There’s no place like home — even for a soccer star.
New York Cosmos midfielder Salvatore Barone was a collegiate standout at St. Francis, and is now looking to make an impact for his hometown professional squad.
Barone — Brooklyn born and bred — simply wants to do right by his borough.
“This is a chance to be able to stay close to home and that’s really amazing for me because that’s something I really wanted,” said Barone, who played high-school soccer at Xaverian. “I wanted to play here, so that opportunity is awesome.”
Barone signed with the Cosmos just a few days before the start of the season and he admits that it hasn’t really sunk in that is dream is now his job.
“It’s really exciting,” he said. “This was always the dream when I was a kid. Soccer is your job now. You wake up and you’ve got to go to the soccer field every day. I’m just so grateful for all of this.”
Barone is in the midst of his first season with the Cosmos, but this isn’t his first interaction with the team. He played at the Cosmos academy when he was growing up and his father, Joe, serves as the team’s affiliate club manager.
The team was part of the family even before Barone got the phone call to suit up, and that relationship has made Barone’s transition from amateur to pro even easier.
“I’m close with [Cosmos coach Giovanni Savarese],” Barone said. “He’s an amazing person and he helped coach me when I was at the Cosmos Academy when I was, like, 15 years old. That really helped me then and that was an amazing experience.”
Barone also played with the Brooklyn Italians in the National Premier Soccer League in 2016, competing against the Cosmos “B” team, and his familiarity with the roster has helped him find a place on the team this spring.
“I’ve known this team for awhile,” he said. “All the guys are great. They really take you in like one of their own. They’re all great guys on the field and off the field. I’m ready to learn a lot from them in the game and away from it.”
Barone hasn’t seen any field time with the Cosmos yet, but he’s taking every opportunity in stride. He’s enjoying the practices and workouts, and fresh off a league championship with St. Francis last fall, Barone is determined to do whatever he can to help his new squad clinch another championship.
Most of all, however, Barone is just happy to be doing it at home. There’s no other place he’d rather play.
“The whole thing has just been amazing,” he said. “It’s just about the chance to practice with big-time professionals and learning from them and being able to be coached by some of the great guys on the staff. That’s my main goal.”
