To Reach M.L.S. Cup, New York City F.C. Played the Long Game
The New York Times
A team that once took the field behind big-name European imports embraced a new kind of star power en route to its first final. Now it plans to stay on top.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The road, New York City Football Club executives said as far back as 2015, was always supposed to lead here, to big moments, to finals, to trophies. That, they said, was always the plan.
Those who haven’t paid close attention to New York City F.C.’s roster evolution the past few years might not have seen the plan quite so clearly, and so they might be surprised to scan the Manchester City-backed team’s roster ahead of the M.L.S. Cup final on Saturday against the Portland Timbers. There are no longer any Andrea Pirlos, no Frank Lampards, no David Villas in N.Y.C.F.C.’s squad — the kind of boldfaced European imports that once gave the team a flash of star power in its early years of existence.
Instead, the team’s run to its first berth in Major League Soccer’s championship game this year has been led by two comparatively unheralded Argentine players: Maxi Moralez, a 34-year-old midfielder who once won a youth World Cup alongside brighter lights like Sergio Agüero and Ángel Di María, and forward Valentín Castellanos, the leading scorer in M.L.S. this season. They, and a supporting cast of teammates with plenty of talent but little name recognition, have delivered N.Y.C.F.C. to the brink of its first title.
