A whimper and a Cy Donnely

South Huntington, NY

On and nice and mild Tuesday night at Cy Donnelly Field, future PDLers the New York Cosmos took on a PDL giant who is undefeated in the current season, the Long Island Rough Riders. The Riders who at one time were the only semi-professional side in the tri-state area were looking to make quick work of the city kids who were going with the hopes of leaving with a draw.

After the first whistle the Cosmos had a lion's share of the possessions with some very good build up work with little results in the final third. But as with anything the Rough Riders grit and physicality started slowly wearing the Mos' down. Number 11 Adriano Gabriel kept constantly making some key passes and the team's striker Keith Detelj put heavy pressure on the backline allowing for a breakaway chance to be thwarted by two unbelievable diving saves by the Cosmos' goalie. But with any hard work it normally pays off and in the 40th minute after two questionable falls in the box by Detelj the third paid off as the Cosmos defender made some contact while taking an awkward angle at the ball only to be met with a fall by Detelj and a penalty convert by Adriano Gabriel.

In the second half more woes came for the Cosmos as Detelj converted a chance the came off a broken play on a clearing attempt. Detelj found himself all alone and river danced himself around the keeper to find the back of the nylon. The third goal came shortly after that as the Riders put up some nice passing with Adriano Gabriel finding some room to pass to the open Dominik Sarle who converted his chance without an after taste. The final move was one of brilliance by the man of the match Adriano Gabriel who took the ball and ballistic missiled it over the short side of the goalie. So perfect a placement that the Air Force is looking into having Gabriel train pilots on where to drop their payloads. With the game all but one the Riders took off Gabriel and Detelj and with that came more fluidity by the Cosmos.

In the 72nd they had a chance on goal only to be denied by the extended hands of Thomas Booth. In the 84th they had an unmarked header in the box which the best chance of the match only for the striker to harmlessly miss it high, wide, and not very Fabio. The game finished with a scoreline of 4-0 and while it looked like a blowout the Cosmos possessed the ball well but fell short of the killer instinct to finish; something the Rough Riders did well. In the gist of things it was a nice night out with the weather but a game that seemed from the minute the Cosmos lost the ball to one that was going to be an epic blowout. With a year of learning however, the Cosmos should bring it all in their first full season in PDL.

The Singaporean job

One of the most incredible things about soccer is how far across the globe the sport actually spans. From the deep jungles of Santa Cruz, Bolivia to the high slopes of the Tibetan Plateau, soccer is England's most important and famous export; more so than world destroyers BP or the "British Gentlemen" qualities we've come to stereotype them into. For the Cosmos as to borrow the line from former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue "would you rather have 300,000 million fans or 1 billion" and to answer that in a Captain Obvious manner, you bet your bottom dollar. Over on the NYC website the organization talks about how they are visiting Asia for the first time since they went back in the 70's and how the global brand of Green and Yellow is trying to forge new economic partnerships and develop into new corners of the world and that by bringing Pele, Cantona, and some LA athlete named Cobi they can do just that. But underneath this diplomacy by fame cover-up the Cosmos are doing a shroud deal that could lead them one step closer to MLS and one better player towards greatness.

One of the first things to jump out at you is on the website the mention of a company known as Courts. For a lot of people Courts is basically a brand only found in Singapore, (And seeing that Singapore is one of only two city-states in the world, a City Brand) who in a lot of ways are like our Sears' stores. The quote from the Cosmos' site states

The Big Stick without a Handler

Nothing amazes me more than when people say loud things, without anything behind it. A great example is the child on the Elementary School playground who tells all his friends "I'm gonna kick his (butt)" and then proceeds to find either an excuse out of the situation or even better, a pawn to do his bidding. Right now the Cosmos organization is doing alot of talking with the backroom staff and how they are making the right choices with personell but few is said of the details on stadium or even expansion fees. The Wilpon family has said that they are not planning on any intention to sell the Mets and it is no secret that Don and MLSers are trying to woo Fred and co. with a sturring rendition of "I've got you babe" but the question remains on how this all ties in. Right now the only thing that is a certain is that the world reknowned Cosmos name is back in play however we don't know how this can be developed even further. Without an exapansion fee, a stadium. or even a playing staff the Cosmos are basically an attractive female who does not speak your language; something to look at but without any real "inner" qualities that you can understand yet. To play Devil's Advocate however; maybe this is the Cosmos plan all along. Get people talking and start making our name get out there even more.