The Cosmos conclude their 2016 California preseason tour with a rematch that’s been a long time coming.  New York holds an 11-7 all-time edge against the San Jose Earthquakes (8-5 outdoor and 3-2 during the 1982-83 indoor season) since the sides first met in 1974 and last met in 1984.

The founding MLS franchise in San Jose was the first to embrace its rich regional legacy from the NASL Golden Era, when after four seasons as the Clash they rebranded as the Earthquakes beginning with the 2000 season.  Known in the NASL as the San Jose Earthquakes from 1974-82, the Golden Bay Earthquakes from 1983-84, and again as the San Jose Earthquakes playing in the Western Soccer Alliance until 1988, the MLS franchise returned after a two year hiatus in 2006, proving the Earthquakes hold an inextinguishable claim to San Jose soccer identity and legacy.

San Jose won the first encounter against the Cosmos in a shootout after the first 90 minutes ended in a 2-2 stalemate at Spartan Stadium on June 22, 1974.  New York won via shootout in their only meeting in 1975, Pelé scoring for the hosts in the 1-1 match.  Their third match, a 2-1 Cosmos loss in San Jose on August 7, 1976 was the first match won in regulation for the series.  Without shootout tiebreakers, the all-time outdoor series record would be 7-2-4 (W-D-L) in favor of the Cosmos. 

The last game played between the Earthquakes and the Cosmos was on September 12, 1984 at Giants Stadium.  It would prove to be the last match played by the Earthquakes in the NASL and the last NASL match played at Giants Stadium.

The two sides played just nine days before, a 4-3 Cosmos win at Spartan Stadium.  The last NASL match the Cosmos played in California, goals by Fernando Clavijo, Steve Zungul and Branko Segota saw the Quakes open up a 3-0 lead. The three Quakes’ scorers were all familiar to New York soccer fans from their time playing at Nassau Coliseum with the New York Arrows of the MISL.  Head Coach Dragan Popović brought them from Long Island to Golden Bay (as the Quakes were known in the 1983 and 1984 seasons) when the Arrows folded in 1983.  But Andrew Parkinson, Vladislav Bogićević, Parkinson again, Stan Terlecki and finally, in the 89^th minute, Chico Borja scored, and the visiting Cosmos surged from behind to win in a heartbreaking fashion made all the more painful for the Quakes by mathematically eliminating them from playoff contention.   

Having lost their last home game to San Diego five days later, the Quakes had little to play for beyond pride and revenge when they made the trip to the Meadowlands to play their last match for the season.  Having never won before at New York, despite having the top two goal scorers in the league that year in Zungul and Segota, the Earthquakes were heavy underdogs.

The Cosmos, on the other hand, were immersed in a tight playoff race.  Rather than the current system of three points for a win and one for a draw, in the 1984 NASL season, teams were awarded six points for a win, four points for a shootout win, zero points for a loss, but also one point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game. 

Before the 9 p.m. ET kickoff that Wednesday night at the Meadowlands, with their 13-9 record the Cosmos had 115 points. Three points would clinch a playoff berth and eight points would clinch the Eastern Division.  Few knew by the final whistle, the Cosmos would reach their nadir.

The attack-minded former Arrows weren’t the only visitors familiar to Cosmos Country.  When goalkeeper Bob Rigby joined New York for the 1976 season, he was already well known as the first American soccer player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated  with its September 3, 1973 issue, his rookie season with Philadelphia.  The September 12 match against his former club was just the third start for Rigby that 1984 season, but the veteran goalkeeper pulled off a performance for the ages with 14 saves for a shutout.

Despite shutting out the Quakes’ league-leading strike force, one goal by Godfrey Ingram was enough to shock the Cosmos.  Three days later, the 1984 season ended with a 1-0 loss in Chicago, the Cosmos locked out of the playoffs for the first time since 1975, never to return to Giants Stadium for league play.

Open Cup matches in 2014 and 2015 have shown that the Cosmos embrace the opportunity to represent the NASL against MLS competition.  After the 2-0 win over Armenian side FC Ararat Yerevan and 2-1 win over the Fresno Fuego of the PDL, the Cosmos hope to conclude their three-game preseason tour of California as a clean sweep.  Dominic Kinnear’s squad will likely prove itself the toughest challenge of the three. 

The Cosmos welcome the challenge as they prepare to defend the club’s seventh NASL championship, seeking to continue their winning ways at the start of 2016.  And the opportunity to finally exact revenge for that catastrophic 1984 loss to the Earthquakes lends an extra special historical element to this highly anticipated matchup at Avaya Stadium.  They’ve been away too long, but the Cosmos will once again find their way to San Jose to face the Earthquakes this Saturday, an enchanting matchup for all who take interest and pride in U.S. soccer history.

Cosmos-Earthquakes kicks off from Avaya Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET).