New York Cosmos: Cosmos Copa Returns to Celebrate NYC World Soccer

The Cosmos Copa, New York City's "World Cup," returns for its third year.Founded in 2009 by Spencer Dormitzer and Chris Noble, this year's summer blockbuster amateur adult soccer tournament formerly recognized as "Copa NYC" will feature 30 New York-based teams representing their countries in their quest of hoisting the Cosmos Cup. Not only will the winning team be declared the "Cosmos Copa City Champion," they will be heroes in their ethnic community. If last year's finale between Poland and Jamica was a classic, where Poland was declared the winners after winning 5-3 in penalties, imagine how competitive this year's tournament maybe.On Wednesday, April 27, 2011, the defending champions, NYC Poland kicked off this year's Cosmos Copa launch reception at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York. Representatives of the competing teams attended.From media, dignitaries, team officials and players, all were present to not only represent their country, but to represent New York City's goodwill of soccer.Hosting the launch reception was none other than ESPN's color commentator Tommy Smyth. Having the audience eating out of the palm of his hands, Tommy said to the audience:“I have been with Cosmos Copa since the beginning, and this event has done ...

INSPIRED ART Hosts Benefit for NYC After-School Program, America SCORES New York

New York, NY - In an effort to raise money for America SCORES NY, an after-school program that promotes health and literacy through their soccer and poetry program, local artists unveiled their new artwork, inspired by the poetry of America SCORES' young and talented poet-athletes.Taking place at Manhattan's Sky Room, this one-night-only event titled "Inspired Art" gave guests the opportunity to meet the artists who generously donated their artwork and time for the event. In addition, participants also had the opportunity to participate in the silent auction as they mingled with the other guests.“Inspired Art will connect the art world with the education world, Harlem with Midtown, and public elementary school students with “grown-up” artists,” said Megan Bartlett, event co-chair. “We will celebrate the students’ voices alongside the artists’ vision, demonstrating the ability of our city’s youth to inspire others once they are encouraged to express themselves creatively.”Not only was this fundraiser well-planned and enjoyable, it served as a reminder of the importance of these events. One thing about America SCORES NY that I must commend is the dedication and efforts of their fundraising committee.With all the government and state cutbacks, programs such as America SCORES NY are usually the ...

Real Salt Lake Loses a Heartbreaker in CONCACAF Final

In the biggest international sporting event in the state of Utah since the 2002 Winter Olympics, Real Salt Lake matched up with Monterrey in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League finals Wednesday night at Rio Tinto Stadium. Despite all of the hype and potential for Real Salt Lake to make soccer history, it just was not meant to be as the visiting team from Mexico left with a 1-0 victory.In the aggregate scoring, Monterrey finished the series and became the champions with a 3-2 advantage. Both teams scored two goals in the first leg in Mexico.After the match, head coach Jason Kreis pointed to a 15 minute stretch just before halftime where a defensive lapse proved to be the difference in this match.Just seconds before the first half whistle blew, Chilean forward Humberto Suazo knocked in the only goal of the match. The goal was scored as his teammate got free in the box and Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando just missed the ball on his dive as the ball was left for Suazo instead of shot.Real Salt Lake did have plenty of moments to pull even in the match in the second half, but just missed several ...

Real Salt Lake vs. Monterrey Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis, Reaction

Jason Kreis's Real Salt Lake will look to be the first Major League Soccer club to win the CONCACAF Champions League and punch their ticket to the FIFA Club World Cup when they take on Victor Vucetich's CF Monterrey in the second leg of the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League Final.Join Bleacher Report's Jo-Ryan Salazar as he provides you with a rundown on tonight's action in the deciding match of this prestigious continental tournament live from Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

New York Red Bulls: Luke Rodgers and Tim Ream Appear at NYFEST

New York, NY - During last Saturday's NYFEST, New York Red Bulls forward Luke Rodgers and defender Tim Ream made an appearance at Pier 40 as guests. In a partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival, Umbro and The New York Cosmos, NYFest is New York City's first Film & Entertainment Soccer Tournament. With the Red Bulls dominating their last two opponents, San Jose Earthquakes and D.C. United by a score of 7-0 both players were in high spirits. Their presence alone symbolized the potential of philanthropic goodwill if both the the New York Red Bulls and the New York Cosmos both competed in Major League Soccer. With the weather mostly horrific for the day, soccer fans as well as the competing teams unitedly endured and braved through the weather for charity. Due to their participation, the event raised $25,000 for underprivileged children who are affiliated with nonprofit organizations that provide soccer-based programs. One fantastic moment of the NY Fest was how both Red Bulls players took a photo with a team participating in the celebrity match. This gesture alone really ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. FC Dallas: Back on the Revenge Tour

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy hit the road on May 1 to take on Schellas Hyndman's FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.One player that the Galaxy will not have to worry about is 2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira, who suffered a broken right ankle in the Hoops' 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.“He’s a special player in this league,” Arena told LAGalaxy.com's Larry Morgan, “as evidenced by the MVP award last year and Dallas’ progression to the Cup final."“He’s a terrific player and we want all good players on the field as much as possible.”Of course, the G's will be without the services of Leonardo, who suffered torn knee ligaments and will be out for the remainder of the season.“It just sucks for their team,” central defender Omar Gonzalez said. “He was the MVP last year and he carried them a long way. For them to lose a high-caliber player just sucks, like it did for us when we lost Leo. There have been a lot of injuries around the league, and it’s sad to see it happen."“If he was on the field then we would have to keep an eye on him the whole game. But ...

Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash: North American Soccer’s MVP

New York, NY - Phoenix Suns' two-time NBA Most Valuable Player took part of this past Saturday's "Celebrity Match" hosted by NYFEST. In a partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival, Umbro and The New York Cosmos, NYFest is New York City's first Film & Entertainment Soccer Tournament. With the weather mostly horrific for the day, soccer fans as well as the competing teams unitedly endured and braved through the weather for charity. Due to their participation, the event raised $25,000 for underprivileged children who are affiliated with nonprofit organizations that provide soccer-based programs. Representing the "Home Team," Nash was paired with Ritchie Williams, Anderson Silva, John O'Brien, Tab Ramos, Ethan Zahn, John McEnroe, Andrew Shue and Claudio Reyna. Watching Nash play offered a viewers a glimpse of the potential he would have had as a professional soccer player. Coming from a family line of soccer players, soccer was Nash's first sports passion. With his father John, who played professional soccer in South Africa and England, Nash grew up playing soccer alongside his brother, Martin, a former midfielder for the ...

New York Cosmos: Acknowledging Dan Cherry & Company

"Why are you the way that you are? Honestly, every time I try to do something fun or exciting, you make it not... that way." - Michael Scott (The Office) If television has taught me anything it's that two individuals of different personalities will reluctantly get along for the greater good. In Boxing, there was Howard Cossell and Muhammad Ali. In professional wrestling, there was Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon. If you're old enough to remember the "A-Team", there was the relationship between B.A. Baracus and H.M. "Howling" Murdock. In the case of Chief Marketing Officer Dan Cherry, I maybe his opposite. Other than the fact that both of us yearn for the New York Cosmos to become the 20th MLS Franchise, we have nothing in common. What do I know about Dan Cherry? Not much—the only thing I know about Dan is that he considers Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn his home. While he's from the area where the catch-phrase is "do or die", I'm from the Bronx where catchphrases ...

Sporting Kansas City: It’s Time for Sporting KC To Get It Together

After barely missing the playoffs last year, Sporting Kansas City was expected to come out with fire in their eyes and was expected to be at least decent. The season was supposed to be magical for the re-branded Wizards (see what I did there?) However, they are falling very short of their expectations so far this season. After a close 3-2 win in the opener to Chivas USA, Sporting has lost thrice and tied once in season play. They sit dead last in the standings with a 1-3-1 record, and a measly four points. It seems that since the Kansas City Royals are finally playing well, Sporting has taken the reins as Kansas City’s resident last place team. They are not horrible by any means, but they deserve to be in last in the entire league. Sporting should have two wins, but their inability to close out games let Vancouver tie the game in the final seconds, and Sporting barely got away with a tie as Vancouver narrowly missed the game-winner in the last minute. Now skip ahead to Saturday. Sporting traveled to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution. They were so close to at least pulling away with a tie. Sporting even had ...

Five Reasons Why Real Salt Lake Will Win the CONCACAF Champions League Title

Real Salt Lake gets ready to take on Monterrey for the second time in a week in the final leg of the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night.Real Salt Lake comes into the match having already made United States soccer history by becoming the first Major League Soccer team to play in the finals, rank in the top 25 of the World Club Rankings, and be one of a few teams to earn a draw in a match played in Mexico.This all important second leg will be a home match played at Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah.The first leg of this series ended in a 2-2 draw, which gives Real Salt Lake the first tiebreaker advantage with 2 goals on the road. At the end of the second leg, all goals scored are added together and the Champion is determined by the total number of goals.For Real Salt Lake to become the Champions and advance to the FIFA World Club Championship in Japan, they must: Win the match by any score Play to a draw of either 0-0, or 1-1 (They would advance due to the two road goals scored in the first leg) Real Salt Lake will not ...