Schwartz: NYCFC To Face Cosmos In U.S. Open Cup

By Peter Schwartz
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Last year, we saw the Cosmos square off against the Red Bulls.  Earlier this season, the Red Bulls squared off in the first MLS Hudson River battle against expansion NYCFC.

And now this Wednesday, it's the start of a new rivalry -- or derby, as it's referred to in soccer -- as the Cosmos, fresh off of winning the NASL's spring season championship, face NYCFC in round four of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Shuart Stadium on the campus of Hofstra University.

"I'm very excited," said Cosmos defender and captain Carlos Mendes. "I think it's going to be a great atmosphere.  We're playing a good team so it's a big challenge."

While the Cosmos are riding high after ensuring a spot in the NASL playoffs, the NYCFC players are also feeling good about themselves. After a rough start to the season, New York's newest soccer team has won back-to-back games for the time in the franchise's brief history.

Since Major League Soccer kicked off in 1996, an MLS club has won all but one of the U.S. Open Cup championships. Despite that fact, there are many times when MLS teams just don't seem to take the games seriously, especially against "lower division" clubs.

But NYCFC is a new team, and it sounds like they are coming to play on Wednesday.

"I can be clear and tell you that we will approach it in a way that we want to win the game," said NYCFC head coach Jason Kreis. ""We're not going out there as if we're playing some type of friendly. We're there to win trophies."

The Cosmos franchise is no stranger to taking home hardware.  Back in the day, the original Cosmos won five NASL titles before the team and league folded after the 1984 season.  The league was resurrected in 2011, and in 2013 the Cosmos returned to the pitch and captured their sixth Soccer Bowl title.

Now on a league hiatus until the fall season begins in July, the Cosmos are focused on winning the U.S. Open Cup title, something that eluded them last season when they lost to the Philadelphia Union in round 5.

The Cosmos are out to show that they can compete against the top-level teams in North America.

"Any league or cup games that you play you want to win," said Mendes. "That's what we play for. The U.S. Open Cup is important to us."

Shuart Stadium will be packed with both Cosmos fans and supporters of NYCFC.  Among the fans that will be pulling for the boys in blue will be family and friends of NYCFC defender and Long Island native Chris Wingert.

After coming over from Real Salt Lake in the MLS expansion draft, Wingert's playground has been Yankee Stadium, but he is looking forward to playing on Long Island against some familiar faces.

"For me, it's exciting for it to be against a team that plays on Long Island, with a lot of my friends who are playing for the team and on the staff," said Wingert.

Wingert is particularly close with a number of Cosmos and worked out with them during the offseason.  Wingert and Mendes have been good friends since their high school days on Long Island, and they've known each other since long before that.

On Wednesday, they could very well play against each other.

"We both play in the back, so we probably won't be matched up a lot against each other, except maybe on set pieces," said Wingert, who may or may not have played a role in Mendes becoming a Cosmo.

When the Cosmos were putting their team together for the 2013 season, head coach Giovanni Savarese was picking Wingert's brain about some players that he thought would be a fit for the new club.

Not knowing that the Cosmos were already talking to Mendes, Wingert brought up his friend's name.  Mendes was playing for Columbus in MLS, but Wingert felt that he would love to come home to Long Island. As it turns out, Mendes was the first player ever signed by the Cosmos, and now he'll be reunited with his buddy on Wednesday night.

"Chris is a great guy," said Mendes. "He's a great player and I'm looking forward to playing against him. Playing a team that's very close to you makes it extra special. The fans will be excited and the stadium will be full."

A lot of the fans in attendance at Shuart Stadium this season have come to see Raul, the latest in a long line of international stars that have played for the Cosmos going back to the glory years with Pele, Giorgio Chinaglia and Franz Beckenbauer.

Wingert could very well be paying close attention to the former Real Madrid star.

"I'm sure it will be a difficult task," said Wingert of defending Raul. "He's one of the all-time great strikers."

While Wingert will have his hands full with Raul, Mendes will have his eye on star forward David Villa, who scored a goal to help NYCFC beat Montreal 3-1 Saturday night at Yankee Stadium.

There was a great atmosphere last June at Shuart Stadium when 9,364 fans watched the Cosmos blank the Red Bulls 3-0 in round four of the U.S. Open Cup.  A year later, there could very well be a full house on hand Wednesday night in Hempstead for the Cosmos-NYCFC showdown.

"These sorts of matches are huge for U.S. soccer and New York," said Savarese. "We'll be matching up against a very good team. It's going to be a great challenge for us."

It should be quite an evening for what's being called the "East River Derby." You have two teams representing New York, a new MLS club that is trying to find its way and an historic NASL team looking for more hardware.

While the two teams battle it out on the field, the two sets of supporters in the stands will try to outdo each other in the noise department.

For tickets to Wednesday night's match, click here.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan.  You can also follow @NYCosmos, @NYCFC and @wingert17.