PREVIEW: Meola Returns to Familiar Territory in Sunday's Season Debut

Armada FC Public Relations | April 7, 2016

Match Notes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a long preseason and having to sit out the North American Soccer League Opening Kick weekend, the Jacksonville Armada and new head coach Tony Meola will finally make their debut this Sunday against the New York Cosmos in Long Island.

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Meola, who hails from Kearny, N.J., and played goalkeeper for the Red Bulls from 1996-98 (then known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars) and again from 2005-06. He also played for the Long Island Rough Riders of the old USISL in 1995 along with Armada assistant coach Jim Rooney and Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese.

The Armada is no stranger to James M. Shuart Stadium, having played there twice in 2015 and faring with a draw (3-3 on June 13) and loss (1-0 on June 13). Jacksonville came out on top 1-0 on July 18 at Community First Park.

Despite a different looking squad than last year's NASL Championship-winning outfit, particularly with the loss of Spanish legend Raúl, the Cosmos have restocked nicely. New York came out on top 3-0 over Ottawa Fury FC in a rematch of last year's Championship Final and got two goals from NASL Player of the Week Juan Arango.

The Armada has been looking forward to this date since commencing preseason training in January and faced stiff competition to prepare. Jacksonville faced three MLS opponents – Philadephia Union, Orlando City SC and New York Red Bulls – and went 2-1 while finishing 4-2-3 overall in the preseason.

Below is a breakdown of each team and the match.

WHEN & WHERE
Sunday, April 10 at 6 p.m. ET | James M. Shuart Stadium
Buy Tickets | Weather

THE TEAMS
Jacksonville Armada FC (8W-7D-15L, 31 pts., 11th NASL Combined in 2015, 4-2-3 in Preseason)
New York Cosmos (1W-0D-0L, 3 pts., 1st NASL Spring)

SERIES HISTORY
Tied, 1-1-1

LAST RESULT
Cosmos 1, Armada 0 - 9/16/15 in Jacksonville | Recap | Video Highlights

CLUB QUICK LINKS
Armada FC: News | Roster | Schedule
Cosmos: News | Roster | Schedule | Season Stats

WATCH
- CW17 in Jacksonville – Cole Pepper – PXP, Bob Veal – Color and Ashlea Bullington – Sideline 
- ONE World Sports

LISTEN
- Live on Project 106.9-FM | Stuart Webber – PXP and Andy Kidd – Color
- Also streamed live on iHeart app

READ
- Live Twitter updates on @ArmadaFCgameday – #NYCvJAX
- Live stats on ArmadaFC.com

A WHOLE NEW FLEET
Compare last season's Armada squad with this year's both in roster makeup and style of play, and it would be safe to say that it is a whole new fleet. In addition to a coaching staff overhaul, now led by Meola, the Armada has brought on 13 new faces to fit with a more direct and physical American style of play in contrast to the finesse, Tiki Taka style of the 2015 Armada.

NEW FACES
F Danny Barrow (Braunton, England/Truro City FC)
D Bryan Burke (Newport Beach, Calif./Louisville City FC)
F Alex Dixon (Humble, Texas/Rochester Rhinos)
F Charles Eloundou (Yaoundé, Cameroon/Colorado Rapids)
F Matt Fondy (Foster City, Calif./Louisville City FC)
MF Pekka Lagerblom (Lahti, Finland/FC Lahti)
MF Garry Lewis (Orange Park, Fla./Likunnan Riemu)
GK Sean Lewis (Rockford, Mich./Olympia FC)
D Beto Navarro (Delano, Calif./Orange County Blues)
D Patrick Otte (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Ventura County Fusion)
D Tyler Ruthven (Alpharetta, Ga./Arizona United SC)
MF Richie Ryan (Tipperary, Ireland/Ottawa Fury FC)
MF Junior Sandoval (Quimistán, Honduras/Jaguares de Córdoba)

CLUB CONNECTIONS
Armada FC head coach and technical director Tony Meola and assistant coach Jim Rooney played with Cosmos head coach/sporting director Giovanni Savarese at the Long Island Rough Riders in 1995 ... Meola and Savarese also played together on MLS side New York/New Jersey Metrostars (now New York Red Bulls) from 1996-98 ... Savarese and Rooney also played together on the Rough Riders in 1994 ... Armada midfielder Junior Sandoval and defender Tyler Ruthven played with Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer on the now defunct NASL side Atlanta Silverbacks in 2011 ... Cosmos defender Carlos Mendes and Meola were teammates on the Red Bulls in 2005 and 2006 ... Armada defender Matt Bahner and Cosmos forward Lucky Mkosana played together for the USL's Harrisburg City Islanders in 2013.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Armada will host NASL expansion side Miami FC at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 15 at Community First Park at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.