New York Cosmos turn historic friendly into a rout, dominating the Cuban national team in Havana

The New York Cosmos played in front of the largest television audience they've seen since the early 80s on Tuesday evening, and put on quite a show. Despite some foul weather and a truly terrible looking pitch, the boys in green put on a dominant display, and put the friendly in Cuba to bed before the halftime whistle.

Lucky Mkosana opened the scoring less than ten minutes into the match, and managed a second goal just before the whistle blew. In between the Mkosana strikes came goals by Sebastian Guenzatti and Hagop Chirishian, giving New York a 4-0 victory heading into the break.

The Cubans got one back early in the second half, though in fairness, play should have been called dead in the buildup when right back Hunter Freeman was run over. It was hard not to be pleased with the no-call, however, as the scoreline had become laughable, and it was nice to see the gracious hosts given something to cheer about.

There were a few scary moments for the Cosmos this evening, as two players were forced to leave with injury. In the first half, Leo Fernandes was subbed out with a lower body injury, while David Diosa looked like he was knocked out cold during the second half. Hopefully, both players are ok, and ready to go in 11 days time.

Up next for the boys in green will be their final match of the NASL spring season, against Jacksonville Armada FC. Anything short of a massive defeat should see them crowned spring season champions following that match, regardless of what Minnesota United and the Tampa Bay Rowdies do in their remaining fixtures.