Undoubtedly, the first half of Sunday night’s season-opening Cosmos victory at Shuart Stadium was the Juan Arango show. Making his New York debut, the acclaimed Venezuelan midfielder buried two shots in the back of the net just two minutes apart, pacing the Cosmos to a 2-0 lead in the 38^th minute that they wouldn’t relinquish. This morning the NASL recognized Arango as its first Player of the Week for the 2016 season.

But the player who replaced Arango in the 77^th minute of that Championship Final rematch against Ottawa Fury warrants recognition, too. Also debuting in green and white, Croatian international Niko Kranjčar was strong and clean on the ball in his 13-plus minutes. With a three-goal advantage, Kranjčar stepped into the midfield and did a little bit of everything. He linked up with the back line to maintain long spells of possession, at times weaving between multiple defenders. He picked out forward Jairo Arrieta in a one-on-one situation, delivering a ball over the top. He switched the point of attack, cutting across the heart of the park, pivoting and delivering a cross-field ball to the right wing.

Then, two minutes from stoppage time, Kranjčar put it all together in a single sequence. He exhibited strength to win the ball from Fury forward Paulo Junior at midfield, faked a pass inside to momentarily freeze Jonny Steele and pushed an expertly-weighted through ball toward the right flag for Sebastián Guenzatti. New York nearly tacked on a fourth from there; Guenzatti’s cross found the foot of Andrés Flores but Kyle Porter blocked the ensuing shot attempt, clearing the ball out of the six-yard box.

Including that created chance, Kranjčar touched the ball a total of 14 times and completed 91 percent of his passes.

“[Setting the lineup] will be week-to-week pressure for me,” Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese told Cosmos TV after the game, alluding to choosing from what could be his most stacked midfield yet. “But that’s a good thing to go through.”

Though Kranjčar’s minutes were limited – and his introduction to the match came with the Cosmos firmly in command – Savarese has to be pleased with the versatility and comfort level demonstrated by the Croatian playmaker.