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Szetela leads Cosmos into NISA fall season

The club captain will miss the fans but is ready to fight for a championship

Published Aug 15, 2020

It's been four years since the New York Cosmos and Danny Szetela have paraded around with a championship trophy - and the club's captain thinks it's about time to continue a five-decade tradition.

New York begins its quest for its ninth league title when it hosts Michigan Stars FC in its National Independent Soccer Association fall season opener at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale, N.Y. on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game, a closed-door affair, can be watched on MyCujoo.

"I am very hungry," Szetela said. "Anybody that knows me knows that I'm competitive in anything I do especially when I'm on the field wearing the Cosmos jersey. It's always about winning. That's what the club is about and that's what I'm about."

The Cosmos won five championships in the original incarnation of the North American Soccer League - 1972, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1982. Since their reboot seven years ago, the club added three more trophies to their collection - 2013, 2015 and 2016. They also reached the 2017 final.

Szetela, 33, has reminded his teammates about that unprecedented success.

"Everyone on the team, especially a lot of the new guys here, we tell them, our expectations are high," he said. "When you come here and put on that jersey, we go out there to win."

When you're the Cosmos, the expectations are always high - win during the regular season and then win a league title.

"I think we'll do very well," Szetela said. "Our expectations are to win. We know since the beginning of 2013, when the Cosmos rebooted, every team comes out to play against us like it's a final. It's important we match the team's intensity. They're going to come out physical. They're going to come out flying. We have to make sure we do that. The guys have to be prepared."

The fall regular season will be a short one - four games. So, there is little room for error. The Cosmos must get off to a solid start.

"It's unfortunate that it's only four games, but obviously with the pandemic going on, traveling is a little different now," Szetela said. "You have to make sure the players, staff are safe. You have to make sure the team is doing the right thing. If that means we have to have a shorter season and then hopefully have some kind of playoff tournament after that, that's what we've got to do for this year. Hopefully next year things get back to normal and we can have a regular season. We can take it for what it is and do what we have to do to win the NISA league."

The atmosphere at Mitchel will be quite different than the 2018 and 2019 seasons when thousands of supporters cheered on their heroes. No fans will attend due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's going to be a lot different," said Szetela, a fan favorite. "But at the end of the day, both teams are going to be playing without fans. When we have fans, especially the 5 Points, they always give you the extra boost of energy during the game. But you know what? It's still going to be fun because we still will be able to go out there and do what we love to do and that's to play the game of soccer. Unfortunately for the fans, they won't be there, but they will still be watching, and we'll still feel their energy cheering us on from home."

During the preseason, Szetela has kept in contact with 5 Points and other supporters through social media.

"There's definitely fans reaching out and wishing us luck before games, especially a lot of the 5 Points," he said. "The 5 Points know how much I love them; how much I love the club. It's always great to get that extra bit of motivation from the fans, sending messages, to wish us and make sure we perform on the field and represent the badge the way it's supposed to be represented."

While the Cosmos will play under unusual and different conditions this season, head coach Carlos Mendes realized that he will get the usual gritty performance out of Szetela.

"He is obviously a very big part of the club," Mendes said. "He has a lot of passion and history with the club. He is a very good teammate. He leaves everything on the field in training, in games. Just a real leader; leads by example. We are looking for another big season from him. He's a guy from day one who takes a lot of the younger players, the newer guys and makes them understand on what it's going to take to win at this level. We're happy to have him back. Hopefully, he can help this team, push them to what the fans and club deserve, which is a championship."

The Cosmos will start Saturday night against Michigan, 2-1 winners over FC Chattanooga in its season opener last week.

"We know they're going to come out flying," Szetela said. "They want to win. We played them last year and we beat them both times. Every team that comes out against us, that's their biggest game of the season. We just have to match the intensity and play to the best of our capabilities and do what we have to do."