2024 National Championship Preview: FC Motown Hopes to Make History with Second National Championship
By Michael Battista/NPSL.com
This is not new territory for FC Motown, as success is the standard in Morristown, New Jersey. The team has made the postseason and won its conference playoff tournament every season it has played in the National Premier Soccer League. When the team takes the field on Saturday, August 3 at Drew University’s Ranger Stadium against El Farolito, with an undefeated record of 11 wins and 2 draws this year, it will be its third time playing in an NPSL National Championship. Consider that in the league’s two decades of play only two other teams (Chattanooga FC and Sonoma County Sol) have more appearances in the championship game.
If Motown is victorious, they will become the second team to ever win a second NPSL Championship. The other team? The Miami FC. Who won their first title in 2018 at Drew.
“It would be amazing to be the second NPSL team ever to be two-time national champions,” said team captain Danny Cordeiro who was on the Motown team that lost to Miami in 2018. “To make it even sweeter, that would complete an undefeated season for us. I think that would be a great achievement for everyone involved with Motown.”
The Celtics are guided by a man who has been with the organization for most of its existence. Montville, NJ’s own Dilly Duka has been with the team every year they’ve made the championship. The first time in 2018 saw the former Major League Soccer midfielder, whose resume includes time with the Columbus Crew, Chicago, Fire and his hometown New York Red Bulls, play with the captain’s armband. Now the 34-year old will be on the sidelines as he completes his first season as a head coach.
“I’ve learned some (things) on managing players, learned about our talent pool, and understand everything is a lot easier when you win games,” said coach Duka on his first year in charge after taking the reins from fellow former RBNY player Gideon Baah. “Starting off the season with good results, led us to have a healthy competitive environment at training or games.”
Those good results helped Motown earn the #2 national ranking in the NPSL at the end of the regular season. But even before that the team was the far and away favorite to win in the Keystone East Conference, and for good reason. It had a bolstered up offense that averaged nearly three goals a game while only surrendering four goals all regular season. The team was a menace to defend against, especially in the second half of games as the depth of its bench became apparent.
Forward Assane Ben Fall led the team with five goals in the early half of the season, however he will not be with the team this Saturday due to him being called back to Grand Canyon University. Other players have stepped up including former Houston Dynamo forward Joe Holland (3 goals), former New York City FC II forward El Mahdi Youssoufi (2 goals), and forward Maudwindo Germain (3 goals, team-leading 6 assists) who fans may remember from Haitian side Violette AC’s upset win over Austin FC in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.
“This season I think we’ve done a good job of getting consistent results while having a different 11 every game,” said Cordeiro. “I’d attribute that to having a solid defensive core of players that never give up anything easy and make it hard for teams to score. Recently, what’s clicked has been our attacking trident. We’re very dangerous on both wings with players like (Chris Bermudez) and (El Mahdi Youssoufi). On top of that we have (Maudwindo Germain) as our 9, who has shown how clever and creative he is as a striker. He finds many ways to impact the game and make decisive plays game after game.”
Another player who’s been coming up big for the offense lately is forward Nicolas “Nico” Née. The rising Princeton University senior and former New York Red Bulls II player has been huge in the postseason, scoring four goals including a hat trick in the NPSL East Region Final against the New York Shockers.
“We have a solid offense, guys are stepping up at the right times,” said coach Duka. (Maudwindo Germain) & Chris Bermudez have consistently guided our offense as of late.”
But possibly the most valuable member of the roster, according to many, is Cordeiro. One of the first players to join Motown in the NPSL, the midfielder has been on the field every season through heartbreak and triumph. To Duka, who passed down his captain’s armband to the North Arlington, NJ native, Cordeiro will be one of the keys on Saturday.
“Danny is a Motown legend,” said Duka. “He’s a talent, the longest tenured player, and continues to be important to the team. The staff feel that when Danny’s on the field, we’re a better team.”
With all that said, “The Community Club with National Ambition” will have a tall order to contend with at Drew University against El Farolito. For Duka, it’ll be the same venue as that 3-1 loss to Miami in 2018’s final. When the team won it all in 2022 over Crossfire Redmond at Montclair State University, Duka had already retired from competitive play earlier in the year, meaning this will be his chance to be directly a part of an NPSL title.
But for a man who’s been a part of U.S. Open Cup and Canadian Championship finals, who’s won Albanian Superliga championships, the familiarity of Motown and what it does will always be important to him. Not just the winning, but what it does for players old and new.
“Motown has become a club that represents all the upcoming talent from the NJ/NY area,” Duka explained. “It’s nice to be part of showcasing future skilled players who come out of this area in the U.S.”
It’s a similar story for Cordeiro, whose love of the game and honor for playing with the Morristown group keeps bringing him back.
“Year-after-year we continue to field quality teams and it has been a privilege to play alongside some of the great Motown players I’ve been lucky enough to play with,” Cordeiro said.
Photo Credit: Vinny Carchietta/NPSL.com
