The mere mention of the New York Cosmos name evokes incredible memories about one of the most iconic teams in American soccer. The club that fielded iconic global stars such as Pele and Franz Beckenbauer in the late 1970s, as well as Real Madrid legend Raul in 2010s, is taking the pitch once again.
The Cosmos will play in the USL League One – the third tier of the American soccer pyramid – in 2026. And for the first time in a home they can call their own in Paterson, New Jersey at Hinchliffe Stadium.
Guiding this project is one of New Jersey’s native sons, Giuseppe Rossi. The former Manchester United, Villarreal and Fiorentina star played internationally for Italy, but was born and raised in northern New Jersey. In a beautiful full circle moment, the 38-year-old is now following in the footsteps of his father – who was a long-time high school soccer coach and teacher in nearby Clifton before passing away in 2010 – in helping develop the next generation.
With New York New Jersey Stadium as the centre of international football at the moment as the site of last month’s FIFA Club World Cup 2025 final and next year’s FIFA World Cup 26 decider, Rossi tells FIFA that the timing for the Cosmos could not be any better.
Giuseppe Rossi: I feel like this is the perfect thing for me post-career. Something that I always loved to do was teach the game and I wanted to give back to the kids around my area. Playing at the highest level with the best and getting coached by the best, you gain this basket of knowledge, but what’s knowledge if you can’t express it to other people, like kids? Having this opportunity to build this team, to build the methodologies of how to develop kids and get this team to where it feels like a family and a place where every player wants to be is a great challenge.
The approach is finding a coach that understands the way that I see the game, because I think it’s important to surround yourself with people that have the same vision. I want to create a family environment where you like to come into training, like to be around the people you work with, because that creates a certain type of bond along the way.
I haven’t really reached out to people for advice. I remember a lot of things from my career that I’m trying to implement in my role now. What I am doing is listening to a lot of people outside of the soccer world about how they build their teams. What do they look for? I feel like you can learn so much from people that aren’t in your world. When there’s different types involved, people are more open and willing to express their ideas fully. I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts. [Legendary NFL coach] Bill Belichick is somebody that I’ve been listening to about how he created a team and stayed so consistent. Ray Dalio [hedge fund manager], he’s one of the best financiers in the world, so I’m learning what he looks for to build a successful team.
Talent…I see that there is a lot of talent. I know there’s a lot of talent. What we’re doing at the Cosmos is something unique. We’re building this pathway to professionalism, this pathway for these kids to continue their dreams, giving them the possibility on a platform that is very important, like the USL, to showcase their talent.
There’s crazy excitement right now. The Club World Cup was kind of like the prequel to what’s going to happen next year. You’re going to live a month of only soccer. It’s everybody’s dream. Everybody’s going to be 100% glued to the TV to make sure that all their favorite teams go through, and they’re all going to hope that the big teams will be here. There’s going to be a lot of buzz.
It’s awesome. It’s perfect timing. We’ll be in the middle of our season. We’re trying to do our best now to create some buzz around the team. The marketing team is doing great. There’s a lot of people that are interested in what we’re doing in our day-to-day, what’s happening with the team, what’s happening with the coaches, when are we starting, season tickets… It’s good to see that there’s this demand for this type of team in North Jersey. It’s going to grow even more thanks to the World Cup.
We definitely want to build a winning culture and compete. But what we won’t do is sacrifice a kid’s dream or development for it. We’ll make sure our kids develop, get them onto the first team, give them the right platform and training in order for them to continue to grow. Then we want to see them spread their wings at a higher level than what is the USL League One after they gave their best to us during those 2-5 years.
I’ve always said to my Mama that I’m trying to be as close as I can to Papa. He’s my hero. He’s my number one. So being able to do something similar, and be able to provide as much as he did for the young kids in this area of North Jersey and more, I hope I’m able to just do half of what he did for this community. So hopefully, I will be making him proud.
It’s an amazing signing. I’m so happy. He’s the right person for the job. I think he’s somebody who, with his character and enthusiasm, can attract the players to go toward the goals that they set for themselves as a team. He’s a leader. And I think that’s what’s needed the most right now. It’s important that there is somebody who is able to lead on an emotional side rather than on a tactical side.
It’s great to see these Americans playing in a big league like Serie A. Christian Pulisic has put together back-to-back good seasons. Consistency is very important when it comes to trying to be the best player possible and getting to that next step of superstardom. We’re not there yet when it comes to Christian, but hopefully he’s able to make that switch character-wise to where he could be the main leader of Milan.
Weston McKennie at Juventus has had a lot of ups and unfortunately a couple of downs when it comes to not playing or whatever relationships he has with coaches. But when he is playing, he makes a difference. I’m happy that he’s loved by his team-mates and by the media, because that’s important.
