1981 New York Cosmos season

The 1981 New York Cosmos season was the 11th season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. Despite winning their fifth straight premiership by five points over the Chicago Sting, the Cosmos lost to the Sting in Soccer Bowl '81.

New York Cosmos
1981 season
Manager Hennes Weisweiler[1] (Joint with Özdenak)
Yasin Özdenak[2] (Joint with Wiesweiler)
StadiumGiants Stadium
NASLDivision: 1st
Overall: 1st
Playoffs: Runners-Up
National
Challenge Cup
Did not enter
CONCACAF
Champions' Cup
Did not enter
Top goalscorerLeague: ( goals)
All: ( goals)
Highest home attendance42,385
vs. CHI (May 17)
Lowest home attendance12,240
vs. FTL (June 24)
Average home league attendance34,835[3]

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  GER Hubert Birkenmeier
2 DF  IRN Andranik Eskandarian
3 DF  CAN Robert Iarusci
4 DF  USA Jeff Durgan
7 MF  PAR Julio César Romero
8 MF  YUG Vladislav Bogićević
9 FW  ITA Giorgio Chinaglia
11 FW  POR Seninho
12 MF  USA Larry Hulcer
13 MF  NED Johan Neeskens
14 FW  RSA Steve Wegerle
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF  NED Wim Rijsbergen
16 FW  USA Angelo DiBernardo
17 MF  USA Rick Davis
18 MF  USA Boris Bandov
19 FW  PAR Roberto Cabanas
20 FW  BEL Francois Van Der Elst
21 GK  USA David Brcic
22 DF  YUG Ivan Buljan
24 FW  USA Darryl Gee
25 DF  USA Dominick Barczewski
28 FW  USA Chico Borja

Source:[4]

Results

Source:[5]

Friendlies

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorer
February 25, 1981 Colo Colo A 1-0 30,000 N/A
March 3, 1981 Peñarol A 3-4 40,000 Chinaglia
March 5, 1981 São Paulo FC A 3-1 50,000 N/A
June 4, 1981 São Paulo FC A 2-2 53,617 N/A
August 30, 1981 Grêmio H 1-3 30,523 Chinaglia
October 13, 1981 Borussia Dortmund A 4-2 10,000 Chinaglia
October 18, 1981 Milan H 1-1 6,000 Chinaglia

Regular season

Pld = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored (up to three per game).

Eastern Division Standings

Pos Club Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1New York Cosmos 322398049+31200
2Montreal Manic 3215176357+6141
3Washington Diplomats 3215175958+1135
4Toronto Blizzard 327253982-4377

Overall League Placing

Pos Club Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1New York Cosmos 322398049+31200
2Chicago Sting 322398450+34195
3Vancouver Whitecaps 3221117443+31186
4San Diego Sockers 3221116749+18173
5Minnesota Kicks 3219136357+6163

Source:[6]

Matches

March 29, 1981: New York Cosmos 3, San Jose Earthquakes 0 Spartan Stadium Attendance 20,671

First round
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Tulsa Roughnecks-Minnesota Kicks1 - 30 - 1August 22, 26
Portland Timbers-San Diego Sockers2 - 11 - 50 - 2August 22, 26, 30
Jacksonville Tea Men-Atlanta Chiefs3 - 22 - 1August 23, 25
Calgary Boomers-Fort Lauderdale Strikers1 - 30 - 2August 23, 26
Tampa Bay RowdiesVancouver Whitecaps4–11–0August 23, 26
Seattle Sounders-Chicago Sting2 - 32 - 02 - 3August 22, 26, 30
Montreal Manic-Los Angeles Aztecs5 - 32 - 32 - 1August 24, 27, 30
Quarter-finals
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Tampa Bay Rowdies-New York Cosmos3 - 63 - 20 - 2September 2, 5, 9
Montreal Manic-Chicago Sting3 - 22 - 42 - 4September 2, 5, 10
Fort Lauderdale Strikers-Minnesota Kicks3 - 13 - 0September 2, 6
Jacksonville Tea Men-San Diego Sockers2 - 11 - 21 - 3September 2, 6, 9
Semi-finals
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Fort Lauderdale StrikersNew York Cosmos3–41–4September 12, 16
San Diego Sockers-Chicago Sting2 - 11 - 20 - 1September 12, 16, 21
Soccer Bowl '81
September 26 Chicago Sting 1–0 New York Cosmos Toronto, Exhibition Stadium

References

See also


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