running the Cosmos have a long-term goal to play in Major League Soccer.
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