Cosmos battle Tampa to 0-0 draw

Dylan Butler

The New York Cosmos remain undefeated in the North American League’s fall season, playing the Tampa Bay Rowdies to a 0-0 draw in front of a sellout crowd of 7,023 at Al Lang Stadium Saturday night in Tampa. 

That comes on the heels of a 2-1 win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the club’s opener two weeks ago at Hofstra. 

“That huge crowd was great tonight,” Cosmos captain and Mineola native Carlos Mendes said. “It was a lot of fun playing with that energy in the building. We feel pretty good about our game tonight. There are some things we need to work on, but overall it was a good game.”

Rowdies goalkeeper Diego Restrepo was solid throughout, making a number of quality saves, including a diving stop following an Ayoze corner and scramble in front of goal in the 76th minute. 

Joseph Nane put a header off the post and Ayoze followed with an attempt off the woodwork in the first half. 

Marcos Senna also had two quality chances in the second half, but Restrepo saved his point-blank attempt in the 66th minute and a free kick from 30 yards nine minutes later. 

Italian Alessandro Noselli, who provided the heroics against Fort Lauderdale with the late winner, nearly did it again Saturday. But his potential game-winning stoppage-time goal was called back because of offside. 

“It was a very demanding game and we have to give credit to Tampa, they made it difficult for us, but we were able to find some open spaces to create chances, however we were unfortunate not to score, hitting the post on a couple of occasions,” Cosmos coach Giovanni Savarese said. “We created many good chances in the second half and put on a great performance for the crowd in attendance.”

The Cosmos will play at the Carolina RailHawks Saturday before returning home to take on the San Antonio Scorpions Aug, 24 at 7 p.m. 

The Cosmos also continue to make moves off the pitch. This week the club announced it has hired Bob Kuperman as creative consultant. Kuperman, who began his career in 1963, has been involved in the creation of some of the mist historically famous and brand-effective advertising in U.S. history including the Eveready Energizer Bunny. 

“Bob has a wealth of experience in the advertising industry and has been an integral part of some of the most seminal creative concepts to originate in that field,” Cosmos chief operating officer Erik Stover said. “We’re delighted to be working with him.”

The Cosmos also reached an agreement to become partners with the Cosmopolitan Soccer League and establish the CJSL Select Player Development Program as a Cosmos Satellite School. 

The CJSL Select Program becomes an official member of the Cosmos Development Program by creating select teams for Boys U11-14 in the CJSL. They will receive coaching from the staff of the Cosmos Development Program and take part in various national, international and Cosmos-hosted competitions.

“We are very excited to begin this new program with the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League,” Cosmos director of youth development Fabian Banchiero said. “Personally, I have very found memories as a player within CJSL and it is a great opportunity to now be able to help young players further grow and have a future in soccer.”

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