READ: Part I (1972, 1977), Part II (1978, 1980) and Part III (1982, 2013)

Victors don’t believe in chance, but the New York Cosmos date with destiny was earned by the slimmest of margins.

Although many dared to dream of a fantasy finish to send off Marcos Senna and Raúl as champions, the club had not played a championship final in Cosmos Country since 1978, and the right to host Ottawa Fury FC in The Championship Final was earned not only with the 2-1 victory in Brooklyn on Nov. 7, but by topping the 2015 Combined Season Standings on goals scored.  What made the setting all the more special was the fact the club would play for its seventh NASL title on the very same field on which it won its first title in 1972. 

With Shuart Stadium packed and vibrant with anticipation, the man who scored the goal to clinch that first title, Josef Jelinek, tossed the coin to determine kickoff as Honorary Captain.  The coin toss, won by the home team, would prove prophetic – the night would belong to New York.

The will to sacrifice for the sake of a storybook ending to the season was evident when, just seven minutes in, Danny Szetela boldly smashed down the left flank, risking decapitation by the high boot of Rafael Alves. The referee allowing advantage, the ball somehow found midseason acquisition Gastón Cellerino, who would not be denied. The Argentine kept his balance long enough to slip the ball past Ottawa goalkeeper Romuald Peiser, sending Cosmos Country into a frenzy of excitement.

Since the reboot in 2013, the Cosmos had never lost when scoring first, but Ottawa and its fans had not crossed the border to play the role of also-rans, so the result was anything but a fait accompli.  The Fury battled in a manner that embodied their nickname.  Their physical, counterattacking style was a tactical foil to the Cosmos’ free-flowing possession game. 

All in green felt aggrieved when Rovérsio was rugby tackled on a corner kick in the 40^th minute by Mason Trafford, but referee Alan Kelly signaled for a goal kick instead of pointing to the penalty spot.  But Trafford’s aggressiveness would finally cross the line in the 68^th minute, when he saw straight red after chopping down and stomping on Sebastián Guenzatti.

Playing down a man only emboldened the visitors, and Tom Heinemann brought them level less than two minutes after the red card, flicking the ball past Jimmy Maurer with the outside of his right boot, snapping a streak of 461 consecutive minutes of clean sheets in championship games for the Cosmos, going back to 1978. 

If the Fury gave a quick response to the red card, so too would the Cosmos answer swiftly and reclaim the lead in less than two minutes when Walter Restrepo sent a lofted ball from the byline to the back post.  Ottawa defenders tried to clear the ball off the line, but Cellerino pounced on the ball to ensure the go-ahead goal for his second of the night, joining Giorgio Chinaglia as the only other Cosmos player to score twice in a final.

Cellerino would earn a special place in club history fifteen minutes later, eclipsing Chinaglia’s record to become the first player to score a hat trick in an NASL final. Fittingly, it was a beautifully-placed pass from Raúl down the left flank to set up what seemed sure to be the title-clinching goal.  The night’s Honorary Captain, Josef Jelinek had scored his title-clinching goal in the 86^th minute in 1972.  Looking on, he saw Cellerino score what seemed sure to be the clincher in the 85^th. 

But again, Ottawa would not surrender to fate and strove to play the spoilsport.  Two minutes into the four minutes expected of added time, Heinemann stretched to score on a rebound off a Maurer save to make it 3-2, intensifying the final moments of the match.

Time seemed to stand still as the final seconds of the fabled careers of Raúl and Marcos Senna came to a close in fitting fashion.  Just as Pelé retired in triumph in 1977, so too the whistle blew full time to declare them champions.  Joy swept across the pitch and the stands as all recognized an historic final filled with drama had just played out in a manner no dramatist would dare to script. 

True to the club’s rich legacy, the “Cardiac Cosmos” of 2015 earned their special place in Cosmos history.  The seventh star secured, once again the Cosmos proved that nobody does it better.