The Cosmos returned to the NASL with a 2-1 win over Ft. Lauderdale last night on Long Island. Here is postgame reaction from both sides on the historic night.
Carlos Alberto, former Cosmos defender:
“We are thrilled with the return of the Cosmos, if not this year but very soon, we are going to have the same team we had before.
“The most important thing is for people to know that we are not here to play games. We are here in New York to really seriously play this game hard.
I travel all over the world. Tomorrow I go from here to China. Every place I go, the people ask me about the New York Cosmos. Now they’re going to be asking more because there’s a new team. The most important thing about the legacy we left is the strength of the name of the New York Cosmos.”
“Without having played for almost 30 years, everybody asks about the Cosmos everywhere around the world.
I think that in the next two years that the Cosmos are going to have an amazing team. If not the same level as before, it will still be at a very high level, but there are great players and the owners and representatives of this team are going to bring great players.”
“Believe in the New York Cosmos. The work that we are doing today didn’t start today, it started three years ago. Planning how everything was going to take place, and now I see how everything really worked out. What we want is for people to believe that we’re going to create a great team here. I wanted to put on the T-shirt and go out and play. “
“It was very important for the team to start with a victory. The managers of the game have created a team that has the mentality of a winner, but we are just starting now, and it’s very important that the team thinks that they are out there to win.
You can’t always win but your mentality has to be one of a winner.”
Shep Messing, former Cosmos goalkeeper:
“We are very excited. Carlos and I, we’ve talked the last 25 years wherever we meet … we’re asking, ‘What about the Cosmos? For us, what we wish for this team, is we want them to be very proud of history but we don’t want them to be burdened with our legacy. We want them to create their own identity and I think we saw the first step.”
“This is not magic. It’s one step at a time. Like for us many years ago, it didn’t happen overnight. It’s the first step and we’re very happy about it.
Before Carlos came and helped us build the Cosmos name and win championships, I played in this stadium for my first professional game. And the Cosmos becoming one of the most famous teams in the world didn’t happen overnight. There were games where we played in front of 1,500 fans. Once the great players came … everybody jumped on the bandwagon. I wish we had a crowd like this my first game for the Cosmos, but it’ll be one step at a time to hopefully reach the heights that we had before.”
“We were all very happy and all a little bit nervous – the New York Cosmos take the field again where they belong, it was very exciting and we were all very happy to get that winning goal.”
“My belief from supporting the team and watching the team, I don’t think there’s a need for an unrealistic expectation. The New York Cosmos aspire to be atop the pyramid of the United States. There are many different routes to get there; a great one would be to win the U.S. Open Cup. I’d be cautious about unrealistic expectations to win the U.S. Open Cup. It’s not going to happen instantly, but I have confidence that we will get there.”
Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese:
“We’re very happy to have started the future of the Cosmos. Today’s match was a complicated one, like all of them will be in this league. From the very beginning, they made it hard for us, but eventually our team started moving the ball more quickly. That was the key for us. “
“It’s difficult to put a timeline on this. Patience is the best virtue for us right now. We have to thank the ownership who put us in a good situation.”
“Definitely a dramatic win, a difficult win. At the end it’s about the players.
We change to try to utilize the wide areas and try to attack more through there.
[ON NOSELLI] “He’s a striker, a player who we know what he’s capable of. He scored in Italy for many years. He was very smart reading the play and being able to put it in dramatically at the end.”
“The Cosmos name brings many great things. This night was expected because it holds such a special place in everyone’s heart. Our management has done a great job in putting our name out there. It is a special day because we brought back an important club.”
[Halftime speech] “Just went over a couple of different situations. In the end the players were able to come out and make those adjustments.”
Cosmos defender Carlos Mendes:
“It’s an honor to play for this club. To get the three points was key. We had a good preseason and leading up to this with all the excitement, we could feel the energy. It was an incredible atmosphere. As players it gives you the extra push. We want to thank all the fans and we’re just happy that we could get the three points. That’s what we’re here to do to continue the Cosmos tradition and win games.”
“[I had] cramps and overall fatigue. At that point in the game I was struggling a bit to move, but we have a lot of confidence in every player on our team.”
Cosmos forward Peri Maro¹ević:
“We know we’re going to have pressure on us. Every club that plays us is going to come out hard. It’s truly an honor to step out on the field and wear that New York Cosmos jersey. The game is meant to be enjoyed and I think the coaching staff has instilled that on us. At the end of the day, when you have fun you play a lot better.”
Cosmos midfielder Marcos Senna:
“For me it’s a great privilege. I will confess that I had great anxiety [leading up to the game]. It was a complicated match.”
“It was a difficult win but we made it and I’m very happy and excited with this project, with the work that’s ahead of us. I would like to thank all the fans for the warmth and support.”
Strikers head coach Gunter Kronsteiner:
“From my point of view it was a game where I expected the Cosmos, with their great tradition, would come out to play. I would call it a lucky win, sorry to say it, from my point of view it was an own goal. I walk out and I’m disappointed. We had the game in our hand and we took it away from ourselves.”
“I didn’t see an extremely strong Cosmos team today, but I didn’t see an extremely strong Strikers team either.
We had the feeling at the end that we could get the second one. We made them run a lot. It was a bad situation, one of our defenders had a breakout and this allowed the win for the Cosmos.”
“I worked with a lot of German players and some of them were playing in the States .
It was something special. We were working very hard.
We have a great keeper I can tell you this right now. You saw his play today. He can make it very big. We lost a lot of players from last year. It’s not easy to perform better than last year.”
“When you have discipline then you can change things around. We had to make one of our midfielders a forward. Maybe next game we will be in a different situation. Thumbs up for my team, they showed me a lot.”
Strikers goalkeeper Richard Sanchez:
“It’s a pleasure to be here. I’m only 19 years old and coming here to the Strikers and getting playing time, in order for me to get that I had to earn it. Now I have to keep up the good work. I knew it was going to be a very competitive league. There are teams in the NASL who have beaten MLS teams. I’m happy to be here and to help the team.”
“It was exciting stepping onto this field tonight. You hear the name New York Cosmos and and it’s an honor to play against a club like that. I hope that this experience here can only benefit me and I know that it will.
It’s very cool to be a part of [the rivalry]. This was a big game for the both of us. Being a part of this was a good experience and I’m going to build on this.”