Cosmos Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)he New York Cosmos announced today that the club has extended the contracts of forward Diomar Díaz, defender Hunter Gorskie, forward Jemal Johnson and midfielder Hagop Chirishian through the 2014 NASL season. As per club policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
The New York Cosmos announced today that the club has extended the contracts of forward Diomar Díaz, defender Hunter Gorskie, forward Jemal Johnson and midfielder Hagop Chirishian through the 2014 NASL season. As per club policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
“It’s important for us to retain our key players,” said coach Giovanni Savarese. “I’m delighted that we’re able to bring back four players who were important contributors for us and we’ll continue to build on that core this offseason.”
Venezuelan forward Díaz scored five goals and had two assists in 13 regular season games after joining the club from Venezuelan First Division side Atlético Club Mineros de Guayana. Díaz was also named to the NASL Team of the Week three times during the 2013 NASL Fall Season.
Gorskie, a Stanford graduate, was a regular in the starting lineup before suffering a season-ending knee injury in late September. Prior to the injury, Gorskie had started the first eight games of the season at both left back and center back.
Johnson, who joined the Cosmos from the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, made an impressive return to action in the club’s final regular season game on Nov. 2 against the Atlanta Silverbacks. He originally suffered what had initially been feared to be a season-ending knee injury during preseason training in July.
Chirishian, a former USL midfielder who had spent time previously with the Wilmington Hammerheads and Ventura County Fusion, played in seven games for the Cosmos and registered 353 minutes.