NYCFC Home Opener 2015 News Update: David Villa, Mix Diskerud, Claudio Reyna & Others Talk Yankees Stadium, Expectations for Season
Yankees Stadium.
The name says it all, but on Sunday a new kind of history will be made that has nothing to do with the titular team.
The NYCFC will play its first-ever home opener in front of what looks to be a sellout crowd. Based on the way that the game in Orlando this weekend was, there should be no doubt that the environment will be electric on Sunday when NYCFC takes on the New England Revolution.
And the players, speaking to media on Wednesday, noted that they are excited to see how the fans react.
“I am very excited. It was useful during our previous game in Orlando to see the fan support. So I cannot imagine how it is going to be playing at home,” said Captain and World Cup winner David Villa.
“This is the moment we have been waiting for. I can’t wait. So we want to give them a good showing. Some good soccer and maybe even a win,” added Mix Diskerud who scored the franchise’s first goal in the 1-1 draw with Orlando City. “I want it to be loud. I want the crowd to be like a 12th man. I have to say that that helps a lot when we’re playing. It makes you want to do more. You want to run more, make that extra tackle, and sprint more.”
The players could not deny that playing in the hallowed ground of such baseball luminaries as Derek Jeter and Babe Ruth brings a lot of responsibility for the soccer club in its first game on the pitch, a pitch that no one has had a chance to check out.
“There are obviously a lot of expectations, especially playing in this historic stadium, which has been the home of legends,” stated winger Sebastian Velasquez during an exclusive interview with Latin Post. “Instead of pressure, I think that we need to be honored and convert it into energy to play at our best. I think that that energy along with the quality we have on this team, will make us very successful.”
“It’s going to be a new experience for me because I haven’t played on a baseball field before,” added Diskerud. “But it doesn’t matter. As long as the pitch is good, I think we are good to go.”
There have been a lot of questions regarding the relationship between the Yankees and the NYCFC, especially after the baseball club’s Mark Teixeira stated that sharing the stadium with the soccer club was "going to suck. But you have to deal with it. It's going to tear up the infield, but there's nothing we can do about it, so we'll deal with it."
Despite these words, which hinted at tension, Director of Football operations Claudio Reyna noted that the relationship between the two sides was as good as one could hope for.
“For us, it is exciting,” he stated when asked how it felt to share a stadium with the Yankees. “We are new and to partner with the Yankees is excellent. They have been around for many years building organizations and teams and to be able to work with them closely is a great opportunity for us. We play at their stadium, we share a lot of each other’s know-how. We support each other a lot.”
He also noted that soccer is growing in the United States and that it is the perfect time to bring in this expansion club.
“It’s here and it is going to continue to grow. There is still a lot of work to do. There are a lot of signs that there are passionate fans in our area… It’s here. There is a big interest in the sport. We are excited about capturing that,” said Reyna.
The players echoed that sentiment as well.
“We want to give fans a team to cheer for. We want to give them a team to be proud of,” stated goalie Josh Saunders.
On Sunday, they will get that first opportunity to make that impression. And maybe for some years, people will stop seeing the arena as only “Yankees” Stadium.