New York, Ottawa Meet In The Championship Final Rematch

This juicy season opener on Long Island is a rematch of The Championship Final, won by New York, 3-2, last November. For the defending champion Cosmos, there is no replacing the retired Spanish stars Raúl and Marcos Senna, but sporting director and coach Giovanni Savarese has instead gone for quality and quantity. The Cosmos may be the deepest team in the league, a flexible roster that added the former Croatian international Niko Kranjcar to signings from South America in Yasmani Duk (on loan), Juan Arango, and Yohandry Orozco. Savarese preaches competition at every position.

Ottawa played for the Soccer Bowl Trophy in only its second year in the league. Now comes a medium rebuild under Paul Dalglish. The heart of Fury FC’s record-setting defense -- goalkeeper Romuald Peiser and center back Rafael Alves -- stayed in Canada’s capital city, but much else has changed. There’s quality in the midfield with Julian de Guzman, the captain of Canada’s national team, the young Canadian Mauro Eustaquio, and Marcel de Jong. Dennis Chin and Idan Vered, an Israeli signed recently, will try to match the 2015 production of Tom Heinemann.

Match Information
6 p.m. ET | Sunday, April 3
Shuart Stadium | Hempstead, N.Y.