Newest version of New York Cosmos to meet SD Eibar at Sam Boyd Stadium

It’s official. A team from the North American Soccer League is coming to Las Vegas. But, for now, it’s only for an exhibition match.

The storied New York Cosmos of the NASL will play an international friendly against SD Eibar of Spain’s La Liga at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The match is part of La Liga’s LFP World Challenge, which aims to increase interest in the renowned Spanish soccer league.

“This is part of an effort by La Liga to try to raise the profile of other clubs not named Barcelona or Real Madrid,” Cosmos chief operating officer Erik Stover said.

That said, the NASL, which resumed play in 2013 after a 29-year hiatus, will add a new expansion team in San Francisco in 2017 and is reportedly interested in adding other teams on the West Coast, including Las Vegas, Stover said. It has returned as a second-tier league in North America behind Major League Soccer.

“I’ve heard that there have been potential investors in Las Vegas and people are interested in putting a (NASL) team in Las Vegas,” he said. “But (potential expansion and Wednesday’s game) are completely unrelated.”

Global Futbol Partners, which is promoting the match, invited the Cosmos to play Eibar in Las Vegas.

“The Cosmos are one of the more iconic names in American soccer, and the interesting thing is that Eibar is excited about playing the Cosmos, too,” Global Futbol Partners CEO Greg Jamison said. “We’ve liked the Las Vegas market a lot. It’s a vibrant place and a great city for this type of stuff.”

The Cosmos, who brought international stars Pele and Franz Beckenbauer to the United States during their 1970s heyday, featured two former La Liga stars in recent years in Marcos Senna and Raul. While both players retired last year after New York’s second NASL title in three years, Raul is expected to attend Wednesday’s game in his role as La Liga’s U.S. director.

In its first match in the U.S., Eibar tied the Philadelphia Fury of the American Soccer League 1-1 on Sunday in a friendly at New Jersey’s Rowan University.

Based in a city of only 27,000 in the Basque Country of Spain, Eibar is a classic underdog that’s known for being one of the smallest teams ever to earn promotion to the top flight of Spanish soccer, making the improbable jump to La Liga in 2014 for the first time in its 75-year history. Eibar plays at 6,300-seat Ipurua Municipal Stadium against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, megastars whose annual salaries dwarf Eibar’s payroll.

“They’re one of the great stories in international soccer, a small club in a small town holding their own against some of the biggest clubs in the world,” Stover said. “The quality of teams in La Liga are arguably the best in the world, so it will be a great test for us.”

The Cosmos are led by international star midfielders Juan Arango and Niko Kranjcar. Arango, Venezuela’s team captain, spent most of his career in La Liga with Mallorca. Kranjcar represented his native Croatia in the World Cup and also spent seven seasons in the English Premier League for Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur.

Kranjcar, who is questionable to play Wednesday after leaving Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies with a groin injury, has been impressed with the level of play in the NASL.

“It’s really good. I didn’t expect it to be as high as it is,” Kranjcar said. “I can’t really compare because I haven’t been part of the MLS.”

Stover said the NASL compares favorably to the MLS, which — most notably through David Beckham — has drawn interest for an expansion team in Las Vegas if the proposed 65,000-seat domed stadium near the Strip is built.

“Our goal is to grow our club and help the NASL grow,” Stover said. “We feel the Cosmos would be just fine in the MLS. When we played MLS teams in the (U.S.) Open Cup, we’ve fared very well and feel the quality of the rest of the NASL has grown, too.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33