Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's ...

2013 was the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

's postseason championship match of the 2013 season held to determine the NASL Champion. The event was contested in a one-game match between the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

, winners of the Spring Championship, and the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

, winners of the Fall Championship. The game was held on November 9, 2013 at

Atlanta Silverbacks Park Atlanta Silverbacks Park is a sports complex in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, just outside Atlanta, United States that is currently used primarily for Rugby football, rugby. It was formerly the home venue of the Atlanta S ...

, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. It was televised at 7:30pm EDT on

ESPN3 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an internet, online streaming media, streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) an ...

and

ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ) is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the ...

. New York won the match by the score of 1–0.

Background

The

and the

respectively won the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Spring Championship and Fall Championship. This earned both teams the right to compete for the NASL title. As Spring Champions, the Silverbacks also gained the right to host the event in their home field.

Game summary

Set at

, the

and the

faced each other at Soccer Bowl 2013 for the NASL Championship in front of a sellout crowd of 7,211. The event was televised live in English on

and in Spanish on

. English commentators were

JP Dellacamera John Paul "JP" Dellacamera (born January 11, 1952) is an American play-by-play sportscaster primarily for Major League Soccer with the Philadelphia Union, as well as major soccer tournaments and ice hockey. Early life Dellacamera grew up in Wa ...

and

Janusz Michallik Janusz Michallik (born April 22, 1966, in Chorzów, Poland) is a former professional soccer player, coach, and current television sports commentator. Born in Poland, he represented the United States national team. Youth Michallik moved to the Uni ...

. They were joined by former Cosmos star and current

MSG Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is a sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer with a ...

Soccer analyst

Shep Messing Shep Norman Messing (born October 9, 1949) is a retired American soccer goalkeeper and current broadcaster who works as a studio analyst for the MLS Season Pass team. In 2021 he took the position of chairman of the Major Arena Soccer League. He ...

. Spanish commentators were Richard Méndez and Robert Sierra. Head referee of the game was Edvin Jurisevic. Assistant referees were Anthony Vasoli and Brian Dunn. Fourth official was Ted Unkel. Silverbacks Head coach was Brian Haynes. Cosmos Head coach was

Giovanni Savarese Giovanni Savarese (born July 14, 1971) is a Venezuelan football manager and former player. He last served as the head coach for the Portland Timbers. Club career Professional Breakthrough Savarese made his professional debut at 15, with Ve ...

. As the match started approximately at 7:30pm EDT, the two teams went head on to gain possession of the ball. For the first ten minutes the two teams battled for the offensive role. In the fifth minute

Diomar Díaz Diomar Ángel Díaz Calderón (born 3 March 1990) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Deportivo Táchira. Career Díaz began his career in Venezuela with Deportivo Petare and Mineros de Guayana, scoring four goa ...

made the early attempt for the Cosmos, but was soon defended by the Silverbacks. By the tenth minute, the Silverbacks gained a strong offense, as the Cosmos sought to quickly reverse the roles on the pitch. Borfor Carr sent a pass from the right side of the corner to the goal area, but was deflected by the Cosmos. Silverbacks' Brad Stisser continued the attack on goal which the 2013 NASL Golden Glove winner

Kyle Reynish Kyle Patrick Reynish (born November 3, 1983) is a former American soccer goalkeeper. Early life and education Reynish attended Hart High School in Santa Clarita, California where he had a 0.84 career goals against average, as well as setting ...

easily took care of. Cosmos'

Stefan Dimitrov Stefan Dimitrov may refer to: * Stefan Dimitrov (bass) (1939–2004), Bulgarian basso opera singer * Stefan Dimitrov (footballer) (born 1984), Bulgarian footballer * Stefan Dimitrov (volleyball) (born 1956), Bulgarian former volleyball player * Stef ...

followed in the 17th minute, with a shot of his own toward the left post which Silverbacks goalkeeper

Joe Nasco Joseph Nasco (born June 18, 1984) is an American professional association football, soccer player. Career After spending time in Andrew College and Birmingham–Southern College, Nasco made eight appearances for Panama City Pirates in the USL P ...

dove to save. Two minutes later Cosmos defender

Hunter Freeman Hunter Freeman (born January 8, 1985, in Tyler, Texas) is a retired American soccer player who currently is the director of domestic scouting for FC Cincinnati Career College and amateur As a teenager, Freeman trained in residency at the Uni ...

took a corner kick from the near side, but it was sent out of the field. Still, New York continued to mount pressure, with Díaz challenging Nasco twice in a one-minute span. Díaz first placed a shot wide in the 21st minute then got under a cross from Carlos Mendes in the 22nd minute that was also sent wide. Soon after, from a cross sent by Freeman, Dimitrov had another great opportunity on net at the 28th minute which just soared over the frame. The Cosmos earned a free kick and in the 29th minute

Marcos Senna Marcos Antônio Senna da Silva (born 17 July 1976), known as Senna, is a retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He was mainly known for his passing range and long-range shooting and was also a penalty specialist. H ...

took the shot, but it was sent into the arms of Nasco who was able to dive after it. New York continued with the pressure on the Atlanta defense. In the 35th minute, Ayoze placed the ball into the goal area and Paulo Mendes made a connection, however, he could not redirect it into the net. Dimitriov made another attempt at goal in the 36th minute, which Nasco also grabbed. In the final minutes of the first half, Ayoze again sent the ball into the area, and Nasco managed to defend his post. At the half way mark, the game remained scoreless, with an amazing performance by Nasco who created a strong defense and made several saves throughout the night. Returning in the second half, both teams were determined to once again gain the momentum shown in the first 45 minutes. After five minutes, the Cosmos finally broke through Nasco's undeniable defense. Ayoze took a free kick that reached the goal area, but was cleared by an Atlanta defender. The ball fell to Senna who stopped the ball's motion, methodically placed it on the ground, and with precision looped an 18-yard shot from the right side on the half volley which arched into the opposite upper 90 which Nasco could not reach in time. Goal in the 50th minute by the Cosmos. Despite being down, the NASL Spring Champions, the Atlanta Silverbacks pressed on to regroup and make their mark. Danny Barrera drove an attack in the 61st minute, putting a ball across the face of the goal, but the Cosmos cleared it out for a corner, which they also successfully defended. In the 62nd minute,

Mike Randolph Michael Horace Randolph (born December 3, 1985) is an American soccer player. Career College and amateur Randolph attended Canyon Hills Junior High, where he played basketball, and Ruben S. Ayala High School. He is said to be one of the best ...

’s cross into the area was headed high by Pedro Mendes whose attempt was the closest to making goal. By the 78th minute, Atlanta’s Shane Moroney managed to make it into the goal box, but Reynish quickly blocked Moroney's shot. The night continued with a battle for possession, with both goalkeepers showing their value. With Atlanta holding the attack towards the latter part of the game, the Cosmos defended their lead. After 90 minutes of regular time, 5 minutes of stoppage was added. One minute later, Silverback's Barrera fielded a corner kick into the goal box, and Reynish punched it away. After several valiant attempts by the Silverbacks' the Cosmos held their line through the entire stoppage time. Head referee Edvin Jurisevic blew the final whistle and the New York Cosmos were declared the 2013 NASL Champions, with final score being 1–0. During the post game ceremony, important NASL leaders including Commissione
Bill Peterson
and the President of the

USSF USSF may refer to: * United States Servicemen's Fund, a support organization for soldier and sailor resistance to the Vietnam War and the U.S. military * United States Soccer Federation, governing body of soccer in the United States * United States ...

and a leading

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

member

Sunil Gulati Sunil Gulati ( ; born July 30, 1959) is an American sports administrator who presided over the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) from 2006 to 2018. On April 19, 2013, he was elected to a four-year term on the FIFA Council. In March 2014, h ...

were on hand. President Gulati himself bestowed the Silverbacks' with honorary runners-up medals for being finalist. Gulati also presented the Cosmos players with their championship medals. Bill Peterson congratulated the club, and the Cosmos hoisted the Soccer Bowl trophy in the air in celebration of their new championship.

Championship results

2013 NASL Champions:

Man of the Match: :

(New York Cosmos)

References

* 2013 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state) Soccer competitions in Georgia (U.S. state) November 2013 in the United States

Background

Game summary

Championship results

See also

References

External links