Cosmos COO Stover Talks Cuba, NYC FC and Brooklyn

On Thursday the New York Cosmos came to Brooklyn Bridge Park in Downtown Brooklyn where COO Erik Stover discussed the team’s historic trip to Havana, Cuba to face the Cuban National team, an upcoming match against New York City FC in the third round of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and how Brooklyn may become a second home for New York’s most recognizable professional soccer team.

Sunday’s match against the “Lions of the Caribbean” is historic by virtue of the Cosmos being the first U.S. professional team to play in Cuba since the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball traveled to Havana in 1999 for an exhibition game against the Cuban national baseball team. Playing at Estadio Nacional de Fútbol Pedro Marrero puts the Cosmos in the spotlight as America’s ambassador for the world’s most popular sport while harkening back to a time when theirs was one of the biggest names in soccer.

“It goes back to our DNA as a club,” Stover said about the trip. “The Cosmos in the 70s and 80s played all over the world.”

“With this reiteration of the Cosmos we always have to honor our past, honor names like Pele, Beckenbauer and Chinaglia. The Cuba trip is a nod towards the past, but we also see ourselves as a global club. To be the first to [visit Cuba] since the President open up diplomatic ties is a great coup.”

The Cosmos’ practice yesterday at BBP’s Pier 5—the club’s second Brooklyn appearance this month—suggests a pattern: in their first visit on May 2 the team broke new ground with a 1-0 win over North American Soccer League opponent the Ottawa Fury at Coney Island’s MCU Park, Brooklyn’s first-ever professional soccer game.

“Brooklyn is close to our hearts, we’ve already played a game here,” Stover said. “We’re trying to build a stadium; if we can’t do that at Belmont, where we want to, then Brooklyn will be at the top of our list.”

Stover ruled out future matches this season at MCU Park, whose multipurpose Astroturf was favorably received by his players, but said “we had a great experience there” and that the club will explore the possibility of playing in Coney Island again in 2016.

The Cosmos have been regularly beating up on NASL opponents—with five wins and three draws, the club is off to its best start in team history, leading their league with 18 points—but it’s the prospect of a match-up with Major League Soccer’s newest and most heralded entry that has local fans excited.

New York City FC, which signed international stars David Villa and Frank Lampard to a squad expected to challenge the New York Red Bulls for local supremacy, has instead struggled mightily in its first season in MLS play. FC, minus Lampard, who has yet to suit up with his American club, is currently at the bottom of the league’s Eastern Conference with a single win in 12 matches.

While MLS teams often take U.S. Open Cup contests lightly—Red Bulls played few starters in a 1-0 loss last week to the New Jersey Express, a third-division squad that the Cosmos defeated to advance to the Cup’s third round—the pressure on NYC FC to beat the Cosmos will be acute.

Stover played down any expectations for his team against a rival that may have thwarted his club’s shot at a MLS berth.

“That match [June 17th, 7:30 p.m. at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium] will be a showcase for soccer in New York, not really about an MLS or NASL rivalry,” Stover said. “I think it means a lot for soccer fans in New York City. The passions are higher, teams are choosing their colors,” “As far as MLS goes, we didn’t have any interest in going [there]; we like the league that we’re in.”

On the pitch the most effective newcomer on the Cosmos roster has not been Raul, the legendary Spanish striker who holds many of Real Madrid’s career scoring records. Leo Fernandes, on loan this year from the MLS’s Philadelphia Union, has been nothing short of fantastic, tying Raul for the team lead with 3 goals and leading the Cosmos in minutes played. Stover was hopeful that Fernandes’ future is with his club.

“[Leo’s] done a great job and fit in really well in the locker room,” Stover said. “Can he stay with us? Absolutely. Will Philadelphia want to take him back? Of course.”

Despite a murky future regarding the team’s plan to build a world-class soccer facility at Belmont Park, a proposal stalled in the New York State legislature the past two years, the possibility of competing against the world’s best clubs—whenever and wherever they can—is meaningful to Stover .

“We’re in the Open Cup to win a trophy, so every step you take is a step closer to that. [The NYCFC match] certainly means a lot from that point of view and it’s great for the organization and our fans to have bragging rights in the City.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Cosmo’s COO Erik Stover w/ Head Coach Gio Savarese in Brooklyn Bridge Park
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Randazzo for Patch