Raul Takes Manhattan--All Of It

With his rock star good looks —down to a haircut that bears more than a passing resemblance to the style a young George Harrison once sported—Raúl González Blanco strode confidently into a packed conference room in the Four Season Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, signaling the latest step forward for the New York Cosmos, arguably America’s most famous soccer franchise.

In front of a gaggle of journalists and former Cosmos Hubert Birkenmeier, Andranik Eskandarian and Shep Messing, Raúl—known, like the world’s best footballers, by his given name—was introduced Tuesday morning as the newest member of the Cosmos.

With many in the Four Season’s Cosmopolitan Club rapt in attention to hear from one of the greatest players of his generation, the thirty seven year-old Raúl spoke mostly in Spanish about his excitement in crossing the Atlantic to play for the Cosmos, his respect for the quality of North American Soccer League (NASL) competition and his passion for a sport that he has played professionally since joining the famed Real Madrid Football Club as a seventeen year-old in 1994.

Flanked by his new head coach, Giovanni Savarese, and Cosmo Chairman Seamus O’Brien, Raúl appeared genuinely pleased to discover that select Americans are as passionate about the beautiful game as their European counterparts.

“It’s a great honor to become part of this historic and grand club,” Raúl said in halting English. “I hope to add to the great history of the New York Cosmos, and contribute to its great future.”

In signing a two-year contract with the Cosmos, the Real striker who scored 323 goals during his sixteen years with the Spanish League (La Liga) club, will not only look to connect with his new teammates, including midfielder Marco Senna, a former rival who played with Villarreal CF in La Liga, but will also be responsible for directing the Cosmos’ Youth Academy.

“My focus will be on the field, helping the team win many games, and to pass along my experience to the younger players,” said Raúl, who will become the face of the Cosmos’ efforts to grow the sport throughout the metropolitan area.

Raúl’s is the latest in a string of high-profile signings by NYC clubs of established if aging European stars. The New York Red Bulls began the trend by signing in 2010 of former French national team captain Thierry Henry and David Villa, the FC Barcelona star, was recent signed by New York City FC, the Major League Soccer team starting play in Yankee Stadium next year. Villa, whose former club is Real Madrid’s greatest rival, supplanted Raúl on the Spanish national team and led Spain to the 2008 UEFA European Championship as well as World Cup title in 2010.

Seamus O’Brien was clear that landing yet another Spanish star—Senna was signed prior to the 2013 season—was key to getting his team to the top the New York metropolitan area’s soccer heap.

“If you want to call it [the NASL] second division,” O’Brien responded to a question from the floor, “when last I looked we won the league [in 2013], which in my world means we are first division, aren’t we?”

Referencing his club’s 3-0 win last June against the Red Bulls, the Cosmos Chairman added: “We’ve proven on the field that we’re a match for anyone in this country. We are 16 months old – we first kicked a ball again last August. We’re on a journey; who knows where that journey is going to go?”

Cosmos’ coach Savarese, who played locally at LIU Brooklyn, said that the addition of Raúl to his squad was as much about winning in the present as it is about building for the future.

“I want to make a point about the academy,” Savarese said. ”[Raúl]... will be advising [our youth academy] director about building the curriculum, building the structure, and building the entire academy for us. We want to make sure that it is uniform, from top to bottom.”

“We’re going to be very connected with [local] clubs,” said Savarese, now in his second season coaching the Cosmos, “because we want to be sure that we grow together.”

“Raúl doesn’t only want to create a youth academy, he wants to create a youth development program [connected] all the way to our first team and the national team.”

Arnie Ramirez—Savarese’s coach at LIU when the Venezuelan-born striker was a star for the Blackbirds—echoed his protégé’s sentiments. “Raúl is passionate about the game. He’s going to be hands-on all the time.”

Speaking about how local prospects might connect with the Cosmos Youth Academy, Ramirez added: “The Cosmos are going to be involved all over New York City.”

Apparently Raúl is already doing outreach for the Cosmos as yet-to-be-established youth academy.

Describing a quintessential New York experience last weekend in Central Park, Raúl said that while kicking a soccer ball around “all of a sudden there were 14 kids playing soccer [with me]. That is the main reason why the academy will try to develop those kids and help soccer grow in the United States.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Raúl, flanked by Gio Savarese and Seamus O’Brien, sports his new Cosmos jersey
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Randazzo for Patch