"There are some players who are doing really well and I don’t want to break that momentum," gaffer Patrick Veira told NYCFC.com when asked of the virtues of this Friday’s friendly with Mexican side Club Necaxa.
"Those players need games, they need to keep going and then we have players who didn’t play a lot who need games as well. I’m looking to satisfy the physical side of all the players."
This sounds reasonable— I find that I need my physical side satisfied every now and then myself.
Well, then! Let’s get to know New York City FC’s next opponent.
PROPER NAME: Club Deportivo Necaxa
LOCATION: Aguascalientes, Mexico (city pop. 934,000)
FOUNDED: August 21, 1923
HOME GROUND: Estadio Victoria (grass surface, 23,933 capacity)
BEST YEAR EVER: In 1998-99, won Mexican top flight and CONCACAF Champions League
LAST SEASON: Won promotion playoff in Ascenso MX clausura. Finished runners-up to Veracruz in Copa MX tournament.
THIS SEASON: 3W-7D-2L, 8th in Liga MX apertura
CURRENT FORM: Unbeaten in seven straight league games (D-W-W-D-D-D-W)
MLS CONNECTION: Former DC United and Red Bulls forward Fabian Espindola transferred to Necaxa in July after a layover in Vancouver. United had shipped him off to the Whitecaps to make room for former NYCFC striker Patrick Mullins.
HISTORY BLAST: Necaxa began in Puebla under ownership of an English light & power engineer who later merged his "Luz y Fuerza" squad with that of a local public transit firm. Today, they are still known to many as los Electricistas (the electricians) or los Rayos (the lighting bolts). Their rivalry with Atlante FC, despite the geographic distance between the teams, is among the oldest in North America.