TITLE HUNTING
NYCFC can give city first crown in nearly 10 years with MLS Cup win over Portland
New York City hasn’t exactly been Titletown for quite some time.
A team championship trophy was last hoisted in New York in the winter of 2012, when the Giants won Super Bowl XLVI and brought the Lombardi Trophy back from Indianapolis after they upset Tom Brady and the Patriots, 21-17.
Since then, New York sports has felt like a series of long, cold winters.
The year after the Giants won that Super Bowl, the New York City Football Club was founded on May 8, 2013. Two years later, in 2015, NYCFC played its first game as a member of Major League Soccer.
On Saturday in Portland, Ore., against the Timbers, NYCFC, in just its seventh season of existence, will play for the MLS Cup and a chance to bring a team title to New York for the first time in nearly 10 years.
NYCFC advanced to the 3 p.m. final by marching through the playoffs on a magical and charmed run. After defeating Atlanta in the first round, NYCFC stunned No. 1 seed New England in Foxborough, Mass., advancing on penalty kicks.
Last weekend, in the Eastern Conference final at Philadelphia, NYCFC won 2-1 over a Union side that was massively undermanned because of a rash of COVID-19 cases to move into Saturday’s game. Even in that match, NYCFC fell behind 1-0 after an own goal and still managed to survive.
In chronological order, these are the titles our New York teams last produced — the Giants in 2012, the Yankees in 2009, the Devils in 2003, the Rangers in 1994, the Mets in 1986, the Islanders in 1983, the Knicks in 1973 and the Jets in 1969. The Nets have never won an NBA title (though they did win the last ABA championship in 1976), the Red Bulls have never won an MLS Cup and the Liberty have never won the WNBA title.
So, New York City-area sports is in the hands of NYCFC on Saturday.
“We have a group of guys and a club that’s committed to doing something special,’’ veteran goalkeeper Sean Johnson told The Post.
“To represent New York is important for us,’’ coach Ronny Deila told The Post by phone Saturday from Portland. “I think our team’s values are very similar to New York’s values with our hard work. We are a physical, tough team to play, an offensive team.’’
NYCFC are relative newcomers in the competitive New York market, and tried to draw immediate attention to itself by bringing in big-name international stars such as England’s Frank Lampard, Spain’s David Villa and Italy’s Andrea Pirlo.
All of those players were on the back nine of their respective careers and none of them brought an MLS Cup to New York.
Slowly, those international stars with splashy reputations departed and the club’s philosophy shifted to a younger, team-oriented approach. Deila, from Norway, was a big part of that changing of the old guard to the new.
“I love to play with young players who have that drive and want-to, and we had too many players that already had been to the top and came to the U.S. to enjoy their last years,’’ Deila said. “You have to have young legs on the team if you’re going to win. So, last year when I came here, I felt there were too many players from 27 to 32 years old. It was very important for me to get in younger players. When you have ambitious, hardworking young players around, it makes it better.’’
The club has, indeed, done it with a brilliant blend of youth and experience.
A couple of the team’s veteran anchors are Johnson, who has been with NYCFC for the last five seasons, and diminutive 34-year-old midfielder Maxi Moralez, who’s listed at 5-foot-3, 115 pounds and has also been with the club for the past five seasons.
NYCFC also have a good blend of youth with defender James Sands, who’s a native of nearby Rye, N.Y., and have started to get some quality time with the U.S. Men’s National Team. The 21-yearold Sands was the first homegrown player to make NYCFC’s roster. Tavon Gray, a 19-year-old from The Bronx, has recently delivered some critical minutes.
The centerpiece of the NYCFC attack is Valentin “Tati’’ Castellanos, whose 21 goals this season earned him the “Golden Boot’’ as the leading scorer in MLS.
The season has been a trying one at times for NYCFC, which began the year on a 5-5-2 start, then went 5-1-2 before sliding on a 1-5-3 drought that left it on the outside of the playoff chance looking in.
But they have gotten hot at the right time, taking a 5-0-3 run of play into Saturday’s MLS Cup final.
“When we got to the playoffs, I felt like every team didn’t want to meet us, because they knew how high our top level was,’’ Deila said. “We know when we are at our best, we can beat anybody.’’