The New York Cosmos announced Thursday that they would be returning to Brooklyn in the fall to host their first round playoff game at MCU Park in Coney Island. The postseason match will take place on November 7th at 2 p.m. E.T.
The club also revealed it will host a week long youth training camp for kids ages 6 to 15 starting August 3 at Pier 5 Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams hosted the press conference that included Cosmos COO Erik Stover, Head Coach Gio Savarese and former keeper Shep Messing at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Adams expressed his enthusiasm to have the Cosmos return to Brooklyn so soon after their Spring Season 1-0 victory over Ottawa Fury FC back in May.
“I’m pleased with the commitment that the New York Cosmos have made to developing soccer in Brooklyn, “said Adams. ‘The Beautiful Game’ has a beautiful future in our borough, and engaging our young athletes in this great sport is important to building healthy bodies and minds with a love of teamwork and good sportsmanship.”
As an alumnus of Long Island University, Savarese has a soft spot for the borough, but he’s also happy to be playing such a critical game in a quality facility like MCU Park.
“We’re excited to be back in Brooklyn,” Savarese told EOS. “We had a good experience against Ottawa. So it’s a good opportunity to come back and play an important match for us. Turf-wise (MCU) is a better surface. Definitely. We are content to be able to play there because the ball moves better. For us, we are an attacking team, so that is a positive thing.”
MCU Vice President Steve Cohen was also on hand to relay his elation at bringing the Cosmos back to Coney Island. He noted that the club’s growing relationship with the park and surrounding area goes a long way toward fulfilling the promise that MCU Park would be a drawing force for numerous diverse advents outside of Brooklyn Cyclones games after Hurricane Sandy did its damage.
“MCU Park and The Brooklyn Cyclones are thrilled to partner with the world renowned New York Cosmos to bring professional soccer once again to Brooklyn,” said Steve Cohen. “No better place for a post-season match than Coney Island.”
Clinching a playoff berth so early in the year enabled the Cosmos to lock down the date and location for their first home playoff game in the modern NASL within the city proper — is a borough that the club is quickly befriending.
“It’s exciting for us to be playing a second game in Brooklyn in what is a pivotal postseason game for our club,” said Stover. “Brooklyn is a place where we love to play, we trained here before we made our visit to Cuba back in June and we hope we can put on another good show for our fans in Brooklyn.”
The Cosmos are wasting no time selling tickets to the pivotal match. Fans can begin purchasing their seats on Friday, July 31st.
Archived content originally from EmpireOfSoccer.com by Jake Nutting
