FIREWORKS FOR FURY
Team plays Cosmos, Raul to draw
Wednesday’s first-place clash between the Ottawa Fury and New York Cosmos settled little, but NASL commissioner Bill Peterson suggests the game could serve as a preview for a bigger rematch in the fall — and potentially in the playoffs.
“I won’t be surprised if they see each other somewhere in the championship,” Peterson said following the back-and-forth contest that ended in a heavy downpour in front of 6,042 fans at TD Place.
“It was a very well played match. The first half was a little bit like two heavyweights feeling each other out. In the second half, we saw some fireworks — Ottawa had its chances, right? — but I think they both showed they’re two of the top teams in the league and they played that way.”
Indeed, after a cautious first half, the Fury picked up the pace, coming close time and again in the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
Tom Heinemann pushed a header just past the post, Carl Haworth barely missed with a 20-foot shot and Paolo Junior was in prime scoring position, but couldn’t corral the ball in his feet.
The draw left the Fury with six wins, two draws and one defeat in the fall schedule. They maintained a four-point edge on the Cosmos atop the fall standings.
The Cosmos, however, maintained their five-point gap ahead of the Fury in the combined standings, which include the spring season.
Fury coach Marc Dos Santos accepted the positives that came from what he described as a “tactical” and “intelligent” game from both sides.
“At the end of the day, it’s a fair tie,” he said, suggesting the Cosmos were the better team in the first half and the Fury were stronger in the second half.
“It was a good 0-0 game. I feel that sometimes in soccer 0-0 is boring, but I don’t think this was a boring 0-0 game. You always felt that one of the teams could have scored. We played a mature game. We played a playoff game, in my opinion and it’s an important point.”
Wednesday’s draw came on the heels of a 2-1 defeat to the Minnesota United on Aug. 15, a game that ended the Fury’s 12-game undefeated streak.
Heinemann suggested the Fury had the better chances, but like Dos Santos, he says a point – the club’s first ever in five games against the legendary Cosmos – is acceptable.
“If anybody was going to win it tonight, it was us,” he said. “We didn’t. We’ll take the point. We would have liked three tonight, but coming off a loss, it’s good to get back on the right track in terms of gaining points.
Now, we’ve got a big one at home Saturday (against the Tampa Bay Rowdies). We need three points out of that one.”
Much of the pre-game attention
If anybody was going to win it tonight, it was us. We didn’t. We’ll take the point.
centred around Raul, the 38-yearold Cosmos forward who was generally regarded as one of the world’s best players from 1999-2003.
Raul was instrumental in setting up the best scoring chance of the first half, springing Walter Restrepo free with a perfect left-foot pass.
But Fury goalkeeper Romuald Peiser also read the play well, charging out of the net to block Restrepo’s 15-foot drive, keeping the game scoreless.
Following the game, Dos Santos offered up nothing but respect for Raul, talking about his status among the all-time great players in the game.
He labeled Raul as a “legend”, saying that his long-time home as a star with Real Madrid is akin to the status of a superstar hockey player skating for the Montreal Canadiens. Dos Santos was left impressed with Raul’s intelligence on the field and with his ability to quickly jump into open spaces.